Can You Live Without Credit? Please Answer.

facing_up_to_it

Hi, I'm new but didn't want to read your post and not leave a message. I hope your wife is soon on the road to recovery, debt is so stressful so knowing that you're starting your journey to be debt free will surely help her ( and you ). You have each other and at the end of the day that's what's important. Never lose sight of that. As for the car and 'appearances ' - in my opinion I think that there's a lot of people out there, family and friends included, living a lifestyle that's not sustainable and it's only a matter of time before the LBM. Pride is a damning thing in this instance because people won't/can't admit they're struggling with their finances and carry on ( in my own experience ) pretending everything's okay. You need to be proud of you and your wife for facing up to where you are - once you're on you path to getting straight then I'm sure people will be coming to you for advice. To answer your question - yes, we can live without credit cards - I burnt all of mine last night on the fire. How liberating that felt! I sincerely hope you both feel better soon, I somehow think that you will x

dancingfairy

I think it will take more skill on your part but it can be done - for example you will have to shop around more carefully for your car - as said before, the same with clothes etc - you may still need to look smart but buy carefully in the sales etc and look out for deals etc.
Can you get the lense/body second hand? do you genuinely need a new body for your camera? after all - you're only as good as your pictures - not the camera. Can you seel any old camera equipment to fund the purchase of new one. Or will the value of the new camera actually add to your business and be cheaper overall than getting a cheaper one that will last less time? It's about upfront cost versus how long something will last and whether it will give you extra value - ie the ability to earn more with your photography.
Value for Money is what you need.
df

theoretica

mikon wrote: »

Can I clarify a couple of things when I talk about image I mean I like to be smartly dressed ie go to work in a suit etc.. I do not wear designer gear I wear good quality garments. My car admittly I could drive and probably will move down market in the future. I certainly do not want to keep up with the jones because I like to be an individual and I cannot afford too.

I do photography at events so need to be presentable. Before I embark on the DMP I may purchase on my CC a new camera body how will this be viewed by the CC in a months time when they receive a letter offering a token gesture any advice on this? or should I abandon the CC now and forget the camera body and work with what I have which is old.

Thank you all

Have you tried looking on ebay for things? It is a great way of dressing above your means. Decide exactly what you want (try things on in the shop) and then put a saved search on ebay for things which meet those criteria and see what turns up.

On the camera front is your current camera working well and how much more money would a new one earn you? What are the 2nd hand offerings like?

Primrose

mikon - absolutely the last thing you should be worrying about is what your image is with other people. Spending to boost your image or self confidence is probably one of the things which gets people into debt in the first place.
Learn to be comfortable with a way of doing things with involves saving up for what you need, rather than putting it on a credit card.

As Elsie has already advised, learn to recognise the difference between NEED and WANT. When you sit down to analyse this you'd be surprised how few of our expenditures could actually go in the NEED column, rather than the WANT Column.

savingwannabe

Hi Mikon,
I had to go down to part time at work last year due to illness. I used to earn a lot of money and spent it just as easily. I was always one of the best dressed people in the organisation. Now i dont spend 100's of pounds on outfits, I can buy Coast, Jigsaw, Autograph at a much reduced cost on Ebay. Why pay 75 pounds for a skirt when you can get it for 12?
Noone knows and they cannot believe i can dress this well on my meagre salary.

Now for the first time in my life i am getting value for money and i am proud to do it. Good luck if i can do it, (and i was the most naughty spendaholic) so can you!

:j

dorisday

The answer to your question is YES you can live without credit!! In the long run its much cheaper - you are not having to pay interest, and even low interest rates add up. Something that costs you £10 can work out costing you £20 with interest. Some years ago I had a few credit cards and loans then due to things going wrong in my business I couldnt pay these debts - shall cut a long story down to saying I happily spent 7 years without credit and bought everything with cash and I didnt go without just spent my cash wisely, and of course saved for purchases that I made.
After 7 years I did indeed get a few more credit cards (stupidly) and of course the debt added up but I was lucky this time and by the time my business hit trouble again I had paid quite a bit of it off, I still have a few months to go to clear my cc off (heres hoping I dont lose any more income until then) when its cleared I shall keep one cc for for things like hiring a car but I shall be back to paying/saving cash. At least this way I can sleep at night.:T

nolongerindenial

I have had 2 light bulb moments in my life, one about 15 months ago when myself and my wife was made redundant with £30-33,000 in debt - not knowing where that months food was coming from, let alone my mortgage.

We were bailed out by my wifes father, who loaned us enough money to pay the bills for about 6 weeks, giving me long enough to get my business off the ground. since then the financed cars have gone, 1 credit card has been completely paid off (my wifes), we have paid in excess of 3000 from our personal debt with one creditor and reduced a lot of balances below the maxed out limits.

I was very image conscious, hence the newer cars than I could realistically afford. I have lived without credit for 15 months now through self discipline, still have no savings as every penny I earn gets paid off from creditors. There is a certain amount of my income which I can not justify where it comes from as to be quite honest - I dont know and am still trying to work that out.

I now see it as the following - and am living my life by this mantra's

As Hard as I work, my creditors work 3 times as hard to get my money from me, So for every pound I earn, I need to get £4's worth of value to enable me to be in profit!

andyD_2

Hi Mikon,
I have been following your posts and am in a very similar situation to yourself, have filled in my details on CCCS website and have been recommened a DMP, I can see this is my only way to go and am just building up the courage to go ahead am very very scared.

I have been living of credit for so long now it is a very daunting thought to not have it and am so worried about not having enough money although I have worked out my budget and have included everything I can possibly think of.

Anyway your posts have given me some reassurance and have helped knowing I am not alone. Hope I can get your courage to carry on.

eleanor73

I hate to sound like my mother. It is all about the pennies. Every month I pay my outgoings and have worked hard to get them down as low as I can. Then I divide what's left by the days left til payday. Then I try to fit in some 'no spend days' which means that some days I have double or triple my daily allowance (i.e a night out or food shopping day). So it can range depending on months but say for example I have £16.23 a day and I know I am going out for my brother's Bday on Saturday I HAVE to have some no 'spend days' otherwise by the end of the month I might be tempted to reach for my emergency credit card and will get myself in a right pickle!
This approach works for me and really stops me buying coffees, magazines, chocolate etc which crazily add up!

Good luck!

millym

I do feel for you as I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago when illness meant that I had to give up my job and the lifestyle that went with it.

I did a few stupid things at the time, like getting new sofas while my credit was still good, because we 'needed' them. Now if we need something, it's a genuine need, and my first port of call is ebay. We paid £10 for our tv on there. It's not a plasma or lcd or any of that, but it works!

I used to have so many sleepless nights worrying about money, but we've lived within our means for years and years now and it is the best feeling ever. We always have money in the bank, not a lot, but always at least a few hundred.

Why not downgrade your car for environmental reasons - carbon footprint etc, if image is a big concern. You'll probably find that others follow your example, or at worst, are slightly bemused by your green stance. No need to mention money at all, though you might actually enjoy telling people about all the money you're saving, bargains you've found etc, etc. (I know I do!)

It will take a while to adjust, but eventually you will find yourself wondering why you ever needed credit in the first place. By the time your 6 years is up I'm sure you'll feel very different about it all!