My challenge to me

AngelaSinclair

Hi there,

I thought it would be a good idea to declare myself as a debt-free wannabe! Having struggled with student debt, low-paying jobs as I started my career and a move to London without any financial back-up and not the most generous salary, I have £6,700 of credit card debt to clear.

My plan is to cut out all non-essential spending and pay off £800 a month and more when I can do some over-time at work. I really know I can do this. I can, I can, I can.

This month will be the last month of paying just the minimum.

So I hope by posting my challenge on here I can give myself even more motivation to get rid of the debt.

Here's to being debt free!!

cashsaver

Welcome.... there is loads of support on here..... good luck with your challenge.

Claire

AngelaSinclair

cashsaver wrote: »

Welcome.... there is loads of support on here..... good luck with your challenge.

Claire

Hi Claire, thanks very much! I've already started spending very, very little money to pay off debt, so I know I can live like this in order to pay my debt off. Mind you, not being able to buy clothes and go out for dinners will be tough, but, hey, people have it much worse than that, don't they?! Can't wait to sign a cheque for my first £800.00 payment next pay day! Will feel great.

Tixy

Go you Angela! - £800 is a great amount - Have you done a snowball calculation to see when you will be debt free?
You sound really positive.

Good luck

AngelaSinclair

Tixy wrote: »

Go you Angela! - £800 is a great amount - Have you done a snowball calculation to see when you will be debt free?
You sound really positive.

Good luck

Oooh, no, what's that? Sounds good! Thanks for mentioning it. I'm so determined to make the £800 a month and a bit more when I can get some extra wages. I think it'll be a test, it means buying no nice things at all and no hols etc until I'm in the clear and have some money saved too. I just got to the point where I realized that I was spending too many nights trying to get to sleep with this shadow hanging over me. After a while it's hard to ignore and nothing that you spend money on gives you any pleasure anyway when you have the debt, that's how I feel.

I cut up my credit card about 4 months ago so I haven't spent on it since then, has just taken me a while to get into shape to start paying off.

Bring it on! :j

AngelaSinclair

P.S. I've started by just taking out a set amount of cash every week and barely using my card at all and not carrying it with me. That way I'm in control of exactly how much I spend a month. It works really well! That plus packed lunches, planned dinners, cheap pastas, no magazines, less Costa coffees (my big vice) and borrowing books from the local library instead of purchasing them (my second vice) and I realize I have way more money to pay off than I could have imagined! Amazing what a few adjustments does.

poorandindenial

AngelaSinclair wrote: »

P.S. I've started by just taking out a set amount of cash every week and barely using my card at all and not carrying it with me. That way I'm in control of exactly how much I spend a month. It works really well! That plus packed lunches, planned dinners, cheap pastas, no magazines, less Costa coffees (my big vice) and borrowing books from the local library instead of purchasing them (my second vice) and I realize I have way more money to pay off than I could have imagined! Amazing what a few adjustments does.

This was how I retrained myself :T

The snowball is a thing that tells you which debts you should pay first and when you will be debt free. If you do a statement of affairs at www.makesenseofcards.com (look under the calculators) then you can check your budget is realistic and it will then shift your info into the snowball calculator for you too

ETA: I am a fellow London dweller too - :wave:

Tixy

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=uk
This is the snowball calculator - its designed to give you a debt free date if you detail all your debts and how much you can afford to pay each month. (For people with more than 1 debt it also tells you the order to pay them in to pay the least interest).

The set amount of cash idea is really good - if you struggle to stay motivated at any point you could join us on the weekly spend challenge - there is a new thread each week and its usually in the top couple of pages. Its for just this type of thing.

AngelaSinclair

Fab, I'm lucky in that I've only one credit card debt to pay off, and a tiny bit of an old overdraft that I've factored into everything. I love the idea of the weekly spend challenge. I've already got the shopping in for this week, transport's paid monthly and I'm aiming for a quiet week so I'll set a goal of £10/£15. Why would I need more - all I'm doing is working this week!!