This is not a club that promotes the benefits of membership or invites other people to join. It is a secret place where people sit on their own, suck their thumbs or cry into their coffee, waiting for something to change. It is a club where the hard-luck story is the dominant one, where we might imagine that our own situation is worse than another person’s. But hear this, it is not a place to stay, it is not a place to tell people about and do nothing.
To get out of debt requires steady action every day. I can't promise you when you will be out of debt as the amount you owe will be different from the debt of your neighbour or a work colleague or someone within your study group. Most of the time we each suffer in silence with debt, making a bad job of dealing with it. Debt is easy to pile on. It requires work and effort to get rid of.
I can tell you now that no amount of worrying about your debt, or your feelings about having it, is going to make it go away. But I will show you within these pages plenty of ways that you can define it, start to tackle it and then to begin the process of paying it off. The moment you can define it and measure it, your debt ceases to be in control of you and you have the chance to take back the reins for yourself.
It's not all about you!
Right now you may feel that this is your problem and your problem alone. This is completely understandable and when I had the heaviest of my own debt problems I actually made them worse by not discussing either the size of the financial problem or my own fears with others. Debt challenges can often become much more manageable when you discuss the issue with other people. So stop thinking this is just about you. A problem shared really is a problem halved. Get used to talking about your debt. I don't mean get used to complaining about the debt. Instead, talk openly about your money worries with people who can help you with advice, guidance and some moral support.
These days most towns will have at least one office or community forum where you can book an appointment and get help with the issues. Trying to tough it out, or face the problem on your own, is a real mistake. Get help and get it now. Your local authority will have a dedicated team of people whose main activity every day is talking to and working with individuals and families who are struggling in debt and worried sick with fear and stress.
Debt is one of the most significant causes of relationship breakdown. It adds hugely to personal mental health issues and in a very negative way. If you are unable to sleep for worry of debt, scared of who might be knocking at your front door to collect an unpaid bill, or of the post arriving through your mailbox, then now is the time to recognise you need to seek help.