Hypno's kick up the backside debt diary....

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Ok, so I know we have had debates about whether there are too many debt diaries or not, and I know that it is self indulgent to start my own but.....I am reasonably good at giving others support and the benefit of my amazing advice :rolleyes: but I am not so good at giving myself the same kick up the backside.

So, by putting it in my diary I will hopefully take some of it in and act on it!

So, the reason for starting today is because this week I feel as though I have hit a bloody great wall. We are snowballing and still have a long long way to go before we are free of this debt. We are doing everything right, rent out our spare room, don't have sky, don't smoke, have a shopping budget etc. I even buy stardrops for goodness sake - I really AM trying here.

Anyway, in the last month OH applied for an M&S LOB card and got rejected and I applied for a citibank current account and got rejected and it just seems that we are stuck with what we have got - high interest rates and no way of doing anything about it.

Our credit rating is officially "poor" although we are on top of all the payments and have never had a default or CCJ, so I assume it is the high level of debt that we have that is the problem. I spoke to a very nice lady at Experian who basically said try again in 6 months time. GREAT!

So, I need the motivation to keep snowballing - I have come this far and I need to keep going but it is SO HARD!

And to top it all, and to make me feel really bad, I got some extra money from my Dad's estate this week that I really wasn't expecting to get. I have bunged almost all my inheritance at my debts so far which has gone a long way towards getting things sorted but instead of bunging this extra at the debt, I have booked a week away in a fortnight's time. I had tried to convince myself that I could manage without a break but then........

So now I feel guilty about it - part of me says spend it and enjoy it and part says think of the snowball and what a difference it would have made.

So, humour me while I do this diary, and please feel free to lighten things up with your wit and wisdom. I promise that I will not always be this gloomy :D
Successful women can still have their feet on the ground. They just wear better shoes. (Maud Van de Venne)
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone (Neale Donald Walsch)
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Comments

  • Seaxwyn
    Seaxwyn Posts: 4,896 Forumite
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    Hi Hypno

    consider yourself humoured. I've always appreciated your wise and generous posts.

    Enjoy your weekend away and don't think any more about it. For those of us with BIG debts, the debt-free journey is going to be a long one, and we need to live along the way. (she says, drinking a glass of wine).

    You have shown yourself to be more than determined to get out of debt, so if the break sets your debtfree date back a month or two so what? By refreshing you it might actually bring it forward.

    I'll read your diary with interest. I don't think diaries take up space, I think they reduce space, by keeping so much discussion in one place.
    Total debt: 1 January 2007 £[strike]49,387.79[/strike] 1 January 2012 £[STRIKE]19,312.85[/STRIKE] 1 August 2012 £11,517.62



  • irishmist_2
    irishmist_2 Posts: 236 Forumite
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    Good luck with the diary Hypno

    I have found your daily small DFW achievements thread so helpful and inspiring, so hopefully we can offer the same support back to you.

    In terms of the holiday, I'd be of the thought that a good holiday could help add energy, and it could help to have a break, and then get back into snowballing again - so you have the good memories of the holiday to help motivate you on the tricky days.

    Good luck
  • southern_chick
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    Hi Hypno

    enjoy your weekend away, it's important to treat yourself occasionally well done with all that you have achieved so far

    SC XX
    slowly working towards being MF one small over payment at a time :T
  • Bambywamby
    Bambywamby Posts: 1,608 Forumite
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    Don't feel guilty about having a weeks holiday, life shouldnt be all about scrimping and saving. You can still keep your DFW attitude while away and spend carefully or you can let it all hang out and reward yourself with a few indulgences for working so hard.

    Diarys are fabulous insperation to read, so keep the entries coming.
    If people don't like them, the answer is simple, don't read them.

    Look forward to reading more.

    X X X
    *Frugal Living 2015* *Not Buying It 2015*
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~ MARK TWAIN

    27/50
  • GirlRacer_2
    GirlRacer_2 Posts: 3,026 Forumite
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    I agree with everyone here. Becoming debt free does not mean to stop living to achieve this goal. If you did that you would have surrendered under the pressure long ago. The holiday didn't cost you anything as you paid for it from money you weren't expecting so it's not really affected your debt-free date and you haven't put yourself in further debt to go on holiday.

    Go away, enjoy yourself and when you return you will feel re-charged and re-freshed and ready to plough away at getting debt-free.
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,228 Forumite
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    You've only been doing this a few months and already have brought your DFD forward by 9 months. It's natural to hit a lull a few months in, once the initial excitement and flurry of activity has passed.

    Don't waste your money on a holiday and then not enjoy it - enjoy a well earned break then come back refreshed and ready to fight the good fight.
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • atypicalblonde
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    enjoy your break hypno :) ... x
    MFW :)
    [STRIKE]Mortgage 8.2.15 - [/STRIKE][STRIKE]£171,064.64[/STRIKE] Mortgage 1.5.2018 - £99,980.45
    Aiming to be MF 1.10.2020
  • LookingAhead
    LookingAhead Posts: 4,633 Forumite
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    Hi hypno! :hello:

    Well now, all I can say is, I hope you booked the holiday in some sort of MSE way and if not well, naughty naughty however I am sure the world is not going to implode because of it.

    ENJOY THE BREAK it may be that you don't get another one for a while and if you didn't live a little along this debt free road (which is littered with tractors and caravans at times to slow us all up but that's life) then you'd go doolally.

    You do something every day on top of the big things you've already done (like take in a lodger for instance) so, the beating up of one's self must stop now.

    Big old hug and the chink of wine glasses to you! :)

    LA xx
    Bank Balance: In the black for the moment.
    Sainsburys Loan: Cleared July 2010
    Credit cards: AMEX Airmiles Card: direct debit set to clear balance monthly
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460 Forumite
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    Yup, enjoy the break, Hypno! We all have to recharge the batteries - as has been said further up, you'll come back with renewed vigour. And as for diaries..... I love diaries! I don't care what space they take up, I like 'em. You go for it!
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
  • moozie_2
    moozie_2 Posts: 3,063 Forumite
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    Hey hypno!

    Nice to have a diary from you - I'll be reading with interest!

    You are one super MSE-er so no more being hard on yourself! Enjoy your break and come back refreshed and with renewed energy to tackle those debts :)

    Be proud of what you have achieved already :beer:
    Leason learnt :beer:
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