Billy-no-Money's DFW introduction

Hi all,
I've been posting sporadically under another user name, but I've re-registered before I spill my debt-ridden beans as too many people will recognise me otherwise!


You'll see from my signature that I got pretty close to £50k unsecured debt last year; my lightbulb moment came when Barclaycard dropped my limit and MBNA bumped up my card's interest rate to 34.9% - in other words, I've become sub-prime!!!


I'm not posting an SOA as I've been following MSE for months now and picked up loads of tips; more importantly, seeing that people are managing to make real inroads into their debts has been an inspiration.


My LBM was in October last year, but I could only survive by covering the interest on my credit cards – I'd make the minimum repayment and then use the card again while keeping the balance the same.


Thankfully in April I got the delayed payrise – not much but enough to make a difference. My wife also got a redundancy payment and she's loaned me enough to cover the outrageously expensive MBNA card – but only because I could prove how I'd managed my money since my LBM.


This means my repayment rate has accelerated and I'm looking at a DFD of early 2013 – but that disregards any pay rises in that time as well as the fact my child maintenance payments start to drop as my kids get older. One thing I want to do is be debt free before the weddings start!


I couldn't do this without my wife :A– she's not bailed me out, this is very much a loan, but she's really supporting me emotionally as well (a lot of my debt came from the time after I divorced, and also when I had cancer five years ago and literally spent like there was no tomorrow – but I'm still here, and so is my debt!).
I won't detail the debts here; just under half the total is a low-rate (6%) consolidation loan which is lowest priority. I actually cleared MBNA by paying off another card with my wife's loan, then transferring the MBNA to that card fixed at 7% life-of-balance – so got a double saving - I'm still proud of that bit of nifty moneysaving!

I've lived the MSE way for eight months now – and I think I'm addicted! I actually live to a budget for the first time in my life, my debts are going down for the first time in my life, and I'm enjoying myself. I thought I'd end up in an IVA or even bankruptcy, but now I can see that simply repaying my debts is very possible, will be quicker and far more satisfying.

I'll post on here each time there's a significant step – hoping my progress can be an inspiration to others, just like I've been inspired. :beer: