My Confessional

Amelia39

thanks for the support everyone - i'll keep going and updating my signature too

everyone else - keep us updated with your progress too - we can do it! :T

timefortea

I love seeing the money trickle in so that I can pay off my debts too! Have you tried selling things on eBay? I get just as much of a buzz putting an extra £10 towards my overdraft every couple of days as I do putting £200 towards it on payday. I'll be gutted when I run out of things to sell!

tealady

Hi all
I know how it feels when colleagues say they are having holidays/new cars or expensive outfits. Although I am not in debt now I know I cannot afford any of these on my budget so I either keep quiet (a novelty for me) or ask them about their purchase.
If it helps I will tell you this tale.
I had a colleague who was going on a very expensive holiday and they talked of what they were going to see and do. I was a bit envious but then realized that:-
1) It would take me a year to save the cost of the holiday
2) They had to have a couple of injections and take medicines even when they got back (malaria risk)
3) When they go there it was too hot to go sightseeing so spent a lot of time in their hotel!

Suddenly the "Costa del back garden" seemed a lot nicer place.

GeorgieFTB

Costa del back garden - brillant!!!!

Have just read through the thread - I think you are all doing so well!

I have acouple of ideas, for all those that are getting to the slog part of the journey, so not paying off as much as you would like, I work out different ways to measure the debt. There is the standard total, percentage paid off, daily interest (takes some doing in excel - many lunchtimes used on this), number of months/paydays to DFD (this number goes down even if you don't manage to find extra in the budget, and having 0.2 of a month feels silly but it does make small payments feel like they are doing something)

Well done
Gx

ms_london

Hi Amelia

That is an impressive amount you have managed to pay off there, well done!!!!!

I used to owe £19,000 (when I first discovered MSE!), but paid it off relatively quickly - having two jobs, living like a hermit etc - and although that time was not fun, it was so worth it! My motivation was wanting to go travelling, so have something that is motivating you - whether it be a nice holiday, or just financial freedom - being in debt unfortunately takes away your choice of what to do with your life and how to live it, being stuck in jobs you hate purely because you need the wage, or being with a partner you don't love because you can't afford not to be. Etc etc.

I used to be VERY materialistic and sometimes this creeps back up on me, not to the degree it was, but probably as a result of reading too many trashy magazines, but then I pop back on here and my motivation comes back! Especially the 'simplifying life' thread on the OS board!

The "demotivator" tool is a good one and scary how much it all adds up!

You can do it xx

Amelia39

4 months has gone by again, and i'm probably just talking to myself - but I am updating my signature, as i promised myself. I am again so please, i have paid off another big wedge, and have now halved my debt since my 'light bulb moment!'

Yeah to me!

jellymid

Yeah to you! Well done. It must have felt brilliant to update your signature. Keep up the good work.

dell33

well done to you. Keep up the good work.

tara66_2

That is brilliant, well done x

Amelia39

Thanks del33, Jellymid and tara66 - it's so nice to know someone is out there to share you joy as well as you're sadness with!