In 2007 my husband and I slowly lost every single cent we’d ever earned. The process took about two-and-a-half years. At first his business started to fail due to the GFC. We had to cut back, then when things didn’t improve the home we’d used as security for the business was foreclosed, our car was repossessed and we were destitute.
I can’t quite describe what it feels like to have a four-year-old, a new baby and $236 in our bank account, with thousands of dollars of bills and no assets.
We survived it. My husband was forced to declare personal bankruptcy from which he was discharged in 2012 and now we are starting over, except now I’m 38, he’s 49 and we have three children.
It’s a real shit fight.
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Bank Of Queensland. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
We cling to the belief that real happiness is being happy, healthy and together. In reality, not owning a home or even an investment property feels like crap. We are debt free, but so what? We own nothing and thanks to the over-inflated price of property, new lending restrictions and stamp duty (which was meant to be abolished after the GST was introduced) we are in an impossible position.
And yet all our friends have been slowly building wealth and security for over a decade.
I was asked to visit BOQ which is the Bank of Queensland. As you can probably imagine I’ve had my fill of banks and their regulations, credit checks, criteria for loans and perky welcomes (until they realise you don’t have a pot to piss in and show you the door). Still, I’d heard only good things about BOQ. Could they be the fantasy bank that would actually help me re-enter the property market?