Motivation

honeybun16

Guys,

I need your help, i've had my lightbulb moment and we are working towards clearing our debts, working so hard at budgeting and trying to do things as cheaply as possible but i have a couple of months before i go back to work after having our last little one so though i have budgeted very hard to stop us getting into any more debts while my money is low, i'm not able to see us achieving anything in clearing our debts. ( we are working to a three year plan)

How do you keep your motivation levels going when you get to this point,

When i was working all the figures out and working out the best plan for us I had something which i could complete and felt like i'd achieved. Now I feel like i'm just in limbo waiting until the first debt gets cleared to have something to do again ( moving payments and the such like.)

I'm trying so hard to stick to the plan and to see where else we can save, but having done the big things, i'm strugglnig to see the achievement in the small things, even a NSD doesn't seem like such a big thing any more which i'm really sad about

tbourner

I get a bit like that sometimes, and we've got almost 4 years to go on our plan!!!

I think setting up treats is the best thing for us. We shouldn't really be buying treats but I allow 1 takeaway and 1 meal out each month, so we look forward to that, and since it's at the end of the month we have to save otherwise we don't have enough left to do it anyway!

honeybun16

Thanks for your thoughts, a treat seems a good idea though not sure how i could justify it lol

honeybun16

Anyone else got any tips?

mrscmr

hi honeybun

well we have a big journey and the only way i can deal with it and keep going is every month i update my spreadsheet with the amounts we originally owed and what we owe now... i monitor how much we have paid off and what is left to be paid off... thats it really.

wishing you well on your journey!

tealady

Hi
You could do a graph and update it weekly/monthly.
Get receipts for all payments made, and watch the pile get higher as your debts get lower.
When I was in debt I found it helped to look back and see how far I had come, that helped me push on to clear the debt.
HTH

determined_new_ms

Hi tborner, firstly congrats on your new addition to your family (enjoy ur baby, its such a cliche, but before you know it they've grown up. I wish things hadn't been so hard for me when mine were younger and i'd had the chance to enjoy them more)

its difficult to stay motivated along the whole journey, and at times it feels like its misery, but that feeling ebbs & flows. he things that have kept me going are: 1. the committment to clear the debts this year (once I set my mind to something I am so determined to see it through!), 2. posting on a daily thread has really helped me. everyone is so supportive & excited about the little things everyone does daily to get out of debt, 3. updating my sig as often as there is a change in the figures (I find this really exciting to know it coming down daily!), 4. being creative with gifts & entertainment, and lastly the simple enjoyment of all the things I do. I've found, over time, I need very little money to have a lot of fun, laughing with the ppl around me, enjoying everything that comes my way. I saw on someone's sig recently "the happiest ppl don't have the best of everything but make the best of everything they have" very simple and very tue!

Good luck x