I was bankrupt & homeless after blowing £250k when drunk…I’d buy £6k designer dresses & splash £25k on a single holiday

WAKING up with a pounding head, Claire Taylor caught show of the decorator buying bags littered astir her bed.

She cautiously peered into them, trying to enactment retired what she had bought, portion feeling sick arsenic she totted up the cost.

It was a script she knew each excessively well.

A mates of drinks implicit luncheon with the girls would crook into a fewer more.

From there, she would rotation disconnected for a spot of shopping, splashing retired thousands connected her credit card successful London’s decorator boutiques.

Come evening, she would caput retired for the night, polishing disconnected a mates of bottles of champagne, followed by 10 mojitos.

While Claire’s beingness seemed privileged, she was intoxicant babelike — and successful 2014 she was declared bankrupt, owing £250,000.

Speaking arsenic Dry January came to a close, the 59-year-old events manager says: “My beingness was carnage. I was retired of power but telling myself it was fun.

“I’d aftermath up successful the greeting with a crushing hangover and consciousness sick astir the wealth I’d spent.

“But I’d flight from those feelings by drinking more, and past I’d store again.

“I erstwhile walked into Roberto Cavalli and enactment £6,000 worthy of decorator dresses connected my paper erstwhile tipsy aft a vessel of champagne. Another time, I bought 8 pairs of decorator shoes, costing £3,000 successful total, successful astir fractional an hour.

“It was done connected impulse due to the fact that I wasn’t reasoning consecutive aft drinking.

“I’d enactment with my hubby astir my excessive spending. I’d archer myself it had to stop, but I didn’t.

“I consciousness ashamed and embarrassed astir my behaviour now.

“Far from stopping me, store assistants successful posh stores would often supply much fizz and promote maine to shop.”

One survey revealed that much than 55 per cent of america store erstwhile nether the influence, spending £4.46billion a year.

More than 1 successful 4 says that apparel are the archetypal happening they buy.

‘Was successful denial’

But Claire didn’t halt astatine clothes.

She spent thousands connected sunglasses, shoes and handbags.

She besides spent £25,000 connected a travel to New York and a cruise circular the Bahamas with her kids, Harleigh, present 31, and Ollie, 28.

It sounds glamorous, but arsenic the mum-of-two candidly admits: “Alcohol dependency ne'er is. I wasn’t connected the thoroughfare swigging retired of a vodka bottle, but my drinking enactment maine successful unsafe situations. I fto my kids down and yet became bankrupt.

“Now I’ve stopped drinking, I’m truthful overmuch happier.

“I’m determination for my children, I’m nary longer successful debt and lone walk wrong my means. I’ve gone from a size 16 to 12 and look 20 years younger.”

Claire’s drinking crept up connected her implicit the years.

The occasional boozy luncheon with her past husband, a businessman, followed by a splurge successful the shops escalated implicit time.

She says: “He sold his concern successful 2002 and abruptly we had a batch of money.

"What was erstwhile a dainty became a wont arsenic my drinking increased. When I shopped, determination was nary thought astir what I needed, lone what I wanted.

“If I saw a formal oregon jumper I liked I’d bargain it successful each colour. Some purchases I loved — I’ve inactive got each of the Roberto Cavalli dresses.

“Other times, I would enactment them to the backmost of my wardrobe arsenic I didn’t adjacent similar them.

“I erstwhile went done my cupboard and recovered 50 bottles of unopened perfume. I had nary recollection of buying them. I loved sunglasses and would bargain dozens astatine a time.”

In 2011, Claire’s matrimony came to an extremity aft 19 years.

She says: “We’d grown isolated and it had go toxic, truthful we split. Looking back, I spot my drinking played a part, but astatine the clip I was successful denial.”

Claire moved into a rental property and shared custody of the children with her ex.

She says: “Far from it being a wake-up call, I got worse.

“I was struggling emotionally aft my divorce. Between 2011 and 2014 I was surviving disconnected borrowed wealth — the slope fto maine support spending arsenic we had properties and investments betwixt us.”

By 2014, Claire had racked up £250,000 successful debt.

She says: “I’d person three-day drinking binges, retrieve for 4 days and past it would commencement again.

“One night, soon aft my divorce, I blew £1,700 buying drinks for each my friends. They ne'er disquieted astir my spending arsenic they spent lots, too.

“Another time, I was truthful drunk I decided to enactment successful a Mayfair edifice and spent £1,200 for a suite, conscionable for me. I didn’t marque it to the bedroom, passing retired connected the sofa.

“I booked holidays with friends and past didn’t marque it to the airport.

“I’ve mislaid number of the magnitude of flights I had to rebook, costing hundreds of pounds. I lurched from 1 catastrophe to another. I was banned from my favourite edifice for being obnoxious.

“I was erstwhile truthful drunk, the taxi operator had to transportation maine into my house. I shudder astatine the thought of what could person happened.”

But the happening that pains Claire astir astir those years is the effect it had connected her kids.

She says: “One of my worst memories is Mother’s Day 2014. They’d arranged a luncheon for maine and I was excessively hungover to get there.

“I near them sitting successful a restaurant, with balloons tied to their chairs, waiting for me.”

It was the aforesaid twelvemonth Claire was declared bankrupt. She was the unfortunate of a fraudulent concern and the slope chopped disconnected her spending.

She had to merchantability the erstwhile marital location to wage disconnected her indebtedness and, owed to the bankruptcy, she could not get immoderate credit.

But adjacent that wasn’t the world cheque she needed. “I had a batch of jewellery and watches, truthful I sold them, which paid my rent successful advance,” she says.

“And past I got a job moving successful a fittingness bootcamp. I’d spell distant for a week and beryllium successful an enforced detox. But erstwhile I got home, it would each footwear disconnected again.

“I couldn’t spend to spell retired successful Mayfair immoderate more, truthful I went retired locally successful Hertfordshire.

“I hadn’t truly changed. I didn’t prevention money. Anything I had near aft paying my bills, I squandered connected partying.

“In 2016, my girl Harleigh has a vivid representation of maine passed retired connected the sofa. She thought I was dormant and had to slap maine awake. No kid should spell done that.

“I consciousness truthful ashamed and embarrassed that it wasn’t capable to marque maine stop.”

Claire’s turning constituent came connected July 23, 2017.

“It was my mum’s birthday,” she says.

“She’d taken her beingness by suicide successful 2012 owed to dementia. I was alone, reasoning astir my life, and I deed stone bottom. That night, I went to an AA meeting.”

While Claire stopped drinking, it was gathering addiction adept Chris Hill (beatmyaddictions.com) that she credits for her transformation.

She says: “I wouldn’t person stayed cleanable without Chris’s help. He helped maine realise that I wasn’t depriving myself but gaining state from addiction.”

‘Gave maine backmost control’

She and Chris acceptable up a retreat to assistance others with addiction issues, moving it from a rented location successful Hertfordshire.

But erstwhile Covid deed successful 2020, the concern could not operate.

Claire moved to Portugal, wherever she present lives debt-free, moving a concierge work and moving successful lawsuit absorption for the Thai Beach Club successful Vilamoura.

She has remained sober since 2017.

She says: “I look backmost connected my beingness and I consciousness desperately atrocious for maine and my children. I was unhappy and buying and drinking to escape.

“Stopping drinking gave maine backmost power of each areas of my life. I present devour healthily, I ne'er drink, I workout each time and practise mindfulness.

“I privation different women to cognize that it gives you state — you’re nary longer trapped successful a rhythm of destructive behaviour.

“I anticipation anyone speechmaking this appreciates the quality being alcohol-free makes and considers carrying connected with Dry January.

“When I got sober 8 years ago, I thought giving up booze was saying goodbye to fun, and it turned retired to beryllium conscionable the other — and it could beryllium for you, too.”