30 Years of Mabs
Firstly it has been a while. Life can be so so busy for me, I neglect my blog a bit. Well not a bit but a lot! There has been a lot of standing still the last few months. I have been figuring out where I am going with everything.
I am going to encourage you to step back with me 10 years ago.
Ireland was in the grip of recession. The bottom had fallen from most sectors. Even as I write this it feels like a million years ago now but in reality I am only out the other side now.
10 years was the first time I found myself in true financial difficulties. I was newly separated, 3 kids under 7 and was unemployed. I had lost my job due to funding being pulled from my sector, I had an overdraft maxed at 3k and a credit card at 10k. I wasn’t meeting my mortgage payments or any payments per say at this stage.
This continued on for anther year. I felt like I had no plan, did not know how or would ever get out of debt, I just felt lost. I started googling helplines and looking for any guidance I could find. There wasn’t much help out there. I really would have loved to find the debt free community then!
One Friday night I rang a helpline number I found on google. It was specially for the mortgage arrears issues half the country were having. I was told that night that “yes, you will more than likely loose your home as your home is in positive equity and banks need houses like this sold to make up the losses from people walking away from mortgages”.
The tears came. Then the feelings of total and utter emptiness at the unfairness of it all. What are you talking about? I had been a star mortgage customer! I had not only paid everything on time, I had upped my payments, I had been sailing towards being mortgage free before 40, I had paid bulk payments off throughout the term and now you want to take my home? On my family farm? Sending me out on backside with 25k in my pocket, 3 kids, no home, no job!
Cried for about 3 days. My mother suggested Mabs. I had heard about them but I was not fully sure of what they did. I thought they would laugh at my 13k debt and mortgage arrears as being too small. I was at that time out in work placement for college. I spent all day Monday thinking and thinking. Tuesday afternoon I rang them. The lady on the phone was so kind, I cried again! Btw I am not a crier at all so this will tell you my relief. She asked had I much credit on my phone. When I said I didn’t, she rang me back. She give an appointment and the rest is history.
Mabs is the first place where I felt safe. It was the first time where I felt yes things would get better and they did. This page is heritage to that. Mabs sorted my repayments. They took over all correspondence from the bank which was such a relief and a massive reduction in my anxiety levels. They helped me create my first ever budget and a plan to get out of debt. I walked away from that appointment with a handful of information in the form of leaflets and books. But most important a lighter heart and hope.
Mabs is 30 years old. They are not only there for when you have money troubles but they are also there as a support for when you see things are getting difficult. Mabs is a preventative tool, a fixing tool and a support I am proud to talk about. I was honored to be asked as guest speaker at the recent celebrations in Cork. I hope my story can help or guide anyone in trouble. I will always be grateful and thankful to my local Mabs office.
https://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/en/news/2022/news20220509.html
https://mabs.ie/news/mabs-celebrates-30-years-supporting-the-people-of-ireland-2/
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Diane taber
Hi I’ve just saw your website. And I’m new here with my husband.and I’ve really enjoyed reading your journey from where you started with budgeting and me and my husband are both really feeling overwhelmed by debt. And at the moment we’re really trying to get to grips with learning how to do a budget for the first time. As everything is new to us. And I was working. But my husband told me that I had to stop going to where I worked. As he said that for the hours that I was doing. And the money that I was receiving in pay my husband said that it just was not really worth it. But I loved my job. But it was only £5.00p. An hour on one of those 0 hours contract’s. And I’ve applied for another job and have had an interview but I have to do a crb. Which. Which is the to see if I have a criminal record and the bureau’s. Will check this out.but I don’t have a criminal record. But they have to check. And I have got to save the money to get this done.at the moment. And it’s just holding me up from getting the crb check done and out of the way and then. Then I’ve got to do about 26, courses to do before I can start working for them. So at the moment money is quite tight at the moment and god do I myself/and my husband/ feel the pinch at the moment.and just feel that we are just robbing Peter to pay Paul./ and just feel as though we are going round and round in circles.and getting nowhere quick. But reading your story has given us hope. But we need to know where to start with a budget is all. And we can start there.and go from the ground up. Until we’ve gotten our selves out of debt.as you really feel so ashamed when your in debt and frightened of any one knowing about it as you feel just so embarrassed by it. And if anyone found out about it. And they ever mentioned it you’d be just so really mortified. By it. And you’d probably just wish and want and hope that the floor would just open up and swallow you up whole. With shear embarrassment. And of course not really knowing what the heck to say.but I suppose that there’s worse things. In life than debt I suppose.and people talking about it.as who’s to say that the people that is talking. Don’t have problems with finances to. As you always seem to see other people running other people down. But I am really trying to get our lives together.and our finances all sorted out once and for all. And just start living life again.as when do you just live.as me and my husband have said that we have to get this sorted out. And we have said that we really need to crush debt. And send it on its merry way. Back to where it came from.as debt ain’t a friend of ours. As it just steel’s from every ones- future- if you let it. And that’s why I’m going to follow your website for inspiration and eventually I would like to put a little tiny bit away for the matched betting. But only just want to put a tiny amount. And do it very slowly as we are just learning. And I’ll have to see my husband to see if he can understand what to do with it. And we’ll have to see how it goes and just keep doing it slowly..as I’m just a little nervous worried and confused with it at the moment. And I really want to start building a emergency fund. Bit by bit. Until I can reach a £1000.00p.as I’m concentrating on doing this.as it’s really is important to me and my husband.. any I’ll have to go now as my husband has got to go to work. And I’m just going to have to go.and do the dishes from having tea/time. As I don’t really like. Leaving dishes in the sink.that need’s washing up.so take care and I’ll speak to you soon take and look after yourself.take care bye. God bless bye.