Hope to inspire

*Dusty*

Howdy all. Been reading around the forums for a while now, long term lurker one might say.

I just read a lot of peoples desperate stories and all of a sudden the debt i thought was so bad, really isn't. it's still not great, don't get me wrong but with a bit of motivation i'm on top of it all now for the first time in years.

long story short, took out a credit card years ago, enjoyed myself, took another one on a balance transfer and in several moments of weakness found myself on holiday and really living the high life, and so it continued.

last year was the peak of it, 4 cards, all maxed out, loan etc total debt around £20k, to top it off working for an american multinational company, i ended up losing 30% of my wages and was really struggling., just making minimum payments and no more. Literally every penny of my wages went on bills.

I knuckled down and currently work full time and run my own business at the weekends, quit smoking, been saving hard, and have it down to 2 cards now, and about £12k debt in less than a year, i've been doing without the luxuries for me, so the rest of the family could have theirs. It can be done folks, you just need to want it bad enough

yes I've still a fair big heap of debt but i feel like my shovel is bigger now, i've transferred balances and chopped up the old cards, isntead of spreading a set amount over 4 cards, its now over 2 and i'm making real inroads. I don't want praise, i hope anyone reading this who is in bad times can just take hope from it. I was on my chinstrap last year i can tell you, but stick with it, when you want it bad enough, you'll get there.

I'm intending to be debt free roughly this time next year +/-a month and i bought myself jeans and a t-shirt at the weekend as a reward, it's the first i've spent on myself in 18 months, and i've never appreciated £40 worth of clothing as much in my life.

i can't wait till next year, then it's off to somewhere nice for a holiday, knowing I can afford it.

Tixy

Thats a great post. Well done for paying off so much in a year, especially on short wages.

savingwannabe

Thanks for being so inspiring. You will cheer up a lot of people with this post. Well done.

:j

purpleheather2810

Great post - thanks! You give us all hope!

niccatw

:j It's always great to hear the good stories too! They remind us it can be done - which is great for those moments you are flagging, wondering when it'll ever end!

Here's to you being debt free in about a year :beer:.

:money::D

*Dusty*

Cheers guys, always remember, it's only money. Family, the children and health are things that stuff just can't buy and i know what i'd rather see more of

*Dusty*

Just a quick update for any folk who might be feeling a wee bit down on their finances or whatever.

Currently paying off about £400 a month, this will increase to £700 a month with the help of DW. I got a bit of profit money which is going towards changing her car as we've another little one en route, so she's giving me money from her wages in lieu of it for a while Just means we won't hopefully have to finance the newer car and she can change in the short term as opposed to having to save for a year or more.

Still digging away at the debt, still doing without treats and luxuries but i did get some nice things for my birthday last month

bottleofred

Hi Dusty,

Well done on paying off so much debt in such a short space of time. I find stories like yours are excellent motivation in becoming debt free. You are so right about family and friends etc being more important than money. And remember, Your health is your wealth.

*Dusty*

Bit of an update for anyone who may want to know.

Suffered setbacks at the start of the year with a dead fridge which was more practical to replace than repair, the dog had a stroke. Got the car changed to a scenic which we paid outright!! On the downside after Christmas there was a bit went out, had the new arrival (little girl in February) so slipped a bit backk to around the £12k mark on cards, but it's finally all on 0%!!

On the upside, next month the taxman gets his money and i get mine too, got a small pay rise as well and once mr Taxman has his pound of flesh I'll be clearing two loans and putting an extra £485 per month to the cards. That'll make real inroads for me!!

Chin up as they say!

Calling14

Well done inspirational and I need some today just done the credit cards tf again and feeling down - mainly as balance tf fee will push my balances up:( and its going to be a hard slog repaying 3% minimum payments but the only way my debt will reduce. So just thinking no spending on me for a good while and hopefully at the end of 17 months debt be 60% of what it is now.

Nice to hear some positive stories

RedTulip

Well done *Dusty* just shows what can be done. Thanks for sharing