A Thread for After Debt?

LianneH

hey folks!!

not posted in a while, been sooooo tired with this pregnancy!!! the tiredness just hits me like a brick wall and I just cant keep my eyes open!! Bump is expanding well - I resemble Mr Bump!!!

been busy with the decorating too, well DH decorating and me 'supervising'!! lol

Rising - Good news on the dog! best breed in the world- ok im bias!
Mort - hope everything with FIL and dog are ok.
JG - has mortgage all went through?
SOT - good to see its not just me that keeps paint!!
Bib - good news on the car and paying from savings -fab! but still not fab having to buy itin the first place - you are so level headed!
Samtoby - sorry to hear about the job, hopefully you will get another one soon!

ok, im off to bed. I really should be crunching some more numbers for when I'm off on mat leave, but need more energy to do that! hopefully "some energy" is just around the corner!!

Li x

JulieGeorgiana

Li ((Hugs)) sorry to hear you are so tired... how long now??? Can't be long... I hope we get pictures

My Mortgage Advisor seems to have been a bit lax in forwarding paperwork... it's in for final review AGAIN! Cross fingers we hear about it tomorrow x

Jackop

Hi All,

My 1st post here just looking for some views really.

I became debt free last week (wahoo!). Never a really significant amount, i think about £5k at its highest.

The weird thing is, i dont feel any different. When i was putting £600 a month into my debts, i had a goal. Now there is no goal (I will still be saving £600 a month).

How do you handle it and not just decide to blow it all again?

Thanks all, hope it makes sense...

JulieGeorgiana

Jackop congratulations of becomming debt free

Most of us have all struggled once becomming debt free. It has mostly been agree that having a new goal is the best thing we've done to keep us from spending again.

My goal was to save to buy a house (which is currently in progress) and I know now I have no saving goal (or reason) I am going to start to struggle not spending it... therefore after years of being debt free I still need a way to focus my spending!

I plan to put it in an ISA as once it goes in you loose out big time if you take it out again and that way I will have to think twice before spending it!

166million

Hello there,

Since becoming debt free I have started doing things that all the debt free advice says not to do. I have signed up for Sky, and the gym, among other things. I know the advice is meant for people who are already in debt, and we can afford it at the moment, but I am worried, like I have been conditioned not to spend anything unless absolutely necessary, and I worry what will happen if we have less money coming in. I think I have spent so long not doing things because of money, I am scared now in case I blow it!

joedenise

There's nothing wrong with having Sky or gym membership if that's what you want and you can afford it. The problem is when you have other debt and cannot afford it.

Enjoy it now that you can afford it. Just because you have now spending some of your money and can enjoy to do things you couldn't when you had debts doesn't mean you should feel guilty.

Just enjoy.

Denise

JulieGeorgiana

166 I agree with joedenise, if you can afford it and you are not getting into debt then why not?

If it's something you enjoy. But consider all the things you could do with the money (holidays, redecorating etc) and if sky and gym is what you really want, then enjoy x

166million

We do "need" the gym membership - it's working out quite well. Sky was more 'might as well...'

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Jack & congratulations!

Like everyone else I really struggled not when I became DF (and did actually overspend by a huge amount in the 1st month as I took my eye off the ball totally!).

I'm better now - although it's not easy as I'm back to a tight budget - and my current goal is to get my budgeting pots up and running so I can pay for things annually etc. Once this is done (probably the rest of this year), I'll try to work on my savings!

I do now have the odd luxury that I didn't before (eg Sky - but only basic package) - it was the thing I found hardest to give up when clearing my debts and promised myself I'd get it back one day! A wee treat is good - it's keep them in check and still using the "need" / "want" mentality. For me, sticking around the DFW board and using many of the tools (eg NSDs etc) keeps me in check. Best of luck

Li - great to hear from you, hopefully the tiredness will pass soon xx

Jackop

Thanks for the replies all. My next goal is to find goal then! haha

Glad to know other people have had the same issues and got through