The Confessions

"I have been hiding the true extent of my debt from my family for four years. The number is significant. I have managed it alone because I am too ashamed to ask for help from people who would give it without question. The loneliness of carrying it is worse than the debt itself."

"I found a wallet in a supermarket car park with three hundred and forty pounds in it. I kept the money and handed in the empty wallet. I told myself the person was probably insured. I have thought about that justification almost every day since and I know it was nonsense."

"I split a bill unevenly at a dinner once, in my own favour, knowing my friend had not been paying attention. It was only twelve pounds. I do not know why I did it. We have had hundreds of dinners since and I have always been scrupulously fair. That one time still bothers me."

"My grandmother left me money in her will and I have never told my siblings how much. It was unequal and I did not want the conversation. They assume it was the same for everyone. I have used the money to build a life I could not have built otherwise."

"I borrowed fifteen hundred pounds from a friend eight years ago and paid back a thousand saying I would settle the rest the following month. I never did. We are still friends. The debt sits between us like a word neither of us will say."

"I accidentally underpaid my taxes one year and when I noticed I said nothing and hoped it would not be picked up. It was not picked up. That was seven years ago and every January when my tax return is due I feel sick with a specific kind of guilt."

"I told my parents my business was going well for two years while it was slowly failing. I did not want them to worry. By the time I admitted the truth I had lost everything. They were not angry. They were sad they had not been able to help sooner. That was worse than anger."

"I donated to a charity publicly at a work fundraiser and claimed gift aid I was not eligible for. A small thing in the grand scheme. But I presented myself as generous while technically being dishonest. That combination of vanity and dishonesty is not something I am proud of."

"I have a savings account my husband does not know about. Not for anything sinister. Just because having money that is purely mine makes me feel safe in a way I cannot fully explain. But the secrecy feels wrong and I do not know how to introduce it after six years."

"I was given too much change in a shop once. A significant amount, nearly thirty pounds. I noticed immediately and walked out. I have never gone back to that shop since, partly from shame and partly because I do not want to return the money."