Welcome to the Problem Page. You can send in your conundrums but I wouldn’t recommend it.
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Dear Dr Debt,
I was recently made redundant and have already spent my pay out. I can’t find a job and am living off my credit cards. I don’t know what to do – I owe over 40k on them and there’s only about 5k left. Help!
Claire x x
Claire, the solution is an easy one: get yourself down to the travel agents and book yourself the holiday of your dreams. Be sure to string it out for as long as possible. When the money runs dry, just come home and write it all off. It sounds like you’re screwed anyway so you may as well have a ball.
The Good Doctor
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Dude,
I just went ‘krupt and then the bastards are telling me I have to give them 50% of everything after bills. WTF?
Lenny
Chill Lenny – this is an easy one. If you don’t want to give them any money then don’t work. Get yourself on the rock ‘n’ roll and sit it out. They’ll soon leave you alone.
MC ‘Krupt
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Dear iwentbankrupt,
I recall a speech made by former Prime Minister John Major, ‘give the Germans five Deutschmarks and they will save it but give the British five pounds and they will borrow £25 and spend it.’
Given the respective economic positions of the two countries today, it would appear that the much maligned Mr Major had a point.
Graham L, Norfolk
Nobody likes a smart-arse Graham, particularly one who reinforces national stereotypes. Our credit card companies tried to spread their filth into Germany, but the sun-bed snaffling Krauts were too tight to go for it. Good on the Germans.
Herr Towel
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Dear Mr Bankrupt,
I can’t sleep at night. My husband doesn’t know about the £30,000 I owe and I’m too scared to tell him. To make matters worse he works in a bank. Can you advise?
Sleepless Selena
Selena, you need to lay it on the line – either he starts scamming the till to get you out of a hole, or you’re off to find yourself a sugar daddy. If he starts whining, tell him it’s the only way he can redeem himself for his years of sucking up to the man. Hope this helps.
Derek Debt-Buster
7 comments
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January 27, 2011 at 3:39 am
LittleRed
I laughed so hard I almost cried. Good work!
June 8, 2011 at 7:31 am
dredger
Dear Ibentwankrupt,
i have a conundrum of the most heinous variety and one of your responses above prompted me to raise it.
Last month my family and i attended a non-descript resort on a chain island of moderate scenic amenity. Planning ahead, I phoned the resort 2 days prior to arrival to pre-order 15 pool towels to ensure I had ample currency with which to secure a minimum of 4 sun-beds by the pool for my family.
Upon arriving at the resort, I was dismayed to learn of an ‘on-line sun-bed booking system’ which allowed guests to pre-book number allocated sun-beds for allotted days. This rendered my investment in the beach towel, the typical currency for securing sun-beds, useless!
Begrudgingly, I trundled over to the on-line booking computer and was confronted with more schmidts, mullers and wagners than you could throw a half-eaten bratwurst at! Needless to say, we were unable to enjoy the surrounds of the resort pool and had to make ‘cultural’ day-trips to the poor side of the island instead.
Since our trip, I have been in heated discussion with the resort management about refunding my payment for the 15 pool towels on the premise that I was falsely lead to believe these would secure sun-bed status. My attempts to date appear to be in vain and I wondered whether you have any suggestions ??
Please help
A concerned reader
September 8, 2011 at 7:37 pm
God daughter of a rich man.
Dear Dr Debt,
I have a brother who is really irresponsible with money and only just told me that he went ‘krupt 5 years ago. Please could you give me some advice as to what to do next.
Yours faithfully, God daughter of a rich man.
January 8, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Wtf
I’m taking a large pay cut at work, And up to
My eyes in debt. Tempted to hand the keys back to mortgage lender and do a runner and skip bank loans etc
What’s the worst can happend
P.s plan to emigrate
January 11, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Debt ain't real
Nothing would happen if you skipped the country. You could start a new debt free life elsewhere.
If you stay you should investigate the 6-year ignore/no contact rule (Statute Barred I think it’s called) and rid yourself that way.
Don’t worry about not paying your debts, it’s not like you’re the only one and debt isn’t even real!!!
January 13, 2012 at 2:12 am
Wtf
There is a few grand secured on the house. From what I can gather from the net I need to sort this out. Is it true?
January 28, 2012 at 11:27 pm
Simon
Hi,
I skipped the UK in 2007 with £15000 in unpaid credit card/overdraft debt. I was in a really mad place as I never intended to get in debt but I kept having limits increased and was basically given credit everywhere I turned. Until of course it came to bite me in the ass and I was made homeless from not being able to pay my rent and then not get benefits without an address (only 20 at the time) and I had no family to turn too. Anyway I was very lucky and managed to go under the radar with a live in waiter job at a nice hotel and I saved enough to skip overseas. I had to return in 2010 due to my visa expiring and have so far been working in jobs with accommodation provided to keep off the electoral role and so far no one has caught up with me.
But….I am worried that they will. So basically, are they still looking for me or are there bigger fish to fry since the 2008 crash? I should add that I have only lived within my means ever since and get paid into my GF’s bank account. I’m pretty sure that I have left no financial paper trail.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Also I’m thinking of a move to Scotland. Would this help?
Thanks in advance,
Si