Personal experience: how debt makes life hell

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

What happens if you do not pay off loans and ignore utility bills.

This article is part of the "" project. In it, we declare war on everything that prevents people from living and becoming better: breaking laws, believing in nonsense, deceit and fraud. If you've come across a similar experience, share your stories in the comments.

To find yourself in debt is as easy as shelling pears: just skip the loan payment once or not pay off the bills for utility bills. The life hacker talked to people who found themselves in such a situation. The heroes honestly told what it was like to live with debts, communicate with collectors and hide income from the state.

At the request of the heroes, the names and surnames in the article have been changed.

Table of contents

• Story 1. Using credit cards, considering the bank's money as your own
• Story 2. Not paying for utilities, hoping for debt cancellation
• Story 3. Take a loan for a wedding and not pay, offended by the bank
• What to do if you find yourself face to face with debts

Story 1. Using credit cards, considering the bank's money as your own

How it all started

I live and work in Samara. I have a good marketing job and my own studio apartment. There is a daughter, she is seven years old, but I only see her on weekends, because my wife and I live separately.

While they were together, there was no debt. The wife was in charge of the family budget: she planned expenses, bought food and paid for housing and communal services. Four years ago, we parted, and I began to manage the budget myself.

By Samara standards, I make good money - 35 thousand rubles, but nothing remains of this money at the end of the month: I have no savings and I have debts on two credit cards and housing and communal services. I think it happened because I am a humanist - it is difficult for me to count expenses and income, and even more so to do it all the time. I just go to the store and waste money.

How the first credit card appeared

I got my first credit card in 2015, when I started living alone, without a wife. At that time, I had no need for money, but I wanted to be on the safe side and be able to pay for something unexpected: unforeseen expenses may appear at any time.

And so it happened: soon my phone broke, so I needed a new one. A not very sophisticated smartphone cost 8 thousand rubles, but I didn't have the whole amount: I had 4 thousand free money, so I paid half of the cost with a credit card.

Borrowing from friends was not in my thoughts. I do not like to be obliged to close people, it is better to pay a soulless loan.

The conditions for the card were the same as for a consumer loan: the limit was 15 thousand rubles, the rate was 14% per annum. If you pay off the debt right away, the interest does not drop, but it didn’t work for me. I threw a couple of thousand rubles a month on the card. Some went to pay off the debt, and some went to interest.

What did the money go to

Buying a smartphone was the first spend on a card. Then I started paying her small daily expenses: shopping at the supermarket, paying for the fare. I go in for sports, so part of the money goes to pay for the gym, sports food, equipment. Every month I sent 5 thousand rubles to my daughter, and on weekends I went to visit her in another city - this also took money.

It's okay for me to pay with a credit card everywhere. This is how the entire modern world lives, so I don't see anything tragic in this.

At some point, I spent the entire limit - there was no money on the card, but I did not worry about it. I believe that you need to treat money philosophically: as they leave, they will come.

Every month I put 2,5 thousand rubles on the card, the bank withdraws 900 rubles of interest, and I can spend the rest of the money next month. Sometimes my salary is delayed, so I am late with payments.

In such cases, the bank calls: the robot announces in a metallic voice that it is necessary to repay the debt. The call usually comes in the morning instead of the alarm clock - not a pleasant start to the day. I am glad that there are such calls only when I delay the payment, and they only call once. The bank does not get on the nerves, but simply reports the debt.

Where did the second credit card come from?

The second credit card was offered to me when they opened a salary card. I agreed, decided that it would be a reserve in case of force majeure. But they happen on schedule: either the salary is delayed, or you need to buy something.

For example, I saw Nike sneakers at a sale, or I wanted smoked pink salmon in a store. In such situations, a credit card helps out: he took it out at any time and paid. We'll deal with the money later. I never had the fear that I would not be able to pay the debt. On the contrary, I always hope for additional earnings and bonuses: I am a good specialist, so I can count on this.

On the second credit card, the bank automatically withdraws money from the salary card. About 900 rubles a month: 500 goes towards debt, 400 - interest.

How did the debt for housing and communal services appear?

When I began to live alone, I did not pay attention to the receipts for payment - this was usually done by my wife. I took them out of the mailbox and stacked them without even reading them. I thought that I would pay later, but for now I’d better buy something with this money. This went on for almost two years - during this time, a debt of 60 thousand rubles accumulated. I was lucky: the management company for some reason did not charge interest, but I just received the bonus and paid off the entire amount.

Then the debt began to accumulate again - and again about 60 thousand rubles in two years. I was hoping to get the prize and give it all away, but this time it didn't work out. At some point, the management company posted the lists of debtors at the entrance, and then they started calling me with a demand to pay - otherwise they threatened to turn off the electricity.

How were negotiations conducted with the management company

The conversation with the management company was tough: she insisted that I pay off the debt at 10 thousand a month, but for me it was an unbearable amount. The employees of the Criminal Code did not care, they needed to knock out the money. But I decided to stand my ground: by the nature of my profession, I can conduct a conversation harshly, and my complexion and voice have the desired effect.

As a result, I got a meeting with a lawyer of the management company and explained to him my position: I was ready to pay off the debt, but I would not find 10 thousand a month. We drew up a new agreement, according to which I repay the debt for two years: 2,5 thousand rubles a month. Since August 2018, I have not missed payments for the apartment and pay a total of 6-7 thousand a month.

At first it was unpleasant to give 2,5 thousand more from each salary, but gradually I got used to it. Naturally, every time you look at this money and think that you could use it to buy sneakers, books for your daughter, or bring a cake to work and drink tea with colleagues.

What is the bottom line

Now my total debt on two credit cards is about 30 thousand rubles, the debt for housing and communal services is 35 thousand. I was not allowed to travel abroad, but for me it is not a tragedy: I am not going there yet. I don’t want to change my job in order to get more, but at the current one I already work very intensively. In our area, the payment is what it is. Even if you want to, you simply won't be able to earn more.

I don’t know how much I overpay per year, and I don’t want to know.

This does not affect the quality of life, and the rest is not important. I have never been embarrassed about my debts - this is normal, this is how many people live, including my acquaintances, friends and colleagues.

I absolutely do not want to save money and do not know how to do it. I cannot accumulate the required amount and close my credit card debts. You need to observe payment discipline: keep a notebook or an application on your smartphone, but I don't like it.

I believe that you need to live for today. Tomorrow a brick will fall on your head, and you will not have time to spend the accumulated money. How many times has it happened: people saved up, and then all their savings were depreciated. And if you keep funds in the bank, the bank may close - then you will not receive your hard-earned money either.

Story 2. Not paying for utilities, hoping for debt cancellation

Maria Alexandrova Borrowed 100 thousand rubles to pay off the bailiffs.

How it all started

Seven years ago, a difficult situation arose in my family: my father got a disability and lost his job, and my mother was a housewife and had never worked before. The family has two children: me and my sister. We went to school and couldn't work yet.

There was almost no money: my mother got a job, but her salary was enough only for food and daily expenses. Dad had a disability pension, but it was entirely spent on the monthly mortgage payment. There was no money left to pay for the communal apartment. This went on for about a year.

Then the management company changed - our debt was simply written off. The debt of about 100 thousand rubles disappeared by itself.

By that time, the family got better with money. Mom worked, dad had a pension, and I went to university and started working in sales. Therefore, when our management company changed, we began to pay for housing and communal services without delays. Neither my sister nor I knew about the story of the wonderful debt relief. We would never have learned anything if it hadn't happened again, only with consequences.

How did debt appear

In 2017, money got tough. At work, my mother's salary was severely cut, and there was nothing to pay for the communal apartment: more than 7 thousand rubles a month had to be paid. Then the parents thought: "If it turned out not to pay once, maybe try the second time - what if the debt will be written off again?" But that did not happen.

Parents have not paid for utilities for over a year, and during this time we have accumulated a debt of 130 thousand rubles - these are debts for utilities and overhaul.

What happens if you do not pay for utilities

During the entire period, while the parents ignored the payments, we were not touched: there were no letters, no calls, no threats to turn off the hot water or sue from the new management company.

The debt would have accumulated, if at a certain moment my bank card had not been blocked, on which all the money lay - about 15 thousand rubles.

The first thing I thought then was: "Was I robbed?"

But the same thing happened with the cards of mom and sister. The father's card was not blocked because it receives a disability pension - it cannot be blocked by law. At that moment, the parents told us the story of the first debt and why they decided not to pay the second.

We were shocked: we were seized by a mixture of panic, fear and not understanding what was happening. Nobody explained what happened and why the cards were blocked. I thought of going to the site of bailiffs: there you can check debts by name and date of birth.

Having driven in our data, we found that the case was handed over to bailiffs. He was considered in court without us, and we did not even receive a summons against him.

After that, I found out that this is how it happens: people are not called anywhere, the court in batches approves the claims of the communal systems and gives the cases to the bailiffs.

How to repay debt

We were lucky: dad had familiar bailiffs in the district office, so our cards were unblocked, although, of course, the money was not returned from them. They were written off against the debt. There was no exit.

At that time, we needed to pay off as quickly as possible: penalties were charged on the amount owed every day. When the amount of debt is small, such penalties do not make the difference.

But we owed 130 thousand rubles, so penalties grew like a snowball: more than 25 thousand of them had accumulated over the year.

In addition to the debt, it was necessary to pay a communal apartment for the current month - about 7 thousand.

The whole family paid off debt for three months: my sister and I studied on a free visit and worked full time. I'm in sales, sister of a designer. Additionally, I borrowed 100 thousand rubles from a friend. Thanks to this money, we paid off the bailiffs so quickly and closed the story.

I repaid the debt to a friend together with my sister: she was 10 thousand, I was 23. We finished it in three months. I had to save, but I did not deny myself everything. I went for walks less, did not buy new clothes, cosmetics and stopped saving money, which I always do.

The most interesting thing is that as soon as we began to repay the debt, a hassle began: we began to receive letters threatening to turn off the drainage system and hot water, to block accounts. We had to go to court bailiffs several times to show payment receipts - nothing could be decided either by phone or by e-mail. Even three months later, when we had already closed the debt, we again had to go there with all the documents and prove that we did not owe anything.

What is the bottom line

It was the most unpleasant situation, such things must be controlled. If at a certain moment you think that you will stop paying and it will not matter to everyone - yes, for a while it will be so. But then you will have to quickly disentangle the situation, and if it does not work out, you will endure your brains and waste your nerves by communicating with the bailiffs. I don't see the point in that. I felt myself that it is better to pay monthly.

Story 3. Take a loan for a wedding and not pay, offended by the bank

Anastasia Fedorova Took a loan for a wedding that did not take place.

How it all started

In the fall of 2012, the guy proposed to me: he invited me to a restaurant for nine months of our relationship and said that he wants to be together always. We decided that we would get married in a year, and began to plan a wedding: we applied to the registry office, booked a restaurant. The guy took care of the expenses, but my grandmother believed that we should pay for the dress and haircut ourselves.

I started looking for a wedding dress - I was guided by 30-40 thousand rubles. We didn't have any savings, so my grandmother insisted on a loan. Her opinion was important to me, because I grew up with her: my mother gave me and my sister to her upbringing, while she herself earned our livelihood.

My grandmother was not approved for a loan, so she asked me. I tried to argue: there is still time before the wedding, why rush? But she insisted. As a result, I took 90 thousand rubles in cash for five years (this amount was approved by the bank) and gave all the money to my grandmother before the wedding - for safekeeping.

How did debt appear

The monthly payment was small: 2,200 rubles. The first payments on the loan were paid by my grandmother, and then I began to pay. Sometimes my mother helped with the money. I was then a fourth-year student and worked in my specialty (at the request of the heroine, Lifehacker does not disclose the field of activity. - Ed.). The salary was 4,700 rubles, but with all the part-time jobs it came out 8-10 thousand a month.

At the beginning of the summer, my grandmother suddenly became ill. She was taken to the hospital, had an urgent operation, but it did not help: she died without leaving a coma. There was mourning in the house, and we postponed the wedding for a year. When they moved away a little, my mother offered to look for money.

My grandmother lived in her house, so there were many places where you can hide money. We turned the whole house over and found nothing.

There was no despair. Until recently, my mother and I thought that we would find the money: you never know where the old man put it. The search lasted for about six months, but we did not find any money anywhere and we simply accepted that there was no money. After the death of my grandmother, we learned that she had a lot of debts and her own unsecured loan.

In the fifth year, I started having problems with my studies: I worked and could not go to classes, so they began to threaten me with expulsion. I had to quit for a while in order to graduate from the university. There was nothing to give the loan with. Mom did not have extra money, and the guy refused to help, saying that he did not take the loan - it was not for him to clean up.

What happens if you don't pay a loan

I decided to explain the situation to the bank: I called and told my story. That my grandmother died, and 90 thousand, which I took on credit, no one knows where. That I am temporarily out of work and for several months I have nothing to pay the loan with. I asked for a deferral of payments, to which I was told what I had to think about when I took out a loan.

I was offended by the whole world and just stopped paying. Five years later, I can say that it was a big stupidity.

Now I would do everything to find money, but then there was nothing to pay, I myself was dependent on the guy. I thought only about the present: I need to study, and the debts will wait. There was no fear that this would turn into much bigger problems. I took it too irresponsibly.

A month later, there were calls from the bank: employees frightened with fines and fines. Six months later, the collectors began to call. They frightened me with real things: they explained that penalties were coming, that they would sue me and describe my property, that they would take half of my salary and close my exit from the country. They called often: every day several times, starting in the early morning. Collectors somehow managed to find the phone number of my former work - within six months they called there too.

At some point, the calls stopped and I received a subpoena. There was nothing interesting at the trial: I admitted my guilt, I was ordered to pay 122 thousand rubles and sent to the bailiffs to get the details for payment.

How the communication with the bailiffs proceeded

A hassle with the bailiffs began. It turned out to be difficult to get to them: I was registered with my grandmother in the house, so I belonged to the police department 40 km from the city. The second problem is inconvenient office hours twice a week. The third is huge queues.

It turned out to be much more difficult to talk with the bailiffs than with the collectors.

I had to communicate with a formidable obese woman in uniform. She demanded to pay half of the debt at once, otherwise they would take away my property or deduct 50% of my salary. As I was later told, the bailiffs have their own KPIs: if a person comes to them for the first time, you need to pressure him to pay as much as possible.

At the same time, the employee did not give me the actual details - where exactly to transfer the money. According to her, the court has not yet transferred the case to their jurisdiction, so there are no details. I wrote some kind of note with my data and the data of my relatives, asked to send the details for payment by mail - that's all.

How the collectors threatened

I had no property and no official income, so the bailiffs had nothing to describe. The only thing they did was to block a bank card with two thousand in the account. For three years after the trial, I tried to work informally and hide my income so that the bailiffs could not write off half of my salary as debt.

At some point, the collectors started calling me again: they managed to find my new phone number. The conversation was very tough, but legally literate. The girl had a well-trained, rough voice. I tried to explain my situation to her: I have no requisites, I am saving up debt, there is nothing to call me. She explained that my property and salary could be taken away from me.

She did not threaten directly, but hinted that I was afraid of physical harm. The meaning of the words was: "Walk the streets and look around."

She said that my case would be transferred to another collection agency - and then I would definitely not be in good health. I picked up the phone only once, and then I simply blocked all calls - there were 150 numbers on the black list.

What is the bottom line

Four years have passed since the trial, and six years have passed since I took out a loan. The wedding did not take place, we broke up with the guy and no longer communicate. Credit has nothing to do with it: we realized that we are different people and in the end we would still divorce. The point in the relationship was my dog: when he beat her, I packed my things and went to my mother. Then everything returned to him: he climbed into some kind of pyramid and burned out. Now half of his salary is being written off against the debt.

I never paid back my debt. I tried to save up in order to bring the entire amount to the bailiffs at once, but found a more useful use for the money: I changed four smartphones, made repairs, bought a fur coat, household appliances, and went on vacation.

I do not regret that I spent the accumulated money, but I am sorry for the nerves and the fact that I was so framed in my youth. I myself am to blame for everything: I was irresponsible and financially illiterate. Now I do not advise anyone to take loans for themselves or loved ones - it is better to save.

I want to repay the debt and can give 3-4 thousand a month, but I still do not have payment details. I still cannot go abroad and take out loans from the bank, but this is for the best: I learned how to save for things.

What to do if you find yourself face to face with debts

1. Don't panic and don't hide from the bank

There are different situations in life: you quit, got sick, broke your leg. You temporarily have no money, but this is not the end of the world. Do not change your phone number and answer bank calls. If you go into hiding, your credit history will get worse, and the bank will turn your case over to collectors. The next stage is the court and the bailiffs.

2. Do not take a new loan to repay the old

It is a serious mistake to incur new debts in order to pay off old ones. As a rule, people take out a new loan in a hurry, so the conditions for it are unfavorable: a high interest rate and a large overpayment. When you come to your senses, you will understand that you did it even worse.

3. Try to negotiate with the bank

Call the bank and explain the situation:

• If money appears in the near future, ask for a new payment schedule.
• If there is no money for several months, ask for a deferral.
• In an extreme case, agree on a debt restructuring - then the bank will revise the terms of the loan and draw up a new agreement. The monthly payment will be less, but the payment period is longer.

4. Speak the truth

Don't promise the bank to pay tomorrow if you can't actually do it. Thus, you reduce confidence in yourself. It is better to honestly say that you are not able to pay for several months, and scan documents proving your position: sick leave, doctor's report, order of redundancy, death certificate of close relatives.

5. Pay as much as you can

Don't run out of debt and pay at least the amount you can. If you have several debts, ask them to consolidate - to collect them into one. Then, instead of several payments, there will be one common one. As a last resort, sell part of your property: a car, large household appliances, jewelry. Tell the bank that you are going to sell the collateralized property - this will stop them from transferring the case to collectors or to court.