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So Ashamed but hoping sharing will help motivate me.
I am terrified to even write this but hoping it will prove a turning point. On New Years day I finally sat down and looked at all my debt and was horrified to find I owed £29,995 in Credit Card debt. It has accumulated over many years except for the last £10k which I accrued within the last year from mad depressive…
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Moved back to UK from Australia - pension
I moved back to UK in 2023, so this is the first time I completed a Self-Assessment (SA). I receive a personal Australian pension (monthly). However, I am confused with the tax issues related to my pension. I have received a K tax code and really need to know how to reduce the tax implications legally. The pension was not…
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Minimum wage, is petrol allowance an expense or not?
Hi I am an employed photographer for an estate agency. I am trying to work out if I am on a minimum wage or not. If I include the money I am allowed for petrol (which incidentally doesn't cover my costs) I am just over minimum wage if I don't I am under. How does this work? Thanks
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Loan options or lack of…
Hello all, Ive currently got a series of credit cards which I’m paying more than the monthly repayments on, unfortunately some of those cards are sitting with a 49.9% APR. Unfortunately despite not missing any payments and paying more than the minimum my credit score doesn’t seem to be rebuilding and I do use these cards…
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Don't Dilly Dally Dolly - 2025 and Beyond
So it's getting close to the new year and I've decided it's time for a new diary! Why not eh! I've got big plans and can't dilly dally any longer, I want to be; * Debt free in 2025 * Goal weight in 2025 * Mortgage free in 2030 Once I've managed to sort all that out I've got changes to make in the flat. New bathroom,…
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Mimis money makeover
I am sharing my journey to become debt free to hopefully keep myself accountable. I have been in and out of debt for the last 15 years and although I can pay everything every month I don't want it hanging over my head anymore. I have in total £28509.95 in debt. Some of these are front loaded interest so if I can over pay…
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Starting Over...
Hello, and thank you for reading. I have wanted to start a diary for a long time, but part of me has held back because of fear/shame/life/overwhelm...the usual, really. I read your diaries and posts and find a lot of support and comfort in them, so thank you for that. Essentially, life feels like a bit of a mess right now.…
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Feeling Motivated
Howdy and welcome to my DebtFree diary. (which I hope very soon will be a savings diary) I have been a long-time lurker on this forum and have learnt SO much, i just wish I had known about this site when I was £17k in debt in 2019 following a mixture of bad choice, bad habits and doing what I could to survive. But here we…
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Which to pay against first
Unsure where to post - lingerer but not totally au fait with posting. At the point of near breakdown with the extent of debt (15k) only fully brought to light through remortgage / monthly increases. Question is, what to pay first? Lots of 0% CC (£200 - £4K), but one has ended so interest is through roof and declined for…
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New Year, New Me
Right. I've got myself into a bit of a financial mess. Now is the time to sort it out. My current situation: * Credit card balances: £20,661.37 * ZOPA loan: £23,355.57 [took out this loan to consolidate previous credit cards... and then maxed them out again. Foolish in the extreme. Sigh.] * Pay in 3 loans: £1,129.16 Total…
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Affordability complaints
Evening everyone. This forum has been so helpful for me on my self managed DMP and I wanted to check in with people re their experience with affordability complaints. I have had rejections from Santander and also Novuna but have put these off to the Financial Ombudsman as I was carrying high credit card balances and…
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No regrets. We only have debt.
Having been in 59k debt, and cleared it with help on this forum, and now I'm back in debt due to renovating a house, I would make the same decision again. We now have a lovely place of our own for our family to live in, so I have no regrets about taking the decision to borrow to achieve that. Short summary: 2015 - 2017 ->…
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Becoming debt free within 18 months
Hello, Just an intro into me, i have tried many times but something happens as i give up. This time however i am not stopping. If i create a diary i will have to answer to myself. I am mid 30s with a partner who is studying and working part time and i work full time and study. We have a dd who is 10. I am going to try and…
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Here Goes...Starting Up on a Journey
Hi All, I've made some reckless decisions recently, tried to invest money, kept borrowing to invest more and lost it all. Ridiculous I didn't learn after the first one, two, three, ten attempts. But we are here now: Essentially I am up to my eyeballs in debt and have about the same amount of debt and interest payments)…
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Almost debt....free
Hello everyone! Long time lurker but first time poster. Hope new year has started well for everyone. I just wanted to share the progress that's been made since Jan 2024 and where I am now to keep myself accountable in the last few steps of the journey. As a background, I was debt free in 2023 but was lucky enough to…
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Trying to get the balance right
Hi all, Long time lurker over here 👋 and thought I'd finally bite the bullet and create my own diary. Mostly for my own self motivation and to keep tabs on myself as I am my own worst enemy at talking myself around or out of situations. I have stalked these forums for a number of years as I find reading other people's…
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Champagne supernova’s debt free to savaholic diary
Hi all , Im going to start documenting my journey to financial stability and security. I have a post about my DMP here : https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6509459/at-the-end-of-my-2nd-dmp#latest My story is as follows: Debts at their highest - £11, 274.34 Debt-Free Date (projected) - July 2024 Debts March…
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Old member returning in tough times
Good evening! I’ve not been on since the forum changed and goodness it’s taking some getting used to. I have to admit to being a sporadic forum user, life often got in the way, things got tough and I would let things slide. Unfortunately this is no longer an option. Not too long ago, my other half was diagnosed with…
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Debts to clear first
So I need your help I have the following : I now earn 30k a year work full time after a year of no work due to illness but I have 2 defaults from sept 25 now on my record one for hsbc £6200 pay £55 a month and other vanquish £2235 pay £15 a month I am in with lowel for another credit card £2250 no default pay £15 a month…
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Chasing that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
Welcome to my brand new shiny diary. I contemplated writing in my old diary again but that is just a reminder of how I start things and don't see them through. I started my last diary in November 2023 when I had £66k of debt, my total debt now stands at £39,575.66. My debt isn't going to disappear in 2025, I'll be lucky if…
