About a month ago, I bought a car in the and despite my best attempts, I think I have been ensnared in a debt trap. The purchase has taught me a lesson about living in the UK.
The past few months have seen me undertake gruelling driving sessions with a driving instructor that prioritises his student success rate over your comfort. During that time, I learnt that driving a car is different from driving in the UK.
Prior to moving to the UK, I had roughly ten years of driving experience. Considering how slow and organised traffic was in the UK, I always thought passing my test would be a piece of cake.
Sadly, I was wrong and I learnt that not only is passing mentally tedious, it is a financially draining venture. I always assumed I'd need four or five hours of practice to pass but how wrong I was.
Luckily, I passed on my first attempt but it came at a significant cost. Now that unplanned cost trickled down into my plans and with time constraints, I had to make a financial decision that put me in a debt trap.
More For Less
I've found that in this part of the world, you actually spend more when you have less. It's an interesting concept that I assume accounts for risk and other fiscal factors too numerous to mention.
The bottom line is that if you want to purchase an item, you pay significantly more for splitting your payments because companies charge interest for that.
The idea is that when you opt to pay monthly,in theory, you're borrowing the item or service and it's only fully yours when you've completed payment.
Anyway, after passing my driving test, I urgently needed a car to facilitate a new phase in our lives. Keep in mind that my original plan was to use the funds I spent on driving tutorials to buy a car.
Now that that money's gone, I was left with a life decision and an empty bank account. I started looking at websites like autotrader and found that you actually don't even need money to own a car.
The idea that you can simply walk into a dealership to take a car home was too good to be true for my Nigerian mind. Alas, that was the case and with an empty bank account, I left the dealership with a nice car and regular payments burning a hole in my wallet.
Credit Score Don't Work
In over three years of living in the UK, I've never missed any payment. This is because I follow a simple.principle of not biting more than I can chew.
This car purchase felt different because immediately the dust settled and the expensive new driver insurance and tax were factored, I realised the magnitude of the impact of the choice I made.
Don't get me wrong, I can afford the monthly payments. What dawned on me was the realisation that in taking that car, I was actually trapped in a contract I can't easily escape from.
My mind started spinning because it's a place I've never been in before. Lots of what ifs and buts crept in; I was doubting myself.
A week after the purchase, I was spiralling. I started checking quotes to sell the car and exit the deal. It was a horrible feeling that hurt my chest.
I think my biggest fear came from the fact that I'd be changing jobs in October and that would lead to some short term financial issues because of the transition.
I constantly worried about how my payments would be adapted to my new salary payment pattern and all of that. I simply don't want to be the guy on the end of the phone pleading for a payment extension.
I've since made peace with my situation and while I'm financially capable of handling all the payments, I know for a fact that this is a horrible way to live.
My view is that credit score matters but only to an extent. At the end of the day, there are many predatory businesses just itching to give you a loan for any endeavour and will not mind if you miss a payment or ten.
The credit score system, in my opinion, is flawed and somewhat predatory by design. It allows people with limited resources to access a life beyond their current means by making them pay more for it.
I've only been in the trap for a month and it's eating away at the seams. My plan for the next few months is simple and straightforward; work extra shifts, pay of the car loan and continue making enough bread to ensure that I don't get put into another trap when I buy my next car.