Post lightbulb moment...

madmalteaser

While I've not been the most regular member of the board, things have slowly started to improve since my lowest point re my debts in the New Year. To recap on my situation: I have approximately £10000 in credit card debts, spread out over 4 different cards, a loan of £12000 which is now down to £9500 and my car which is approx £10000. I also had an overdraft of £850 which I was going over every single month.

I was at a critical situation at the beginning of this year, my wages barely covering my debts leaving me with absolutely no money for food or other necessities each month. But the last six months have slowly started to see things turn around a bit.

While my debts are not greatly reduced, I've got a lot smarter about paying them back and I've also had a little help. After reading lots of posts on this site about other peoples' debts, I suddenly realised I wasn't in as terrible situation as I thought I initially was. Yes, I am in debt, and yes, I am struggling to pay them back, but compared to some on here I consider myself to be quite lucky.

My income each month is £1200 after tax. I've been a good girl and have been averaging 40 hours overtime each month which gives me an extra £400 in my pay packet. My boyfriend, who I finally told about my debts, has been absolutely wonderful. He has taken on my Capital One card and thinks he will have it paid off by August, that's one less outgoing bill for me! As well as that, he has taken possession of all my credit cards and I haven't used any of them now since November of last year.

The first three months of this year were one hell of a struggle without them, I can tell you. I had to get resourceful, selling items on ebay to get enough cash to buy food, and at one stage I even managed to find £6.50 worth of clubcard vouchers and bought nearly a months worth of food with that amount. I can't tell you how I did that, suffice it to say I was living on rice and beans on toast for quite a while. The boyfriend has helped me there too, one month taking me food shopping, which I couldn't have managed without.

My situation was improved further still in April when I finally received the back pay owing to me for the last 2 years from work. It came to around an extra £1000 in my pay that month, which has got me well and truly out of my overdraft, one of the biggest weights on my shoulders has finally been lifted making each month that much easier to carry on.

I'm quite proud of the fact that I've managed to clear some little debts that had been niggling away on my conscience. I had 2 outstanding debts of approximately £80 each with book clubs which I've cleared, and an outstanding balance on a BHS store card which is now down to zero. There's no greater feeling than getting that balance through the post! I do have one more store card to clear, but it's going down gradually and I'm confident that will be gone by the end of the year.

Basically, I just wanted to post and say thank you to everyone on this forum. You are the people that have made me realise it's ok to admit you're in debt and to not be ashamed about the fact. The more people that know about it, the more help you can get to work your way through them. I could not have managed without the help of my wonderful boyfriend and peoples' success stories on here has given me the inspiration to keep going.

Thank you so much everyone! I will be debt free, I know it! :j

gallygirl

:j :j :j :j Well done madmalteaser! It's great to hear your story. You're lucky to have such a lovely OH who's helping you. Keep up the good work!

sammy115

Well done, I love to hear stories like this. Its a good feeling to pay off a debt (even a small one)! I did my first yesterday.

chick-chick

Sounds like you're definately on the right track madmalteaser. Keep up the good work, and your boyfriend sounds like a great support :T

newleaf

Well done you! I'm fairly new here myself and just starting on the road to recovery, so it's great to hear from people like you. Thanks for posting.

jessicamb

Well done!

Annie021063

Well done to you.
I am a new DFW and just to hear your story is really inspiring. I agree with you that it is the help and suport from this site, which is worth it's weight in gold, that makes all the difference.

In_Search_Of_Me

Yahoo!! Well done you, sounds like you've been going great guns! What a lovely OH you have. Keep up the good work...its so encouraging to see people getting out of debt! Well done!

Sea78

Hi,

Great to hear that you are doing so well - I agree that this forum is fantastic for support and advice.

It's lovely to hear how people are doing when they are feeling so positive

Sea xxx

Donedoingdebt

Well done, nice to hear. At least you know your relationship is strong, surviving you having lived on beans for a month!

tesuhoha

Keep up the good work!