> I've never earned above £0, and at this point it's too late to care

If you have never earned above 0 at age 37, that suggests that you have a personal situation that actually prevents you from working, not so different from a disabled person might face. Just as tragic is the fact that people who do work full time and earn very little also end up in similar debt spirals.

In benevolent societies such people might end up being helped by the social safety net, but in less benevolent societies, they often end up on the streets. There are active experiments in decreasing benevolence right now across many societies.

it’s not terribly uncommon even in the UK to be generationally unemployable.

Homelife being bad = bad grades

bad grades = no support for further education

no basic (or further) education = disadvantage in entry jobs

no experience in entry jobs = red flag for employers (even for other entry level jobs in future where better educated folks fresh from school are also applying).

The larger the gap, the bigger the red flag.

I was in this trap, I just struck a particular lottery that the thing I love most (computers) was a booming industry which had no formal education requirements.

It's amazing how much upward mobility software development has provided to countless people that didn't finish high school or university.

Story of my life.

I work and earn money, my balance has never been above zero. Worded it clumsily maybe.

I don't know if it would be useful to you, but perhaps try reading some of the blog posts on earlyretirementextreme.com. Lots of good ideas there on how to save money, be frugal, etc.

Or read a book like "Your money or your life"

> I've never earned above £0, and at this point it's too late to care.

You're a sysadmin and what not -- how can that be?

Low salary for the role in my local area and not moving to a city when I still had the ability to take credit out

It sounds to me like you don't need income from labor. I'm not going to cry for you.

He’s indicated in a sibling thread that he’s not looking for sympathy.

He’s trying to help you empathise that in reality these kinds of holes are really difficult to escape from; moreso than you think on first glance. It’s also very easy to fall into them even if you think you’re immune. Most people are about 2 bad decisions from poverty.

In light of that, your response is just horrible.

Most people spend insane amounts of money on things they don't need to impress the people they don't like.

Two hypothesis:

1) The nature of interest in unsecured loans is high interest (almost by definition) and increasingly so if you are seen as a credit risk. Thus small debts compound over time making them unbearable for longer.

2) Our friend is merely Keeping up with the Jones’ despite never going above a zero balance.

One of these is uncharitable and ridiculous- the other is a known issue that keeps people in poverty.

I’ll let you figure out which.

I guess I wasn't being clear: I wasn't talking about the person from this thread!

You said:

> Most people are about 2 bad decisions from poverty.

My reaction was to this. I agreed with you, and added the cause: utter financial recklessness. People spending money on things they don't need instead of saving say a quarter of their salary.

For some time I was earning a couple times the average salary in my region of the world. Yet I found that spending about the average salary was more than enough to live a very comfortable life. I feel this is not the norm for whatever reason: most people inflate spending to match their income, and then they're 2 bad decisions (or even some bad luck) from poverty.

No consolation needed - if I come across as woe is me it's not the intention. It is what it is and all that. I've got food, I've got shelter. It'll do.

You're born, you keep your head down, and you die - if you're lucky.