This is a post i've been meaning to write for a couple of weeks.

It all started over a year ago. Put simply my income wasnt matching my outgoings. This was mainly due to 'maintaining' about 4 credit cards, which ate (and still does) about £250 a month of my money. For those unaware, 'maintaining' a card or debt basically means you are at the credit limit and just paying off the interest each month.

So this time last year i started looking for work elsewhere and put the feelers out that i wanted to progress at work if i didnt move on. I was soon offered a new role at my employer, a £3k pay rise and the promise of another £2.5k after 3 months upon the completion of some KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). "Great" i thought, things would still be a bit tight to start with but once i get the extra money after a few months, i'll be back in profit.

Unfortunately some of the KPI's were based on company performance, and the company was in trouble. The extra wage increase never came and any protests by me would have been in very bad taste as people were being made redundant.

As such, small unexpected payments arose, or poor budgeting on my behalf and i turned to WONGA to get through the next few months.

The problem with wonga, is this.. you're £50 short one month, so you get a wonga loan, you'll automatically then have £65 less for the next month. The simplest way to solve that problem is a £65 wonga loan the next month, so you then owe them £85, so on and so forth.

I got very close to digging myself out of this particular hole over the summer by selling all my DVD's and CD's and a few other bits. But i never quiet escaped and then MOT, Insurance and Tax all came round in quick succession.

During this time, the company i was at was operating completely in panic mode. My job had effectively become "we need to do x or customer y will leave us", purely reactive work often damaging the product and company longer term.

People openly started looking for work elsewhere, including myself. The exodus had begun.

The stairwell become "the telephone interview room" as about half a dozen of us all started taking calls from agencies and recruiters. Previously perfectly healthy people started taking sick days or single holiday days all over the place (or the even more ballsy "working from home").

It wasnt long before the first of us handed in our notices, 2 people from two different departments on the same day. In the same timeframe the Global Sales Director had literally gone AWOL (never to be seen again).

I had originally been looking at jobs of the same sort of pay, maybe slightly higher but i was encouraged to take a leap and go for some much better paid jobs. The first of these, i got. An amazing £9k payrise from what i was on.

2 more of us gave in our notices, myself and another person in another team, again on the same day. Another staff member verbally accepted an offer for a new job and then used that to improve his own contract and stay.

By this time it was now December, the company was probably just about turning a profit, (assuming they didnt lose any more customers) due to the money they had saved from the number of people leaving) but i was close to maxing out what i could borrow from wonga. The timing couldn't have been any closer.

I started my new job the second week of December, and come new years eve, was able to take a big chunk out of the wonga debt (my new job's pay+the old job+9 days of untaken holiday=a healthy wage packet over the holidays). The next whopping chuck will be taken out at the end of this month, before a final small amount from the february paycheck will finally see me wonga free!

But 2013 was a complete write-off.

I dont need to tell some of you what my standard reply was to social nights at the curry house. I'd usually have a good few nights out as well with Leighton (Flea), i think we had 2 all year. And again bugger all afternoons in the pub with Dan. No new clothes, the car took a battering and was running on a slow puncture for about 4 months.

The saving grace was the fact that my workplace was also my social scene, I worked with most of my friends, so going into work was far less stressful than it could have been and i still felt 'sociable' even though i wasnt going out.

As a result, starting my new job, for the first few days i felt what could be best described as "home sick" but this soon passed and I now feel that making the move was the best decision i made all year.

2014 promises to be a brilliant year. For the first time ever in my life, i have more money coming in than i can budget and i'll be able to use some decent excess each month to clearing (and then cancelling) old credit cards. I might even be able to go on a summer holiday for the first time in 10 years.

But most importantly for my sanity, i can afford to go out! (from Feb onwards before someone suggests a curry!) . I can be sociable again, i can go out on dates and then post up stories of various women with interesting hobbies on here again!

Seriously long post i know, and thanks to anyone that actually reads it all!

But basically this post is to serve as an explanation to the people i've barely spoken to in the last year, the people who i have owed or still owe money to, and to those girls (i'm talking about you Dan) who have whinged about me never going to socials.

Basically, after a year away, I'M BACK! (sorry).

Sounds like you've had a really difficult time and it's nice to hear the positive at the end. Good luck to you and I hope that 2014 is everything you want it to be.

Good to see you back on here Dave

We'll all look forward to you buying a round of drinks in Bristol some time in Feb then

Glad you are back Dave. I was wondering about you.

Lets hope this is your year pal.

Dam right he buying the first round.
Settle up in Feb and big night out that's long overdue.

Glad to here your back on the up.

Hey Truffers, "pole-man" , good to hear you're out of the mire.

Wonga, bloody hell, that place is criminal, thank goodness that's pretty well history. Did you keep your house?

"That" thread still creases me - IIRC it was taken off at your request in case it got read by the er, wrong people

Good to see you back Dave.

I was only thinking about you the other day and wondering what you were up to, but was thinking you were living the high life and had left us behind

Hopefully, all the crap is behind you now and looks like you're already looking forward to a good year

Fool

Pub, Saturday?!

The weird thing is, i cant blame Wonga. They have kept me going for months and helped me out when all other companies have said "no". When you go over your overdraft limit, your bank think thats a £20 penalty fee will somehow make things better for you next month. When you miss a council tax payment, the council thinks that threatening to put £150 of charges on top will somehow magic the money to you. It becomes cheaper to use a payday lender.

And in fairness i agree with their argument that the APR's they are forced to show, are not an adequate display of what you will pay back.

The problem was me, or essentially my history of spending more than i was earning, which had gotten me into a spiral. I could have also trimmed down my expenses more to try and help, ie cancel gym membership, sold the car etc. But I didnt want it taking over my life, the gym was the one thing 'positive' i was doing, it got me out of bed in the mornings and was stopping me for being a right lazy b. And the car was the last of the things that could put a smile on my face (even if it hasnt done so for a few months now becuase of the state its now in).

So my only option was to bring more money in. I considered the idea of bar work at weekends but that brought with it the possibility of restricting my progress in my main job as i would become alot less flexible. So i started looking for a new job entirely. I lucked out and landed a 'dream' job.

It's not perfect, my work week is now pretty much - Gym, commute,work, commute, eat sleep. I'm only getting the bus into town but going from a 20 min drive to work, to a 1hr walk and bus ride each way does eat into your free time. But it is teaching me to appreciate my weekends more!

And i am thoroughly looking forward to being able to do something i have done in nearly a year. Going for a drive, for the sake of going for a drive.

Sounds like a bad year and glad your finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

My 2013 was similar, a complete write off. Had a nasty car accident in april that saw my partner out of work for the rest of the year. Getting no sick pay i had to cover all bills. Only being an apprentice my life savings for a house rapidly disappeared as did the available funds on my credit card. Now in debt for the first time on my life. However she is back to work now and whilst the debt isnt yet going down it isnt going up anymore!

Time to start again and build back up what i used to have.

Yeah exactly. For me, this year will be the first time in my adult life that ill be able to take huge swathes out of my debt.

My aim for 2014 is to Clear and close 1 credit card and build up a 1 month buffer in my current account so that im not living paycheck to paycheck.

Glad to see you're back and obviously have learnt a very important lesson from this, but maybe don't struggle on your own, sometimes it can be handy to open up to some anonymous strangers (well in case of here, you probably know half of us! ) Maybe set aside some money each month into another account and forget about that account, that way if something bad happens, you have a fund stashed away that you can call on without having to resort to loans / CC.

I'm just counting down the months until I clear my debts, at the moment, I'm putting £700 and £100 onto 2 credit cards, by the end of the year I'm hoping to have cleared down one credit card and be making serious in roads to the other one

Can I just say fair play for opening up about this, Its a topic no one really wants to discuss, personal finances. It took some guts to talk about your run in with pay day loans and to many people are suffering horribly in silence.

I'm very happy you have got though the other side and can see the light, I was only watching that LoanRanger program last night thinking what a horrible trap to end up in.

I suppose the question is would you use them again? you clearly have had an horrific time but also state they were the only people that would help you... rock and a hard place!

To anyone else struggling here enter talks with your lenders before going this route, its been noted that a mark of a pay day load can pretty much end your prospects of getting a mortgage.

Its hard to resest the splurge now you have money, but put a good amount away in a easy access account to now build up an amount there you could still pay your bills and be out of work for 3 months (more if possible)

Yes i would use them again, but I think there are two important rules to stick to when deciding whether to or not.

1: When it comes to repaying, can i cover this payment and still have the money i need next month. Or will I be starting the spiral.

2: Am i taking this money to supplement my income (ie, i'm not going to be able to pay all my bills this month), or has something actually come up which requires a one-off payment that also meets rule number 1. (ie the car breaks down).

With regards to "talking to you lenders". One of the main draws of the PDL, is that it's instant. Something can come up and you need to respond asap. Going through a few rounds with a person on the end of the phone (having waited 20 mins on hold), may not help you at all, and often wont solve the immediate problem. Meanwhile i could be in the middle of nowhere, fire up the wonga website on my phone and sort funds into my account in minutes.

I'm not trying to advocate their services, but i do think there is a place for them in our financial system. Probably better renamed to Emergency loans.

For what i was using them for, they are not ideal.

Interesting reading and well done for having to balls to talk about it with everyone.

Its funny that in the news today it mentions that a recent survey estimates that 1 in 5 people are using credit cards or loans to pay for mortgages or rent - and the governement has questioned the accuracy of the survey I'd suggest that the figures might be underestimated it anything.

Money is a fungible commodity - if you use a credit card or loan at all you are using them to pay your mortgage/rent.

True, but there is a difference in semantics.

One might have a budget with sufficient left over after normal outgoings to service a CC debt without issue - this is somewhat different from a budget insufficient to pay normal outgoings without increasing the CC debt... a difficult thing to escape as Truffle pointed out.

In both cases one is 'using' the CC to pay the mortgage, but the situations are a world apart.

It is amazing who many offers for cheap credit you get when you no longer need it. I have paid of a significant part of my debt and have less than a handful of years left on my mortgage. Now I have had two offers from my CC companies for 14 month 0% interest (which I duly accepted) and an offer of a loan from my bank at 3.9%. It's almost as if they can't stand the fact that i will soon not have to pay them any money at all and are trying to tie me up with further debt

Its very true bockers. The banks threw money at me 10 years ago. Now when a 0% rate would effectively save me about £200 a month (or allow me to pay off £200 more). I cant get anything.

And i will bet anyone that once ive cleared most of my debt, theyll come begging again offering silly 0% offers.

I find that using credit tends to generate offers of more. For example I put my car insurance on my card as it was cheaper and more favourable than using their credit. Within a week my credit limit had doubled. Potentially very handy, but.

Great post Truffle. I also got myself into a spiral of debt with credit cards a few years ago (thankfully, now resolved). It's frightening how quickly things can get out of hand.

Continuing on then... halifax sent me a letter yesterday to tell me that my mortgage deal was to end soon and here are the new ones i can go for.

My loan to value is somewhere around 60% so i do get so good deals but i need it to only last 2 years because i bought the house in the first round of the 'firstbuy' government scheme a couple years ago. And in another 2.5 years ill need to repay the 10% they paid for me.

This is usually done by increasing the mortgage to cover it.

So in 2 and bit years i will havr to increase my mortgage slighly. But im wondering if its possible to increase it this time around too and use the extra money to clear my card debts.

Doing this would free up 250 a month so it wouldnt matter if it increased my monthly mortgage payment unless it was by more than this.

Is this possible?? Is it a good idea?

How good is your variable rate compared to the mortgage products offered? Im sitting on the standard variable after my fixed term end for the past three years which released around 300 a month. If a substantial amount is saved use that against your debts instead of borrowing more on the mortgage.

That way you will still be paying the mortgage down and more equity in 2.5 years for when you need to obtain a new mortgage product.

Variable would be 3.99% new fixed offer was something like 2.45%

Speak to adder58 on here, I'm sure he'll be able to help you out Truffle

That is good but i bet that is based on 60% Ltv. You would need to compare this to the product offered with more borrowed as you have increased your LTV.

Plus the extra you have on the mortgage will invariably affect the interest as a whole amount including the mortgage over the mortgage full term than just interest on the extra amount.

As above adder58 and maybe Dan could assist.

Not a bad idea to aid lowering the monthly amounts though.

I assume you have already been prioritising the credit cards and paying the card which charges the most interest first?
Interest fee balance transfer card deals could also help freeze some of the extra interest?

Sorted. Few calls later and ive reduced my mortgage payments by over £70 a month ! Will put that straight into paying off tje cards.

Is that by borrowing more?
Everybit helps for sure

Nope thats by just going for another fixed 2 year rate. I'm still paying off the same amount of the mortgage each month, (so 28.5 years to go) but just on a much lower interest rate.