Phil Long’s blog - Teletranone

...at the end of the money. An all-too-familiar story for many. This is part one of a two-part post about how I made that situation worse in the late ’90’s and early ’00’s- and what I’ve done to turn things around culminating in me becoming totally debt-free last month. This part describes the downward slope I was on…

As context for this post I’ll start by saying I have never been good with money and I wouldn’t be being honest if I said I’d mastered the art of controlling my money. What I can say truthfully is that I’ve got much much better with money and I’m far happier for doing so. I used to have a real habit of spending every bit of money I earned when I worked part-time. It’d mostly go on computer-related purchases or nights out. When I had an allowance from my parents I didn’t save any of it and sometimes I’d end up ‘borrowing’ from my food money to pay bus fares to school/college. My first car was bought a “200 quid special” (a moniker my later cars shared for some time) and was bought and insured using money my grandparents had put in savings for me. The car obviously cost to run so this was another drain on my part-time earnings - so I never developed a habit of saving.

Early in ‘99 I left college and obtained my first full-time job at local Warrington ISP, U-Net. I also in the same measure moved out of my parents. Sure, more money, but also more expenses that I was in no way clued up on or prepared for. I figured I had more money than I really had - and got myself a credit card which I used to bridge the gaps between what I could afford and what I wanted, the most obvious purchase being the Game-Cube (which I still have). I made minimum payments until - very foolishly - I let payments be refused because I had insufficient money in my bank account. I dipped in to savings I had been given to cover bills when the heat from the credit card company or debt collection agency got too much - resulting in those savings being completely depleted. When given money for my 21st I spent it on things I didn’t really need - an amplifier, floor-standing speakers (I also still have these) and a NAD CD player.

I was sharing a house in Warrington - a bungalow - with two friends and co-workers at U-Net. I maintained a Web site which got the attention of a local news agency - and was offered a role as a junior reporter. This meant a significant pay-cut, when I wasn’t exactly raking it in at U-Net. I went down from £10,500 per year to £8,000. I did a reasonably sensible thing at this point and moved in to another house with friends in the centre of town - within walking distance of my new work place. However, I continued the bad practice of using credit cards to cover the gaps in my finances but eventually reached the limit of what these companies would lend to me - 9p noodles were a staple for me at this point. I remember I took my NAD CD player to Cash Converters to give me some spends on a trip to the Isle of Man to visit my brother. I had the Renault 5 my granddad had given me, but it wasn’t being maintained properly due to lack of funds.

I returned to U-Net (renamed VIA Net.Works) after two years - with a big jump in salary from the £8,000 I had remained on for two years o £11,500 and then £12,500 after a quick promotion to Second Line. During this time my bank consolidated the £2,000 credit card debt I had with them and a £2,000 overdraft in to a single loan and I made minimum payments on this of £50 per month. Interest every month on that was in the region of £45 per month. I was going nowhere fast in clearing my debt and I was effectively ‘in hiding’ from some other credit card companies. Phoolish Phil.

After one year at VIA I moved to Zen Internet, where I continue to work today. At this point I elevated myself to new heights of stupidity. I continued to live with friends in Warrington and determined I needed to ensure I had a reliable means of getting to work in Rochdale, my Renault 5 having basically given up the ghost. Now, my stupidity is two-fold. First, there was a conflict with my objective in that I opted for for a Fiat Brava. Fiat and reliable do not go together (and, in fact, the alternator failed in my first week at Zen, leaving me to rely on public transport to get to work for my first two weeks). Second, I bought the car from Yes Car Credit and that meant extortionate interest rates and rather unpleasant terms. Each month the car was costing me £200 per month - and would continue to do so for 4 years. A new car would have been cheaper! Add on to that maintenance and fuel. The move to Zen and my desire to have something better than my usual “200 quid specials” had meant a big reduction in my available finances.

After six months I followed my previous example and moved closer to work with a friend at Zen, but I was still not addressing the debt I was in - at this point I must have been around £16,000 in debt including car, bank loan, credit cards and student loan.

Part two of this post will talk about what measures I eventually took to get to my current situation…

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