Desperate To Be Debt Free

GreenSaints

Hi,

Thanks for visiting my diary

That is a one off though. I have nothing left in my how's to sell! So I'll have to do it the old fashioned way - and keep a budget

GreenSaints

Hi all,

Just a quick update – I’m still £230 in credit and I have nearly £70 in my piggy bank That jacket will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

I have found now that I am petrified of spending money now. I am NEVER going to get into that situation with debt EVER AGAIN (I have too many dreams to have debt clouding them!) but I need just get out of the mind set of “well, if I don’t spend that £1, that can go on my debt” Every time I think I want something, I’m just hit with that overwhelming guilt that I shouldn’t buy it.

I don’t really have any priority debts anymore. The only ‘real’ debt I have is my old student OD which I will be attacking from now (detailed below)

Lloyds Student OD – currently £1104.83 (was £1404.83 in November 2011) on 0%.

It was this level for 7 years! I kind of just forgot about it really, but it was brought to my attention when I received a letter from Lloyds saying that they were charging interest on all amounts over £1500. That was fine as I was £95.17 above that limit, but my friend said her student OD (with NatWest) kept getting cut by £500 every year, so I was worried that would happen to me.

So I thought if I paid a nominal £50 a month, while attacking my other interest accruing debts, at least it was reducing the amount I owed and, if Lloyds did want to start cutting the OD amount, at least they could see I was paying money towards it. Also, knowing my luck, they might have asked for it all back at once!


So, in summary:

• In January 2011, I owed £31,996.36 (holy !!!!!!, I’ve never seen it written like that before!)
• I’m now down to £20,862.15 (estimated)
• Only £1104.23 is ‘real’
• I’m pretty proud

I think I’m getting back into the mindset I had before I moved out and started getting into debt. I used to love saving money and thinking of the future and dream of finishing work at 50! My BF has no idea desires for saving for the future or really thinks about what he’s going to do from day to day let alone the next year. I have so many dreams that all require money, regardless of how you look at it, so why wouldn’t I want to save money now?

Sorry for the lengthy post. I think I just needed to see what I’ve achieved and that what I’m doing is right. I think I need to sit down and talk to my BF about the future – maybe this isn’t why we aren’t married yet after 9 years?

But that’s a whhhooooooolllllllleeeee other story

January20

GreenSaints wrote: »

Hi all,


I have found now that I am petrified of spending money now. I am NEVER going to get into that situation with debt EVER AGAIN (I have too many dreams to have debt clouding them!) but I need just get out of the mind set of “well, if I don’t spend that £1, that can go on my debt” Every time I think I want something, I’m just hit with that overwhelming guilt that I shouldn’t buy it.

I know that feeling as well. I get it too. I spent less than £5 on a clear nail polish this week and still feel guilty about it! Never mind the fact I've cleared over £500 of my debt this month and am below £500!! It's quite a useful feeling though. It's a tool that you have learned and hopefully that will stop you getting in debt again.

I also believe that when you are paying off your debt, you learn to "do without" and you realise that things are just not that important and you can live without them. I use ML's mantra: do I need it? will I use it? Can I afford it? I do my research thoroughly, then I walk away and if I forget about it, well I didn't really want it then did I?

I'm not going to tell how to lead your life but I think I'm quite a bit older than you and I have experienced a boyfriend who had a completely different attitude to money than me. I was like you: I liked saving. I didn't have lots of plans but wasn't the kind of person who always wanted the latest gadget, etc. My boyfriend, who then became my husband, was the youngest of the family to older parents, with a father who would just give him money constantly, you know "here is a fiver, go and have fun" type of things.

The problem is that in a relationship I'm always eager to please, weak really to be honest, and I allowed him to drag me down to his way of thinking ie no need to save for what you want, just get a loan, and then just increase or extend the loan, which was very possible in those days, get credit cards and pay for it later.... Well we know where that led me don't we?

You're probably stronger and wiser than I was at your age so you'll be fine. You'll probably have him whipped into shape in no time, I'm sure, but just in case, just be careful!

Sorry for the long post! feeling talkative today it seems!!!

GreenSaints

Thank you for your concern January x

I had a chat with my BF about money this morning (before I saw your post)

Credit to him though, he has done what we agreed last time (transfer all CC balances to BC 0% for 22 months, close other cards, set up £50 DD to pay OD on an account) and he's made little bar charts of where all his spending goes and asked for my opinion!

I think because his parents (who are such a bad influence on him) never spoke about money openly (therefore making it a scary, taboo subject) he never spoke about it and hence he got into this mess (that Relate counsellor we had was a-maz-ing!) I think once he sees his OD paid off (anohter 3-4 months) he'll realise how good it feels. He even said about either giving me that money to pay off his tab his owes me or putting it towards the joint account (I said the latter as I also want to be MF!)

I think because I was SO obsessed with my debt repayment, I expected him to be too. Since he wasn't, I thought he wasn't taking it seriously (which he was but wasn't as vocal about it, which I guess made him feel bad because it might have seemed I wasn't bothered)

He trusts me with the house stuff (i.e. we overpay the mortgage because it's the right thing to do, he has never said 'why?' or 'can't this go on a holiday/beer etc') so I should trust him in when he says he's done something, that he has done it.

Anyway, so that's all good and I'm happy, even though I want him to be obsessed like me!

Also, I have noticed that I keep wanting to clear stuff out even though I don't technically need to for debt reasons. Example - we have a 3 bed house, the large room is our bedroom, the second room is my BF's and the small room is mine (Before you think I let him have the big room, no, I bought furniture that didn't fit in there, so made him swap the two rooms one day! He knows his place! :rotfl:)

My room used to be my study when I was at uni. As I'm not studying anymore (though I do have my PT course) I don't need all that desk area and it's just a place where crap gathered! So I'm thinking of getting rid of EVERYTHING in that room (massive desk, bookcases etc) getting the room plastered, decorated and then use it as a spare room (even though no-one really stays over! :rotfl:) Also, I'd like to move abroad at some point, so getting odd jobs done around the house and making it "estate agent ready" now will make the situation easier in the future.

I'm planning this course of action with every room, so I have a bit of a plan, working out a budget so it can get going.

Anyway, must go - mum is moaning. Reason I moved out!

p.s. sorry for the ramble

January20

You boyfriend made little bar charts? That is brilliant! Sounds like he is a good'un!!

I have a similar attitude to you regarding things. I like to declutter. At the moment, my flat is really cluttered because of my dd and her boyfriend and it's driving me mad! The things that surround me must be things that I use.

Loved the ramble!!!

GreenSaints

Hey,

I will reply, but I'm not happy at the minute

January20

Hey, what's up?

GreenSaints

Hey,

Had a bit of a meltdown this week. Really am unhappy at work (plus bored out of my mind which doesn't help) and other stuff.

But I'm a lot happier for the following reasons:

1. Paid my deposit for my PT course, so I'm officially studying for that
2. Have over £100 in my savings piggy
3. Just paid the deposit for a flight to Toronto

However, that means I need to be SUPER good with my money this month as the balance of the flight needs paying by the end of the month, so have a lot more stuff to sell (as does my BF!)

clippy_girl

oooh holiday yey :j:j

well done on clearing the barclaycard! :T:beer:

GreenSaints

Thanks Clippy

Just got to learn to save and budget. I'm slipping off the wagon! When I get home, there'll be a lot of eBay listings!