A Thread for After Debt?

Mort

Cat_Addict wrote: »

I've been struggling to get debt free for five years but only got deeper and deeper as something always cropped up to pull me back down after I'd paid down a big chunk.

Andrew_P wrote: »

but I am really scared that my wife I could end up in a mess again

The struggle to get out of debt is a pain especially when you get thrown an interesting life event or domestic crisis. Likewise keeping out of debt can be interesting.
The only advise I can offer is to have a realistic budget, its what sorted out the Mort household. Even though we are debt free our budget is very similar to the one we had with PayPlan.

Good luck with your debt free journeys.

SMGee

Firstly well done to everyone who is debt free or on the journey.

I am very newly debt free, although this month managed to have some real up's and downs. I actually managed to pay everything off 1st July, but in my excitement at having no debt and some cash still in my bank I ended up spending way too much too early in the month and having to use my credit card! Such an idiot. I'm very very lucky in that I have bits of income coming in throughout the month, so I pared down the spending and when the money cam in I paid everything off again

I've also been super lucky with an old expenses claim coming in, and a big £500 refund from NPower, so I've also been able to put quite bit into savings.

I am so over the excitement of having money in the bank, so every future penny is ear marked for savings.

But it goes to show how easy it is to slip even when you've worked so flipping hard!

Mort

SMGee wrote: »

But it goes to show how easy it is to slip even when you've worked so flipping hard!

It's a constant fear. Congratulations on becoming debt free.:beer:

SMGee

Mort wrote: »

It's a constant fear. Congratulations on becoming debt free.:beer:

Thanks Mort. I guess it's harder than you think to change your mindset. Maybe a slight shock wasn't such a bad thing!

Skinnylatte

Crikey and I thought there was something wrong with me!! But there's loads of us.
When I paid off my debt in March it was not the europhic feeling I thought it would be, and I still feel I teeter on the edge of getting back into debt again.
I've kept up my DFW diary as it helps to keep me focused and it a safe place to be

166million

Spending too much at the moment. Going to set myself a savings target for the rest of the year.

cakeforbrains

Convinced I've gone mad. I keep logging into bank accounts for trivial reasons and then 'hanging around' in them because they look so lovely now.

I'm also completely obsessed with all money-related things. The other day I spent hours scouring through archived bank statements to make sure that I'd actually paid off an old benefit overpayment (I had). I'm pouring over my budget spreadsheets. I want to do all of the money things I never had headspace for when we had debt, like attempt to reclaim packaged bank fees. And that's all before we even start going into the anxiety about the possibility of us being rejected for a mortgage!

My husband thinks I am mad and feels like we should have a period of not worrying about money as that's what he was looking forward to during our debt days.

It doesn't help that it's been a super-spendy month with three children on summer holidays and hundreds on back-to-school stuff (all entered on a spreadsheet!!)

daydream_believer_2

Glad its not just me thats worried its all going to go wrong again!
I am recently debt free via an inheritance, which means I don't feel euphoric about it, as I would so much rather be able to see the person who left me the money again, than be debt free!

However, I am so grateful for this second chance they have given me, I just don't want to mess it up!

My legacy to their memory is to never be in debt again, save for anything we want, if we don't have the money then we can't have it...simples!

uncreative

I managed to pay off £35,000 of debt at the start of the year thanks to a gift from parents, but not before the shock of it all and the prospect of dealing with the debt had gripped me for a couple of months. Since then we have actually saved over £24,000 which shows how utterly ridiculous the spending was. I also got a promotion at work and got quite a decent bonus so financially we have had a real purple patch.

We are just back from an admittedly fantastic holiday (paid for a year ago and that was part of the debt that got settled) that resulted in us lapsing into thought patterns like just go for it, we will only be here once, etc etc and we spent over twice our allocated spending money. Admittedly it means that we have taken a slight dent in our savings rather than got into debt.

We are saving for a house and have also got a large hole in our YNAB monthly budget which I am kicking myself about. I wonder whether being in debt and then getting out of it taints money for you as a concept; i cant really see where the finish line is so that you can loosen your grip on it.

How does one get a balanced view of money after the total soul shaking fear of debt that seems like a mountain to climb?

Cat_Addict

Daydream Believer - that is the most wonderful reason and motivation to stay debt free. You keep tight hold of that and send up thanks every day to the one who freed you.

xx