A woman who fell into debt after her marriage broke down was forced to rely on her daughter to pay for her food. Sue, 75, from Chelmsford, Essex lost control of her finances after going through a divorce.
Despite moving out of her home, Sue was left paying £400 of her now shared mortgage as part of an agreement with her ex, as well as rent for her new flat. Soon enough, the extra costs began to eat away at her monthly income from working as a librarian, which left her with just £1,200 after tax.
Things got really “serious” when she bought a new flat, and was now paying for two mortgages – her second one costing her £450 a month. After paying for the two mortgages each month, Sue was left with “practically nothing” and was forced to rely on her daughter to cover her weekly food shops.
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She couldn’t afford to drive her car and took out multiple credit cards to cover basic costs – soon switching to new ones with an initial 0% interest rate when one had maxed out. A year after the divorce in mid-2004, when her ex-husband had finally sold their shared home, Sue was over £1,000 in debt – which she says was “a lot of money” for the time.
Knowing she needed to take action, Sue joined a Christians Against Poverty (CAP) money course at her local church to get started. After 10 months of careful budgeting, planning and locking away her credit cards, Sue was able to clear her debt in just 10 months.
She now works with CAP to help others clear their debt – something she finds very “rewarding.” She regularly goes to Chelmsford Prison to teach inmates about debt control and money coaching.
Sue
(Image: CAP / SWNS)
Sue, a retired librarian living in Chelmsford, Essex, said: “I think the feeling of shame that you have with debt is awful. I had practically nothing. Because of the new mortgage I was paying for myself and that old one shared with my ex-husband, I had just enough money to pay for gas and electricity but not enough for food.”
“My daughter had to send me money for food but she didn’t have a lot to send me. Learning how to budget and manage your money is so important. CAP had an online budget sheet and they showed me how I can cut back and make my money go further – a lot of it is common knowledge now I think but certainly then it wasn’t. To now help others do the same is incredibly rewarding.”
Sue and her ex-husband got a divorce in March 2003, and she was left paying half of the mortgage. She said: “It got really serious, really quickly. I had to start paying for food on credit cards and I couldn’t afford to use my car so I cycled to work. You have to be very careful with credit cards. If you can only afford the minimum repayment – which is deliberately very low – the interest then eats away at you.”
Soon after, Sue joined a local church and within a few months started the money course. Sue said one of the best things she took from the money course was the lack of judgement of one’s circumstances. She added: “There’s no judgement and they also don’t ask you about your personal financial situation and they don’t expect you to divulge everything.
“There is none of that with CAP. We make that point to people that come for money coaching – it’s completely confidential. They taught me about gas and electricity – switching supplier to get a better rate. They knew all these things, which I didn’t.”
“It’s amazing how you can manage your money if you know more. I learnt about remortgaging my house to see if I could pay less. I also gave my credit card to my very best friend who I trusted so I couldn’t use my credit card for 10 months until I was debt-free. To physically not have the card was really really useful.”
(Image: CAP / SWNS)
Sue said she was finally able to “start living” again after clearing her debt and now works with others keen to do the same. She said: “It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant to be debt-free. It was like the worry went away”
“I could start living again and enjoying life – obviously very carefully but with the sense you have control again. I thought with the experiences I’ve been through that I could train as a CAP money coach. It’s been incredibly rewarding to help other people That was part of me being a librarian – being a helper is part of my make-up.”
“I’ve also been going to Chelmsford Prison to teach prisoners about money coaching. We go in once a month and we’ve adapted the course to suit the prisoner’s circumstances. It’s worth so much to them and the prisoners seem to enjoy it. So they have these money skills when they go out.”
Peter Snell, CAP’s money coaching expert, said: “It’s heartbreaking to see so many people struggling daily with the fear of not being able to afford the basics food, heating, light, toiletries, clothing. The sheer scale of this problem underscores the urgent need for accessible support, which is precisely what our Budget not Blues campaign provides.”
“We’re not just offering budgeting tips; we’re offering a lifeline to those drowning in financial worry. Our new Budget not Blues money coaching sessions for 2025 are now starting to go up on our website for people to book, with more being added daily. They are designed to empower people to take control of their finances, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to navigate challenging economic times.”
You can find out more about CAP’s money coaching sessions here: https://capuk.org/budget-not-blues-whats-your-money-personality