Grrrrrrr - Back again (when will I learn)!!!!

silkglade

Hi everyone

I started my debt free journey here several years ago and it went really well and actually got to total debt free..... Then I made the mistake of leaving you lovely lot and getting on with my life feeling rather good about myself.

Well in almost 3 years I am back to where I started, huge debt and I am so angry with myself as I just stopped worrying or keeping track of my spending, so much so that I was overdrawn every month.

Having sat down over the last few days and writing all my incomings and outgoings down I am even more ashamed with myself as having actually worked it out properly I have a total of £1200 left after all bills and minimum payments have gone out.

We are a family of 5 and there is no way that we should be spending that kind of money each month and end up overdrawn!!!!

So my plan is this month to see just how cheaply we can live and then pay additional payments off the credit and get it down asap, to start with I will be transferring £500 into savings (as a safety net) each month and then the day before payday I will make an additional payment off one of the cards, I will also add any money we have left in our account to this too (it is all credit card debt).

I am going to start with the cheapest as it is under £500 and will be gone straight away. the 2nd will possibly be gone the month after as it is £891, so I think that if I pay any left over from the 1st card straight off the 2nd card then after month 2 they will both be gone and then I will have the minimum payments extra to go towards the next etc.

Thank you for your time and reading this...... I really feel I don not deserve your support this time as I got there before and am now back here again.... but at least I am back while I have money that I can pay off extra amounts and not waited till I am too deep in that I can't make the minimum payments.

Silkglade

LAM2011

silkglade wrote: »

Thank you for your time and reading this...... I really feel I don not deserve your support this time as I got there before and am now back here again.... but at least I am back while I have money that I can pay off extra amounts and not waited till I am too deep in that I can't make the minimum payments.

Silkglade

Hi - I am fairly new here but love it and have never been so focussed on my debt.

I think you are being too hard on yourself. At least you have acknowledged what to do and we are all here to help and support

I would like to think that if I fell off the wagon again in the future all the lovely lot here would still help me

silkglade

I have to say that I am really relieved that my partner is so up for this too as I was worried about him not wanting to sort this, but he really wants us to work together. Phew!!!

I love it here too, why did I ever stop coming here???? Especially as I would still recommend this site to others for various reasons.

I love it when you get the DFW bug.... you get so engrossed in it all.

One of my problems is I have been off work with depression and anxiety since October, and my way of coping was to spend money on ebay as it would give me a temporary high!!!

The way I managed to get through Christmas was to focus on my daughters birthday..... It's not till September!!!! What the......

So now I am going to focus on the money saving to give me my highs (which I think is far healthier all round, both for me and my bank balance).

dollybeads

Welcome back Silkglade, don't beat yourself up, we are all human and make unwise decisions all the time.

At least you have recognised things and want to put them right, thats all you can do. I think it shows great determination and insight, so well done for coming back. As you know already, there is no shame on here that someone somewhere has not already been there done that.

The support I have had on here has been a life changing experience and I am now so hooked on moneysaving its my addiction (not always good to have an addiction but at least is a moneysaving one)

Good luck to you and looking forward to hearing how you get on.

Dolly x

nu1isit?

silkglade wrote: »

Hi everyone

I started my debt free journey here several years ago and it went really well and actually got to total debt free..... Then I made the mistake of leaving you lovely lot and getting on with my life feeling rather good about myself.

Well in almost 3 years I am back to where I started, huge debt and I am so angry with myself as I just stopped worrying or keeping track of my spending, so much so that I was overdrawn every month.

Having sat down over the last few days and writing all my incomings and outgoings down I am even more ashamed with myself as having actually worked it out properly I have a total of £1200 left after all bills and minimum payments have gone out.

Thank you for your time and reading this...... I really feel I don not deserve your support this time as I got there before and am now back here again.... but at least I am back while I have money that I can pay off extra amounts and not waited till I am too deep in that I can't make the minimum payments.

Silkglade

Everyone's human Silkglade, evryone makes mistakes. At least you've spotted what you're doing, got a plan of attack, and implemeting it.
We buried our heads in the sand a little last year (after being thriftier than average), and it was the little things that snook up and tripped us up.
Good luck, and I'm sure there's plenty of people who'll wish you luck and support you :beer::D.

Pollycat

I'd say 'don't beat yourself up' too.

You've done it once and there's no reason you can't do it again.

Yours is the 2nd or 3rd post I've seen this week about getting out of debt and then falling back into pre-debt-free ways.

I think it's a bit like dieting, you can cut back on food and lose weight but you need to organise and CHANGE your life to be able to sustain that weight loss, instead of going back to stuffing yourself with cream cakes.

Good luck.

dancingfairy

I think it's a skill and all skills become rusty if not used. Some people are lucky enough to learn early in life from their parents, others learn things later in life but I think you gotta keep learning no matter what stage you are at. Like someone said you've cleared the debt once you can do so again and also no doubt quicker as all the things you did the first time around will be easier this time.
df

nu1isit?

Pollycat wrote: »

I think it's a bit like dieting, you can cut back on food and lose weight but you need to organise and CHANGE your life to be able to sustain that weight loss, instead of going back to stuffing yourself with cream cakes.

Good luck.

Thanks Pollycat, I think this is the best way I've heard it put...It's what our clan is trying to do now; but it's a gradual process and learning curve...:D
Good luck again silkglade :beer:.