A Thread for After Debt?

backinbusiness

Hello all,

I sometimes wonder if this Forum might benefit from a life after or survivor of debt thread?

I reached my DFD in January but having embraced the MSE way of life completely, still sometimes have queries re the best way forward.

Any thoughts?

BiB

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rising_from_the_ashes

I'd love that I'm finally DF too:j (recently!) but know it's going to be a struggle to stay that way:

1) I've never budgeted before:o as I've never had the money to do this and money put aside for something has always been needed to pay something else.

2) My budget's really tight so it would be really easy to end up in debt again - which I'm determined not to do - but it would be great to have support and tips on how to do this.

I'm still around on the board a lot and take part in the NSD challenge etc as these really help me still and hopefully I can share some of my experiences / advice which may help others.

ETA: I still consider myself a DFW as I don't want any debt ever again!

backinbusiness

A quick bump now the boards are busier.

Anyone else?

dreamdreamer

Me me me! I'm finding it harder now I'm debt free to stick to a budget than it was when I had no spare cash at all! I keep finding myself going "Oh go on, you can afford it now!" and buying stuff. Not the intention as I wanted to start saving!

quantic

Its not so much that I find it hard to stay debt free, I find it hard to enjoy spending money now - even money that I can easily afford to spend because I've gotten so used to being cautious.

QueenB.

This thread is a great idea. I became DF in August/September but i still stay in the DFW forum because it keeps me focused and to be honest i think i feel more secure here:o I don't think i actually feel DF yet and have a real fear of falling into that position again a thread like this would help us move onto to the next phase. I sometimes feel a bit unsettled, after having fixed goals to reach for so many years i am unsure of what new goals to set.

rising_from_the_ashes

dreamdreamer wrote: »

Me me me! I'm finding it harder now I'm debt free to stick to a budget than it was when I had no spare cash at all!

QueenB. wrote: »

I sometimes feel a bit unsettled, after having fixed goals to reach for so many years i am unsure of what new goals to set.

Agree with you both there!

I had a huge slip the first month I was debt free - the shock of receiving an £800+ credit card statement was a slap in the face as to how easy it is to "fall off the wagon" even after many years of watching every penny:o.

It was cleared - but I had to use the money set aside for my car service:mad:. Proof my budgeting skills still leave a lot to be desired!:eek:

A new spending diary was started on 1st October and has been updated every day without fail:) - so..... I still need the DFW "things" to keep me on the straight and narrow - and the support of others to help.

I do worry sometimes that people will think I'm simply rubbing it in that I've cleared my debts but it's honestly not that ..... I can't leave here or I'll be back this time next year posting a new SOA with more outgoings than income!

QueenB.

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

A new spending diary was started on 1st October and has been updated every day without fail:) - so..... I still need the DFW "things" to keep me on the straight and narrow - and the support of others to help.

I do worry sometimes that people will think I'm simply rubbing it in that I've cleared my debts but it's honestly not that ..... I can't leave here or I'll be back this time next year posting a new SOA with more outgoings than income!

I know how you feel, it is so easy to fall of the wagon, slowly you begin to slip up here and there and all of a sudden you are back in debt. I feel that there should be a debt support group, DA:rotfl: because i really feel that many of us are prone to spending/being in debt. I know i have a spending issue that occurs when i am down/depressed and whilst i have new coping strategies i am not naive enough to think im all better, does that make sense:cool:

I also worry about how people might view me on here now I am DF.

backinbusiness

Its not so much that I find it hard to stay debt free, I find it hard to enjoy spending money now - even money that I can easily afford to spend because I've gotten so used to being cautious.

I totally identify with this - essentially it's a good thing I suppose, but we do need to allow ourselves the odd treat now!

I do worry sometimes that people will think I'm simply rubbing it in that I've cleared my debts but it's honestly not that ..... I can't leave here or I'll be back this time next year posting a new SOA with more outgoings than income!

I also worry about creating the wrong impression - you know, being smug? But it's not about that - it's about moving forward and continuing to share information and good ideas.

BiB

QueenB.

Have any of you set new goals to work towards? My only real goal has to increase my savings, i enjoy watching the savings creep up but miss the buzz i would get from making a monthly payment towards a CC and getting the statement through showing how it was reducing. How about everyone else?

rising_from_the_ashes

My goals just now are to learn to budget properly - I know it should be relatively easy and looking at my SOA it's achieveable but I'm still really struggling with this.

I can see how much easier it will make life (having funds set aside to pay the £200 service bill on the car etc) rather than having to take it all out of one month's pay and be totally skint.

I'd love to be in a position to pay things like insurances annually (to save charges for paying by dd) but I'm currently stuck in a trap of having these monthly and being unable to afford to stick extra aside to cover next years premiums:(

Savings would be nice - I've set a couple up in my sig. Boiler is ancient and likely to go at some point. I did start a savings account a couple of years ago but only managed a couple of payments & gave up:o.

Also, really need to start a proper house maintenance fund .....

I've now set up various pots from my bank account - but most have very little amounts in as I've gone a bit off the rails the past couple of months so haven't had anything left to put aside once the bills have been paid:(

The holiday fund is a dream - I've not had a "proper" one since 1999!:eek: One of my friends lives abroad and I have an open invitation to go - so that's something I'm hoping to work towards .... but it's still going to be a couple of years! Something to look forward to / work towards though.