AS Ellie Titmus silently sobbed alone in her living room so she wouldn’t wake her two kids while reading her credit card statements, she knew she had reached rock bottom.
She had racked up £23,000 of debt in four years as she struggled to make ends meet after becoming a single mum. But her easy way of making quick cash means she’s now nearly debt-free after just five months.
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Complaints handler Ellie, 32, from Birmingham, split with her partner in 2022 and found it difficult to afford bringing up her daughter, now 11, on a single income.
She decided to take out a short-term HSBC loan of £15,000 and a TSB loan of £8,000 to get by – £23,000 in total.
“Initially I took out the TSB loan with the intention of using it to pay off my credit card debt that had kind of snowballed by that point,” she says.
“I did pay off my credit card debt initially and the remaining money from the loan went on everyday spend.
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“The HSBC one I got offered through one of those emails that says ‘you’ve been pre-approved for xyz amount, apply today’.
“I thought ‘why not’ because I could afford the minimum payments.”
Ellie says the prospect of seeing her income drop as a single mum at the time was “suffocating”.
“It was quite scary obviously not knowing whether I was going to be able to afford food, rent, gas and electric,” she says.
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“I only had one child at the time and was having to pay for before and after school clubs – that took a big chunk of money out as well.
“I had no plan or way of increasing my income.
“I couldn’t work any more hours because of child care.
“It was quite daunting and suffocating.”
But over the next four years, she ended up spending a lot of her loan on “silly things” like £230 per month on takeaways and £1,000 in one month on online shopping.
“I’d be up late at night scrolling and think ‘that looks really nice’ and add it to my basket, and you’ve spent £100 before you even realise,” she said.
She met her new partner Lee Williams in 2023, but kept the scale of her debt a secret.
“I was embarrassed really, I think,” she says.
“It is quite predatory the offers of loans and I was embarrassed I had fell for it considering I’m generally quite good with money.
“But I was in a low place mentally and I suppose I lost the willpower.
“I was just embarrassed and didn’t want him to think less of me.
“I suppose at as well at the start I didn’t know how serious it was going to be and didn’t want to disclose it all for nothing.”
The couple went onto welcome another child, now two, but Ellie’s debts continued to spiral.
Tackling her debt head on
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It was in April this year when Ellie, who was five months pregnant with her third child, began to face up to her debt.
She had £7,713.13 left to pay on her HSBC loan and £5,896.31 on her TSB loan, and owed a family member £1,100 to pay for her daughter’s first month at nursery.
But she also had £8,404.78 of debt across three credit cards. So despite making repayments over the years she still had £23,114.22 of debt in April.
She was worried about her pay dropping while she was on maternity leave, and knew she had to take drastic action to start clearing as much of her debts as possible – otherwise, she wouldn’t even be able to make most of the minimum repayments.
“I felt sick and embarrassed that I’d let it get to that point,” said Ellie.
“I work for a bank, so financially I’m very literate, and I understand how credit cards and loans work.
“I felt really embarrassed I’d let it get to that point, but I knew I had to deal with it regardless and work through it.”
Keen to clear as much of her debt as quickly as possible, Ellie knew she had to boost her income and put the extra cash towards her repayments.
That’s when she decided to resell her unwanted items on reselling platforms and use the cash to pay off more of her debt.
“Anything I hadn’t used in a month or so went into a box, and I listed on Vinted, Facebook Marketplace,” she said.
“I am a bit of a collector, and there was so much stuff in the house, and I’ve had it all absolutely years and just got really strict and tough with it.
“It was the same with the kids’ stuff they’d grown out of and their teddies.
“I got brutal and thought I don’t need all this stuff; I need the money more than I need a house full of things”.
In total, she has sold 410 household items and has made nearly £4,200.
The second step was cashing in her investments and using the money to pay off more of her debt.
In her job she had the opportunity to invest and purchase shares at a “better rate”, which were taken directly from her wage every month.
When you invest in stocks and shares, you buy a small slice of a company.
If the value of the company goes up, you can sell your shares for more than you paid for them and bag a tidy profit.
“You choose how long you want the term to be and how much you wanted to dedicate and it runs for a set period of time,” Ellie says.
“When that matures and the period ends you have the option to sell your shares or transfer them to a cash ISA.
“I chose to sell them and put them towards the debt”.
When they matured and her set term ended in August 2026 she sold her £13,000 worth, putting £11,000 of it towards her debt.
The remaining £2,000 was split equally between savings and to help pay for her daughter’s nursery bills.
Her third step was to put more of her salary towards her debt repayments because she’s cutting back on unnecessary purchases.
On top of that, she is paying roughly £600 per month of her £1,900 take-home wage towards repayments of just her Amex card, plus other repayments. So far, she’s put £4,205.03 of her salary towards repayments in five months.
Paid off £19k and on track for a relaxed Christmas
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Now, she’s paid £19,000 in repayments but still has £8,700 of debt pay off due to rising interest on her debt.
She has since told her partner Lee about her debt-clearing journey and has shared her tips on her TikTok page, @chaostocash4.
“By posting online, people have shared the way they cope with curbing their spending habits and what they do to distract themselves.
“I’ve shared that there have been moments I’ve really wanted to spend money recklessly with really no reason other than a bit of dopamine chasing, I guess.
“It’s to keep me accountable, really.
“It’s been a really nice way of community building, in a way”.
Ellie says she is now feeling “a lot more relaxed” after making £19,000 worth of progress.
“I’m definitely a lot more relaxed, I think,” she says.
“I don’t feel like I’m so constantly counting my pennies or checking my bank account multiple times a day panicking in case something has gone out that I’ve forgotten about.
“I’m trying to reduce my budget and keep on top it to keep the ball rolling.
“I can enjoy my maternity leave now – I’m not going to be panicking or worrying about affording everything.
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“With Christmas coming up I’m not going to be worried about getting the kids’ presents.
“It’s slightly bitter sweet as the money should have been going towards a house, but the debts take priority.”
Ellie’s savings so far:
- Vinted – £3,700
- Facebook Marketplace – £125
- eBay – £370.47
- Salary contributions: £3,000 just towards her Amex + £1,205.03 to other repayments
- Investments (from her wages) – £11,333.30