So many replies so soon! Wow, u r all too kind. I'll try editing my financial history, here goes . . . .
I met my wife 6yrs ago, I had loads of credit cards and was absolutely terrible with money. I used to write credit card cheques to my own bank account just to cover monthly repayments some months! Just before I met her, I changed jobs into a MUCH better paid job`which easily covered my rent to my mum (not much, shame on me!), and my loans and cards. So I was even more carless with my money then with someone to spend it on! Anyway, a couple of years, a couple of credit cards and a new car later and we decided to get married - which we borrowed for. 4 months before our wedding we purchased our first home. Well, we mortgaged to the hilt and borrowed unsecured for the deposit and fees (good old Northern Rock!) I guess you can see where this is going!
The month before we got married, to our joy (though, not financial joy) we discovered my wife was pregnant.
She had to leave work as her wage would barely cover child care costs, then my company lost 25% of its business overnight resulting in overtime cuts.
With £125k in unsecured debt and no equity or assets, an IVA was the obvious choice for us. We eventually ended up with a company called Dawson White, who managed to convince Northern Rock and HBOS (our two major creditors) to accept a 6yr proposal.
And here we are, more skint every month than I was when I had a paper round at 13, but getting out of debt!
