Sunday 9 November 2014

Welcome- a little about me

Before I start I will answer the most common question I am asked on a daily basis- Why do you do this for free. Simple answer because I can and it makes me feel good. If I can make just one persons journey thru the debt minefield a little easier then that will be a huge win for me. 


Hello my name is Nigel. First and foremost I would like to state that I have no experience with blogging,telling stories or giving advice. What you see is what I am. Please feel free to offer me advice and even criticise if you wish. I will not tolerate abuse or trolls if you want to do this bugger off and start your own blog thing. 

Up to a few years ago I ran a highly successful business with a multi million dollar turnover. My family wanted for nothing and things were great- or so it seemed. I was so busy working within the business I failed to have a good look from the outside. Some not so clever decisions and an "it will be ok" attitude really did not help. Add to this an accountant who loved money( in his pocket) and a solicitor who had no real idea and I was really in trouble. The worst part of the whole deal was not letting my partner in on the dark reality that we were going broke.

I suffered at the hands of every scam and ripoff known trying to get back on top of things. The we will fix it for you buddy genius types saw me coming. By the time I finally admitted to myself it was too late I had lost everything. I was so broke I had to borrow money from my elderly parents to fuel the old bomb. Unlike some rich folk who hide behind companies and move money around for use later I had nothing no family, yes they ditched me also, no home - living with my parents at age 50+ was not good.

I had two choices.
The first was curl up in the corner and hide from the reality of what had happened- which I did for the first six months or so of my bankruptcy. I was too afraid to step outside in case someone saw me- I was so afraid that one of the people to whom I owed money was waiting around the corner. My life was a living hell. I had nothing no money no family no friends not a thing.
Option two was get a job and start to live again. Everyone makes mistakes. I did get a job and also started to see a doctor and psychologist to help with my fear of the public. Slowly but surely I also started to speak to my family about what had happened. My wife is a wonderful person and does understand why I tried to hide what had happened BUT I can still see the hurt in her eyes when we talk about it. It has taken over 5 years but we are back together - even the kids have finally started to admit they have a father.

During the time I spent alone locked in that room I did make myself a promise. I vowed to use my knowledge to try and help others in any I could. Debt collection is an area where I have gained particular experience. During those dark days I managed to keep the sharks at bay with a few simple but very practical ideas given to me by an elderly gentleman who was once a top notch debt collector for a somewhat unfavorable large firm who I will not mention at this stage. Selling the house and repaying that loan on my terms was also a huge acheivement. I will go into the detail of that elsewhere.

These days aside from running this blog and my free email advisory service I enjoy working for someone else- much less pressure- and also spend as much time as possible with my wonderful wife. The kids have pretty much all left home now but we still get to see each other on a regular basis. I am convincing myself there is life after debt and also there is so much more to life then work and big houses . As for the guilt of failure well that is a work in progress- maybe one day I will be able to repay the debts.

Please note that all my advice on this blog is taken from my own personal experiences and all situations are different. If you would like me to offer my thoughts then please send an email to nigelisgrumpy@gmail.com I will answer all requests personally. 

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