Our financial ruin led me to write a book (From Gazette)

Our financial ruin led me to write a book

9:00pm Monday 20th July 2009 in

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FOR a fleeting moment, Joanne Wood contemplated suicide. Having been declared bankrupt the mum-of-two was desperate.

It is easy for the rest of us to think Joanne was a product of the have-it-all culture we have grown used to over the past ten years, spending beyond her means and racking up debt.

In fact Joanne has worked since she was 17, and she and her husband, Tim, have not had a proper holiday in 15 years.

“Tim and I had a good living, but we weren’t flash. We didn’t go on fancy holidays or drive fast cars,” explains Joanne, 44, of Gorse Drive, Colchester, and originally from Corringham.

But endless letters and the shrill of the telephone from creditors demanding money at all hours had left Joanne frantic. “I got paranoid and irrational and I became agoraphobic,” she says. “Those were the darkest, most isolating days of my life.”

Thankfully, thoughts of her husband, who filed for bankruptcy at the same time, and teenage children snapped her out of her “weak moment”. That was three years ago, and she admits there is still a long way to go.

The couple, both journalists who run their own news agency reporting on criminal trials at the Old Bailey, made the decision to file for bankruptcy in December 2005.

Their problems started about eight years earlier, when demand for court stories in the national newspapers started to decline, replaced by celebrity gossip. Once making £250,000 a year, the business’ income dwindled to just £20-30,000 a year and the couple took out loans to stay afloat.

The downturn in business, coupled with a bad house buy, left them broke – and owing more than £140,000.

Joanne says: “In 2004, we bought a house in Maldon Road, Colchester, which was the nail in the coffin.

“The survey wasn’t done properly, and when we moved into the house we realised it was full of dry rot. We fought a court battle, but it was too little, too late.”

The decision to file for bankruptcy was not taken lightly. But with erratic payments for their work from customers, they had no choice but to call Colchester County Court and become another statistic.

On February 17, 2006, it was made official, and the pair were listed as “bankrupt 129 of 2006” and “bankrupt 130 of 2006”. The latter number is the title of Joanne’s new book, which uses extracts from the diary she kept while she struggled to cope with financial ruin. But rather than being a depressing read, the book is full of humorous anecdotes and advice.

Joanne admits putting food on the table was the hardest challenge.

Tim, 55, and Joanne lived off the slim budget allocated to them by the official receiver. They had no access to credit cards or much cash, and after paying the rent – the couple managed to do up and sell the Maldon Road home – and essential bills, the remainder for food was half the amount it used to be.

Tim found shifts at a national newspaper, sometimes working 18-hour days in the office and on their business.

The experience of the last few years has reminded Joanne of the value of cash. She explains: “Usually when you get a bill, you don’t look at it and you hand over your credit card at the supermarket. But now I was adding up the bill as I was shopping, and would put things back if I had to.”

Joanne is all too aware of the vast number of others in the same position.

She says: “In my generation, people who are bankrupt are seen as a complete failure and the stigma has to go. I paid my taxes and worked. I looked after my own children and didn’t get a babysitter. We are grafters who ended up in this position through no fault of our own.”

She adds: “I want financial security, but it has dawned on me there is no such thing any more.”

l For debt advice, call the Consumer Credit Counselling Service free on 0800 1381111 or visit the Government website www.direct.gov.uk. For more information on Joanne’s book, visit www.bankrupt130of2006.co.uk