Trust Deed Scotland® and Blethered with Sean McDonald recently spoke to one of our previous customers, Becky about her experience with unaffordable debt.
This inspiring episode is an important one for Trust Deed Scotland®, we often speak about the importance of our TrustPilot reviews in showing people across Scotland that debt happens, and there is help available. However, this informal chat with Becky dives even deeper and illustrates how easy it can be to have debt.
Becky’s Debt Help Journey
Becky found herself struggling with unaffordable and make a call to Trust Deed Scotland® in search of debt help. After speaking to one of the Trust Deed Scotland® experienced debt advisers, Becky chose to enter into a Trust Deed to help with her debt. She has since completed her chosen debt solution and recently shared the exciting news with us that she is now a homeowner. Her story can help to inspire many more people across Scotland, listen here.
“So I first got into debt when I was about 18, I’m 45 now. So at 18, I moved out of home and the bank said you can get a loan, you can get a credit card. At 18 years old, I thought “free money”.
I kind of kept on top of it and then as things do… you work part time and you are trying to do everything and things kind of get on top of you. So I kept going with that and moved up here when I was 20, basically just trying to live, you know day to day stuff. I didn’t buy anything extravagant, we didn’t go on holidays, it was really just day to day things and over the years the debt built up. Then me and him [ex boyfriend] split up and for the first time, I was doing everything on my own.
I was on one wage and my dad always said to me “always make sure you pay your rent, that’s the first thing you pay, anything else you can deal with after that” so I always make sure I paid that. That was the one thing I never had any issue with. But as time went on, again just trying to survive, the bills kind of piled up. Electric was more because it was me on my own with one wage, gas was more. So between council tax and credit cards, things just got on top of me over the years. I was meeting all the payments but behind in other things.”
“The gas and electric, they went on to prepayment meters to get the debt back off me and that went on for a few years. I think it was 2015
or 2016, my cat needed a big operation and I didn’t have any money for it. I put my private plate up for sale online and my friends, one of who’s here today, they didn’t tell me but they paid the bill for me. It was at that point that I just saw I can’t keep going like this, I can’t. If I can’t afford to look after the animal I’ve got something’s very very wrong.”
“I also got a letter from one of the credit card companies that told me if I kept paying it off at the rate I was paying it off, it would be 2038 before I clear the debt. I’d seen the adverts and that kind of thing but you know what it’s like. You put it off and put it off because you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t want to admit it and anyway, I got in touch [with Trust Deed Scotland®] and even from that first phone call it was just like something lifted.”
“I don’t think I’d actually said to my friends the kind of mess I was in but they would say “do you want to go out somewhere” and I’d be like “oh no, I can’t do that this week” and I’d make an excuse you know. Even going down to visit family, I couldn’t afford to do that because travelling down there was so expensive so I put that off as well and it’s just those things and literally all you are trying to do is survive.”
“I kind of looked into it myself but I didn’t realise there were other options. Bankruptcy and Trust Deed’s were the only two that I knew about but when they [Trust Deed Scotland®] went through all the options, the Trust Deed seemed to be the best option for my circumstance at that time…”
Listen to the full episode here.
Getting Debt Help
To follow in Becky’s footsteps, contact Trust Deed Scotland® on 0141 221 0999. We know that her story is one that many people across Scotland can relate to. However, if you are dealing with debt, you are not alone. Trust Deed Scotland® have helped over 30,000 of people across the country with their unaffordable debt.
Once in contact with our team of experienced debt advisers, we go through your circumstances and provide tailored advice on all the available debt solutions in Scotland. From here, you are able to choose the best course of action for your financial future.
Alternatively, quickly check the debt solutions you may be eligible for using our Trust Deed Wizard® tool. Or contact us via our WhatsApp Debt Advice service.