‘Being honest about my debts is helping others — and it’s helped me’

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This article is the latest part of the FT Financial Literacy & Inclusion Campaign

Dealing with £40,000 worth of credit card debt would be a source of shame for many people, but 34-year-old Megan Archer-Fox has won a legion of followers by talking openly about it on social media.

Known as “That Girl In Debt” on TikTok and Instagram, she visited the FT’s London offices this week to take part in a webinar sharing her experiences for the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign (Flic).

She and her partner built debts by using 0 per cent credit cards in their twenties. “It felt like free money,” she admitted at the event. “We loved going out to dinner. We loved having holidays. We both had professional jobs and we didn’t have kids.”

When one 0 per cent interest period ended, the couple would transfer the balance to a new credit card. However, they never closed their old cards. Her partner, who works in finance, twice used his annual bonus to pay down their debts. But the couple didn’t change their spending habits and their debts became unmanageable after they had children.

“When I was on maternity leave, the credit card wasn’t being used for fun and holidays, it was being used for the Tesco shop, petrol and nappies. That’s when it all got a bit too real,” she said.

Although Archer-Fox and her partner did not seek formal debt advice from an independent charity like StepChange or Citizens Advice, she urged anyone struggling to consider doing so.

Having taken the scary step of adding up the total debt on their overdrafts and six credit cards, they drew up a budget for the first time, figuring out they could afford to clear around £600 a month. “But we had to stop spending on the cards,” she said, stressing that their journey towards becoming debt-free “was anything but linear”.

As an exercise, she added up what she had spent on balance transfer fees and interest costs on just one of her credit cards, and was shocked to find it came to £2,700.

The taboo and shame surrounding debt has meant that the response to her posts about paying down debt has been huge. “I’ve had so many messages and comments from people online who said, ‘this is me’. They were so glad I was saying these things out loud, as they had been so worried and scared about it.

“Being honest about my debts is helping others — and it’s helped me.”

To watch a recording of the webinar, go to FT.com/event.