He is 29 years old and has a debt of nearly 80,000 USD on his credit card.

Liam, who is a fictitious name, is 29 years old and has spent nearly a decade falling asleep in debt. That's his story.

When I was 24, I had my first job in finance and I was desperate to be part of this circle. My colleagues wore expensive suits and seemed to have endless funds to spend the weekends and pay for their dinners far from home. In a short time, I started going out four nights a week and the bars near the office were not cheap.

When I went to the bar to buy a drinks tour for my colleagues, I was sweating while waiting for their credit card to be approved. He could not think of anything more humiliating than to admit that he could not pay.

Constantly in debt

I have a debt of £ 60,000 (almost $ 80,000). Thinking about it, I feel bellyache. My debt started when I was 21 years old. I had just left the university and since I had not saved any money, I used my overdraft of about 1,300 USD (1,000 USD) to help fund an unpaid internship of six weeks in a charity.

Then, they accepted me as a paid trainee with £ 12,000 ($ 15,600) a year (a very low salary in London, where the average salary is £ 37,804 ($ 49,300).) When I'm I paid the rent for my room, had barely enough to cover my expenses for food and travel, and stupidly, instead of being honest with my mother and my bosses, I asked for a credit card with a limit of £ 4000 (US $ 5200) to give me a break.

On my 23rd birthday, I tried to pay the rent with my credit card and the payment was not made. I felt a hard blow. He had avoided checking bills. Looking back, I can not believe how stupid and naive I was. I had no idea how much money I was spending.

Finally, my mother loaned me money for rent. As a retired teacher, she was not able to afford me and I had the impression of having failed her. A month later, I applied for a second credit card, although I decided to cut some expenses, such as walking to the office, preparing meals and getting another job in a bar. .

The accumulated debt, which now seems minimal, felt insurmountable at the time. But it was very easy to get a second credit card: I simply filled out a form on the internet and I was approved for an additional £ 5,000 ($ 6,500) in a matter of seconds.

He was sleeping hardly worried about money. I used internet forums where people talked about their debts. Some said they feared that their homes would be demolished or their children would be left without them. Their stories have given me a shot of reality.

I did not want my situation to become the same again and, after a long conversation with my mother, where I said a little but not the whole truth, I applied for a job in the banking sector with a salary £ 37,000 (USD 48,000). . I hoped it would be the end of my worries with money, but I think it is there that it all started.

Dependency expenditure

I paid some of the debts with my first salary. At that time, my landlord decided to increase the rent of the apartment I shared with two colleagues. Both could pay and I did not know what to do. So we agreed to stay and pay more.

I had considered moving to my mother's house but was living far from London and that would have meant giving up my career. When I was 26, my friends started making compromises. In the past three years, I have attended more than 15 burials of boy life and weddings. The most extravagant was in Las Vegas. The costs have become uncontrollable, reaching thousands of pounds.

It sounds ridiculous, but at that moment all I thought was, "These people are my best friends, how can I say no?" I felt more and more worried about my expenses. And instead of dealing with it, I had more credit cards.

Whenever I was paying for something that I could not really afford, like new shoes, I was getting a small dose of adrenaline. Spending money did me good, as if I had control of my life, whereas it was exactly the opposite.

Every time my salary has gone up, my debts have increased in the same way. Unopened bills piled up in my hallway. I lost track of the credit cards that were in the limit. Do not get me wrong, I worried every time that a payment was due, but it was good to ignore the part of my brain that was adding everything silently.

Request for help

Two years ago, my friends started buying houses. It was then that I realized that I had six credit cards, some of them at the limit, and a bank loan. I knew that I could not live like this anymore and decided that it was time to seek advice from a professional. I called the debtors' phone support and they encouraged me to make a spreadsheet of everything I needed.

It was the first time that I had sat down and absorbed everything. It took me a whole Sunday and at the end, I had my head in my hands not to cry. I was so embarrbaded. I wanted to call my mother and tell her how bad things were, but I had been lying to her for so long.

My debt had left me totally isolated and alone. Instead of talking to someone, I drank the vodka they had offered for my birthday that year until I fainted. . I think it was the day I hit the bottom.

I decided to make my first change and I left my apartment in a much cheaper place. I have contracted a bank loan to pay some of the credit cards. In the following months, I started to control everything: I stopped going out during the week and canceled my membership in a sports club.

I had the impression of coming out of a dream. For the first time in about five years, my debts have not increased. I still feel the need to make reckless spending, but I have learned to control them. I am lucky to have kept my job and to have got a promotion, otherwise I would never hope to make it all happen. I feel that as my friends progress in their lives, buy houses, get married, I'm stuck in limbo.

I have had incredible experiences, but their price was very high. I have funded my decade out of 20 with loans and credits and I know I will spend the rest of my life paying them back.

Tips if you have debt problems

1. Make an honest spreadsheet of each of your income and expenses: this will help you decide if you can recover by making daily cuts or if more serious actions are needed.

2. If you borrow money for essentials, such as food, explain your situation to your lender and ask if you can move to lower monthly payments; They may be willing to negotiate.

3. The key is to prioritize your debts: Start by managing municipal taxes and utilities, and make sure to cover every minimum repayment. After that, he pays most of the loans with the highest interest and fees.

4. Look for ways to reduce your expenses, such as changing supermarkets, billing providers, or walking instead of driving, where possible.

5. If you can not cover the minimum payments on your debt, rent, and bills, consider talking to a debt advisor.

Source: UK StepChange and National Debtline