So I was irresponsible in my 20's and pre-GFC when the Banks were throwing credit at anyone who was on the electoral roll and had an income -verified or not- and one credit card lead to seven. Living beyond my means, "the high life" without any regard for future consequences.
Seriously considered bankruptcy twice however as Ive a background and career in accounting/banking & finance (ironic, right?) and in the last three years set up my own business, wisely opted not to go bankrupt.
Given my career history in the finance and banking sector, I knew how to negotiate interest free lines of credit. It helped I was unemployed after a redundancy and could provide evidence of being on Govt handouts.
I had always dreamt of the day I could wake up and say "I do not owe one cent in debt" and envisaged it as a celebratory triumph. In reality, when that day arrived it was more a profound sense of relief.
The last three creditors, I called them and offered 70% of the debt remaining as a pay out/settlement. All of them played ball. A condition of the settlement is they would not affect my credit record and they would put this and the settlement terms in writing, which they did along with the account closure notification. I drew down on my 401k equivalent the last two years to help, it is allowed in my country at a max of $10k per annum if you meet certain criteria with low income as I did.
Ive been monitoring my credit record and its clean, 100%. I also found whenever I had residual money ($0.50, $12.48, $19.80 - any random amounts like this) in my bank account, I would IMMEDIATELY transfer it on to the debt. This is a great money habit that Ive carried over to savings now. :-)
In the last few months of being in debt, I started speculating on Cryptocurrency. Litecoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin "the blue chip" Cryptos and on gains switching into Cardano, Stellar, Tron, Ripple, Bytecoin & Digibytes. I got lucky and my capital outflow of $2700 has ballooned into $10k unrealised.
I dont have a mortgage and I do want to own a property. Where I am, the banks require 20% down payment for a mortgage and the median house price where I am is $500k. Thats $100k down of which Im 90% away from. Im self employed and have several clients on a monthly retainer however as anyone thats been involved in business will know, there are no income guarantees. However, income is steadily growing and Im writing around $5k/mth after three years of growth.
My partner earns $60k and only has one debt $12k on a car. She wants to also own property.
Im writing this for two reasons:
(i) inspiration for anyone out there that feels bogged down, limited, hindered and chained by debt. It CAN be overcome and persistence, good repayment habits and negotiating with your creditors as above can really help fast track this life event
(ii) open to your opinions. Do you think aiming for Property is good? Do you think Im too exposed to Crypto? How can I build now on the solid money foundation Ive achieved in my life by ridding myself of debt?
With the exception of a mortgage, there is no way in hell I intend to ever return to debt again. No credit cards, no personal loans. If I want something, I manage my money and EARN it.
Submitted January 08, 2018 at 10:45PM by Anonymous16457913 http://ift.tt/2Fg1akK
