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Had my lightbulb moment in December!
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gilly41
Posts: 909 Forumite
Hi
I am 41 and seem to have spent my entire adult life in debt- basically robbing Peter to pay Paul .I had my kids very young - they are now both away at Uni- and my first hubby was totally useless with money. If we couldnt pay the mortgage he just borrowed the cash off his wealthy parents!
I got divorced in 1993 and lived on benefits for 4 years-having no money for anything apart from food and paying the bills.When i met second hubby and we got married in 1997 I was soo pleased he was on a good salary and just spent, spent, spent!!! How crazy was that? He has no interest in cash and what is his is mine and therefore i had total control over the finances!
I used his overtime to pay for a holiday every year- knowing that it should have really gone to pay off Credit cards, catalogue etc.
It has only been since the kids left home that i decided to get a grip -we only have one Credit card left now with a balance of approx £800 and a car loan which will be finished next June(2007).
I have made a real effort in the past 2 months to reduce our spending- changing gas/electric, car insurance, house insurance, mortgage protection, ntl and reducing our spends each week on food. I have totalled that up and so far made a massive saving of £1200 for the year(if i stick to the housekeeping budget!). I have also decided that we arent having a holiday this year- not even a few days in a Caravan in the Lakes- as the money will be better spent paying off the credit card.
I didnt want to spend the rest of my life in debt- thanks to this board and all the great posts i have been able to turn my life around. Not easy when I used to just spend and bury my head in the sand!!
My daughter graduates on the 12th July from Norwich Uni- a proud moment for any mum- so I am saving now so that we can go and stay down there for a couple of days!It is a 4.5 hour journey so cant really do it in a day as the ceremony is at 11.30am.In the past that would have just been put on the credit card!!!
Thanks again everyone!
I am 41 and seem to have spent my entire adult life in debt- basically robbing Peter to pay Paul .I had my kids very young - they are now both away at Uni- and my first hubby was totally useless with money. If we couldnt pay the mortgage he just borrowed the cash off his wealthy parents!
I got divorced in 1993 and lived on benefits for 4 years-having no money for anything apart from food and paying the bills.When i met second hubby and we got married in 1997 I was soo pleased he was on a good salary and just spent, spent, spent!!! How crazy was that? He has no interest in cash and what is his is mine and therefore i had total control over the finances!
I used his overtime to pay for a holiday every year- knowing that it should have really gone to pay off Credit cards, catalogue etc.
It has only been since the kids left home that i decided to get a grip -we only have one Credit card left now with a balance of approx £800 and a car loan which will be finished next June(2007).
I have made a real effort in the past 2 months to reduce our spending- changing gas/electric, car insurance, house insurance, mortgage protection, ntl and reducing our spends each week on food. I have totalled that up and so far made a massive saving of £1200 for the year(if i stick to the housekeeping budget!). I have also decided that we arent having a holiday this year- not even a few days in a Caravan in the Lakes- as the money will be better spent paying off the credit card.
I didnt want to spend the rest of my life in debt- thanks to this board and all the great posts i have been able to turn my life around. Not easy when I used to just spend and bury my head in the sand!!
My daughter graduates on the 12th July from Norwich Uni- a proud moment for any mum- so I am saving now so that we can go and stay down there for a couple of days!It is a 4.5 hour journey so cant really do it in a day as the ceremony is at 11.30am.In the past that would have just been put on the credit card!!!
Thanks again everyone!
Sealed pot challenge 7...my number is 2144.....started Nov 29th ....
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Comments
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Well done Gilly! :beer:In debt no more!0
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Well done to you... I had my light bulb moment in September and once you get a grip of your finances, although you are still in debt, you feel so much better for being in control...
Cutting back now will ensure happiness in the future... :jDebt at Highest: - £32'000
Debt as at 6th Oct '05:- £25'814
Debt as at 3rd Nov '05:- £24'489.94
Debt as at 2nd Dec '05:- £23'100.96
Debt as at 2nd Jan '06:- £22'638.64
Debt as at 1st Feb '06:- £20'271.35
Debt as at 7th Mar '06:- £18'939.63
Debt as at 6th April '06:- 17'334.00
Debt as at 4th May '06:- £16488.11
Debt as at 1st June ':- £14'291.40
Debt as at 5th July:- £13051.72
debt free - September 30th '060 -
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Well done i'm really pleased for you, and when you go to the graduation you will have everything paid for and no big cc bill to come back to have a lovely timecc debt ( end dec 05) 6485 :eek:
Currently:4475.73
Shopping for March
Week 1: £46.74
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
A+L loan but as I have already paid the intrest no point in paying it off early(dont get one) so going to save, save, save when cc paid off
The £2.00 savers club:£24.000
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