I had a perfect credit score, 750+ and one credit card at 0% interest, and they upped my limit to 14K. I was like ok - fine, I won't use it. I was making a pretty sweet salary after finishing up university and I had no debt or student loans. I decided to move back to my birth city so I could be closer to family. I did not plan the move or put money aside, and I had enough coming in that I could've carefully planned the move and had a 6-month emergency fund setup, but noooo.
As you would have it, the move cost a lot - and the job I had lined up once I got there, did not work out. I also moved at the wrong time - mid summer instead of December, in this new province I would be getting taxed 15% more and they were taking into account the salary I had made in the other province, so I signed a big fat 5K cheque to the government that year. So, no job, owes money to the government, and I have an apartment that did not come with appliances & they are kinda required (the fridge and stove at least). I bought everything I needed, thinking I have enough funds left on the CC to survive a few more months.
I eventually got a low-end job just to make ends meet, but it was only enough for rent, car payment and insurance.
Then, I landed a job 1.5 hours away from home, so gas went up to 300$ a month. I had to sell the car not too long after because the new job was barely paying more than the low-end one I had gotten before. I sold the car just to pay off the remaining lone I had on it (6 months worth of payments). I really couldn't afford them anymore and it was a humiliating time for me.
I ended up needing a root canal then, too, and I no longer had any dental insurance. All hell broke loose, really.
Then BANG. I made my mim. payment to my CC but it was late a few days. That's ALL it took them I swear. They were probably watching me from afar, cups of coffee in hand, and they cheered that morning I'm sure! They slapped me with a 30% interest fee and no one I could speak to would budge. Basically, interest was about 4 x what my minimum payments were. Interest alone was going to quadruple my debt. I was devastated.
I eventually got a better job and slowly paid off my debt. I also went from having a lot of money and being able to spend on luxuries - to the minimum for food, no cable, no internet, 2 jobs (fulltime career job and week nights and weekends). It was hard.
And almost 8 years later, my score is now at 700 (which I cried when I found out). I'm a lot more careful now, I have one CC at 4k, and I only use 1/3 of it for food and bills, then every 2 weeks when I get paid I pay my CC in full. It's a cash back rewards card so getting 100$ at the end of the year is always fun.
Hey, I never thought it'd happen to me. But it did.