StepChange, a debt charity offering free expert help to those who are struggling under the weight of their financial situation, is on a mission to destigmatise debt, and more importantly, encourage people to get the help they need.
One Brit, who has managed to clamber out of his financial hole thanks to the charity, shared his own story revealing that he had been a victim of this as he kept his spiralling debts a secret.
Jamie lost his job, being made redundant with immediate effect, a devastating situation for anyone but the 25-year-old didn’t have any backup savings for situations like this.
Instead, he had a good credit score and was saved in the short term by being eligible for some good credit cards.
However, the situation soon became dire as the short-term solution began to escalate as his borrowing got out of control.
Every time he borrowed money the mountain of debt became harder to pay back and left him feeling trapped in a “financial nightmare” when even his food shopping had to be put on credit cards.
Jamie shared with the charity: “The debt started to get worse, the defaults started to happen and the letters started coming through the door.
“When the phone calls and letters just kept coming and coming, that’s when my mental health started to take a toll. My anxiety levels were through the roof. I was worried that I was going to lose everything.”
At one point during his time of unemployment, Jamie was able to receive around £200 a month from the government but had debt arrears toppling £700 a month.
Despite all of this turmoil, the 25-year-old felt he couldn’t tell his family or friends about the devastating situation he was in. He explained: “I didn’t want to be judged.
“I didn’t want to seem like that person who didn’t know how to handle money. I wasn’t wasting the money, it was just a necessity to use it, there was no other option.”
Turning to the internet for help and answers, Jamie found StepChange and used their tools to create his own budget before calling one of their debt advisors who “really helped me out”.
Jamie diligently stuck to the debt management plan StepChange helped him put in place and found a renewed sense of motivation when he noticed some of the debts going down for the first time.
He urged people to look for help with their debts, whether through budgeting tools, reading articles or contacting places like StepChange for assistance.
