A woman who loved shopping a lot didn’t know she had to give the money back for what she bought with her credit cards. She ended up owing £40,000.

Maddy Alexander-Grout was only eighteen when she got lots of credit cards at her university’s freshers’ fair. She thought the cards were like free money and didn’t understand that she needed to pay back what she spent, says Manchester Evening News.

Now 40 years old, Maddy said: “I was hooked on shopping. I didn’t realise why I’d splashed out £40k. I took out credit cards and overdrafts. At one point I even got a university hardship grant, a hardship loan, store cards all sorts.

“I genuinely had a spending addiction,” she said. “It was my low mood, lack of dopamine. Now I know it was because of my ADHD I got diagnosed in 2021. It was out of control.”

Maddy started to be really scared every time she heard letters coming through her door in the morning. She was worried that people who wanted the money back could come any time.

When she was a student, she borrowed money and bought expensive shoes and bags, and often paid for her friends’ drinks too, reports the Mirror.

Maddy didn’t realise how much debt she was accumulating until she moved out of her university accommodation and had to take care of bills herself. She found herself unable to meet her living costs, which led to friction with her housemates.

She admitted: “I couldn’t afford to pay any of the loan repayments. I couldn’t afford to pay the minimum payments so it just got worse.”

Caught in a nasty loop, Maddy often resorted to online shopping as a distraction, which only deepened her financial hole. She eventually landed a job in recruitment but nearly lost it when a credit check revealed her monetary woes.

After confessing to her boss, she was able to keep her job.

She confessed: “They basically told me I couldn’t work with any banking clients. It was embarrassing. I had overdrafts with six different banks. It was horrible. It was horrendous.”

Things became so severe that Maddy started hiding her bills under her doormat as debt collectors hunted for her. Her mum also had to assist her financially on numerous occasions.

By the time Maddy was 24, the debt collectors managed to locate her in Southampton, where she had moved for a fresh start with her boyfriend. One collector tried to forcefully enter her home by wedging his foot in their front door,thus preventing her from closing it.

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Maddy shared: “The whole thing was really stressful. I constantly lived in a state of fear that I was going to be homeless. The whole of those 10 years were really scary.”

After a while, Maddy went back to Southampton and found a flat for £400 a month. She got help from the Citizens Advice Bureau to make a budget.

But she saw that even with this plan, she would still be in debt after 60 years.

So, for the next six years, Maddy saved as much money as she could. To cut down on food costs, she ate simple meals like tomatoes on toast and bought food that was almost out of date because it was cheaper.

She also started selling her clothes online and at car boot sales. By 2011, she had paid off all her £40,000 debt.

She explained: “I was working and being really strict. I started selling clothes online and at the car boot and things like that. I was just being really good with my spending. It was just basically six years of knuckling down.”

During this time, Maddy discovered she loved finding bargains. It made her happy to get a good deal and save money.

Now, she’s always looking for ways to keep her money safe, like not spending any money in January or buying second-hand presents.

The mum, eager to share her tips, took to TikTok to share advice and money-saving content with her 60,000 followers. She also started a money-saving social media platform, Mad about Money, to help others with their money struggles.

Maddy said: “Paying off debt when you have ADHD is really hard, but I changed it into a game – I pushed really hard and I am really proud that I managed to achieve my goals.”

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