I fell off the wagon

justruth

Well with giving the balances as they stand I am now officially back in the lead, I just have to get so that they don't drop too much! It's going to be odd as I know that my debt level will slowly increase again but the challenge will be to try to avoid it going up too much, while still working lots at uni and less at paid work.

I am now down to £12,166 and my short term goal is to avoid going past £13,000. I have paid most bills that I can, so it could be achieveable. I get my next student loan installment very early in Jan so not really that long to live on £834 plus whatever I earn. I have roughly £1200 in bills to come out (including minimum repayments) plus food and travel and DD. I get paid on Mondays so I know I already have some to come in earnings plus I anticipate earning some more in that time. It's going to be a toughy but I think I can do it.

determinedtodothis

crikey! i need to think of an action plan! can't let you have the lead for too long! *LOL*

glad to hear u are all moved in and things are looking up

DF412

Hi justruth,

I have been inspired by your journey so far and how well both DTDT and yourself have done over these past few months. I was compelled to reply to your thread as I have a similiar amount of debt to yourself (£12,059.49) and will continue to follow your progress as motivation for my own battle with debt.

I thought I had my LBM in August 2008, however I recently realised that I have the level of debt that I would have had by making my scheduled loan and hp repayment as I have now. I haven't actually made any MSE inspired dent in the c/c debt which was a bit surprising and demoralising.

After taking the time over the weekend to think how this has happened I am more determined than I have ever been in the past. Considering the reasons for my initial £15k debt and the rut that I was in, I am now content that my debt has REDUCED and not continued to go up.

In the past three months I have stopped smoking, seriously cut down on my alcohol intake, stopped gambling and started a fitness regime. Needless to say I am saving a fortune without the vices.

I have also constructed the most honest and realistic budget I have ever come up with. I am confident in the debt free date I have arrived at and in the grand scheme of things it isn't that far away.

I think I will be a very different person come that date as there will be a lot of learning and personal battles between now and then. I look forward to the journey and will drop in on you often for further motivation.

Thanks

412


p.s. the name DF412 refers to how many days until my debt free date from my true LBM

btw DTDT, my sig is ever so slightly based on yours, hope ya dont mind

determinedtodothis

Welcome!..and course I don't mind - it always cheers me up to read my signature when i'm feeling a little lost!

so the question is.....are you joining the race?...

justruth

Yey another player, although now I am not winning anymore.

Ah well.

I have a huge incentive to clear the debt extra fast now, when my dad brought the flat for me to live in, the agreement was that I would pay the repairs and any associated costs. I haven't told him yet but I got a section 20 notice yesterday that they are planning works on the building and I have to pay just over £11k! Owch. It's not payable until October next year and I can pay by 36 interest free installments, so I need to have this lot pretty much cleared by then!

justruth

Oh dear,..... My spreadsheet skills let me down, and I suddenly realised that my credit card (I have been using it for online purchases etc while they're at 0%) was not included on the spread. It now appears that I am way behind! I have £270 to last me till January if I want to stay within my £13k debt level. That sucks!

On the positivie side, I still think it's achieveable! I have some work and some money coming in so it's going to be a tougher challenge for me but I'm still going to try.

determinedtodothis

Ahem....i think an update of the sig is in order!!! *LOL*

justruth

updated

determinedtodothis

Just thought i'd check in :-)

hows the new pad?

justruth

New pad is great, I should get furniture this weekend and everything lol.

Need to get some more cash in but had a good working weekend. I have a little more to come in in the next few weeks but determined to avoid spending too much in the short term. Will update the sig at some point but since I'm defo losing I am not to concerned about putting it up too fast.