Part 5 - disaster strikes

This is a series of articles labelled from #1 to #9 which chronicles how I went from being a fanatical young saver to a pathetic spender, and then finally paving the way for financial success.

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In the last installment Part #4: Spending to Keep Up, I was getting myself into more and more debt, I got a job as a banker and had credit card debt and students loans from my days in University, we later bought the house we rented and despite agreeing to go halves on the mortgage my brother got married and moved out. I was living salary to salary and was getting further into debt.

Things got far worse when disaster struck, I suffered from mild acne when I was a child as I got into adulthood it started to get worse, my face developed deep cystic acne and it was making my life hell. I aggravated it further by trying every medication on the sun, I spend tonnes and tonnes of money looking for a cure, I spend thousands of pounds with dermatologist and was nearly spending £500 a month regularly buying new supplements and trying new treatments, things started to get so bad that I had to take time off work, it was one of the most depressing times in my life and I seriously contemplated suicide even though it sounds silly now.

Eventually I managed to get the acne under control and all I had to use was Benzoyl Peroxide Cream which costs around £4 per month. My skin disaster lasted a year and I had spend nearly £20,000 pounds either on products and treatment for my skin or money to make myself feel better, I remember buying a BMW 5 Series with my credit card!

All the debt was on my credit card and I was using credit cards to pay for credit cards, as I was paying on time more and more credit cards would offer me money and it was as though I could keep on doing this forever or until I somehow miraculously became a millionaire.

I started to avoid looking at my bank statements, everything was automated so I didn’t have to concern myself with my banking, I applied quite actively for loans and credit cards and was surprisingly approved despite having a mountain of debt, even though my financial situation was getting more precarious and going down the toilet more and more credit cards were increasing my limit or giving me more cards and loans.

I was in denial, I was in debt, I started to have sleepless nights but I never faced up to the fact that I had a spending problem; I was scared to admit I had a problem. In the next part #6: Getting Married, of this series I look back at how my finance worsened after getting married with a loan.

Full Series Index

#1: Great Early Saver

#2: Having Money Taken Away From Me

#3: Seeing My Family Experience Poverty

#4: Spending to Keep Up

#5: Disaster Strikes

#6: Getting Married

#7: Absolute Financial Despair

#8: Facing Up to my Problems

#9: Laying the Foundation for Success