All these stories have a common thread running through them: people being lent too much money by greedy banks and then being harassed and bullied by their lenders when, quelle surprise, they can’t afford to pay it back! I’m hopelessly in debt and it makes me so angry. For too long I’ve endured sleepless nights and months of depression worrying about it all. It affected my relationship with my girlfriend and we nearly split up because of my money problems. Now I can see clearly and I’ve basically resolved to go bankrupt because I know that in a few months I’ll be debt free. I already feel better just knowing I’m going to be free again. I have just finished reading the bankruptcy diaries, an amazing book that had me punching the air as the guy socked it to the banks. Regulus is right when he says in his post that the worst that can happen is that you lose a few possessions so you shouldn’t let debt ruin your life; they can take everything I own for all I care.

Has anyone else tried Hamster's strategy? I'd be very keen to reduce my payments to £10 a month but when you I speak to my various lenders on the phone they won't have a bar of it.