A Thread for After Debt?

SMGee

cakeforbrains wrote: »

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.

Ha ha I do that too! Far too much. When I could be doing other things that could actually earn money :rotfl:

I honestly don't think you can go back to 'normal' after going through a journey like this. Which is probably a good thing. Kind of like an alcoholic who can never even have a tiny drink again for fear of falling off the wagon. Except you can't avoid money, and most people can't avoid debt altogether e.g mortgage, so we will always have that temptation, and always have to be alert to it.

I've become debt free twice now, and I really don't want to do it again. If the price I pay for that is complete consuming obsession with money/budgeting/spending, then I'll take it x

daydream_believer_2

Cat_Addict wrote: »

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

Thank you Cat Addict. Yes, I will always be grateful for the 2nd chance, and I know I will never let their generosity down. Just wish I didn't have to lose them though....

Mort

cakeforbrains wrote: »

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.

That makes me mad as well then. We still have a basic bank account and I have a text alert for when the balance goes below £250. This is typically 10 days before payday, the text alert then triggers daily logins to the account.:o

seasideDreamer

So glad I'm not alone in fining in odd now the debts gone...its been a year here and I still struggle to splurge now and then. In fact October's Birthday money is still sat in the draw. Madness isn't it.

We got married a couple of months ago and we have got a few grand on our card but its interest free so haven't bothered to pay off although we do have the cash to pay off so probably should. I have an ISA and investments now, it feels so much better than being in debt:j:j

nyg123

seasideDreamer wrote: »

So glad I'm not alone in fining in odd now the debts gone...its been a year here and I still struggle to splurge now and then. In fact October's Birthday money is still sat in the draw. Madness isn't it.

We got married a couple of months ago and we have got a few grand on our card but its interest free so haven't bothered to pay off although we do have the cash to pay off so probably should. I have an ISA and investments now, it feels so much better than being in debt:j:j

I have an interest free credit card at the moment and the money that would go towards that, as I always pay my credits cards off in full, is in the bank earning interest. It's earning about £12 interest a month so definitely worth doing.

sugarbaby125

I have only been debt free for a year, but will never unlearn my MSE lessons. I get so giddy when I can get something for free or save lots of money on a purchase due to a little online research.

I lost my job just under 6 months ago, so being debt free at this financially difficult time is really helping. I used my savings to reduce all of my outgoings and cancelled all Direct Debits that were not strictly necessary. I only kept my magazine subscription as it is only £6 every 6 months and saves me a lot of money each month.

I was able to pay my rent myself, until I was awarded Housing Benefit and it was paid to my Housing Association Landlord. I also was able to pay my 'bedroom tax' of £17.10 per week until I was finally awarded Discretionary Housing Benefit to pay for this part of my rent.

I still try to go for a nice restaurant meal with my 23 year old daughter at least once a month. I need a treat to look forward to. I scour Amazon Local and Groupon to find restaurant deals that allow us to have a 2 Course Meal with the 1st drink for less than £20. I found one 2 weeks ago for only £10.95 for the 2 of us. I was jubilant!!! My daughter is also generous enough to pay for her half of the meal voucher.

I get to see film previews and other shows for free compliments of 'See Film First' and 'Show Film First' that my daughter and I are both registered with.

I am currently saving for my son's 16th Birthday party next June. It is not easy when I am on Benefits, but it will be his 1st proper Birthday Party as opposed to family get together. From the end of the year I will start laying down drinks for the party, as there will be so many deals for Christmas and New Years and as no one drinks alcohol in my home, they will stay intact until the party.

Being debt free is great, but staying debt free requires the discipline and the tools that I used to get debt free.

hanb

Sorry for gate-crashing but I wanted to chip in to say I think this makes lots of sense. Thankfully, I'm not in debt and I haven't been but this is the board I visit the most on here to try and keep it that way! I visit other sections of the forum but seeing how all of you became DF has given taught me so much and will hopefully keep me DF too!

duddon16

WARNING

If you are thinking of buying a New Bed or Mattress or anything From ‘ Direct Bedroom ‘ or their other company ‘ For My House ‘ DON’T!! After sleeping on a Dura Pine King Mattress on Holiday, we loved it so much that we ordered one from the above company who promised it would be delivered in 2 weeks. Well after being let down X3 on the delivery even promising the night before that it would be delivered the next day, only to receive an Email the next morning saying sorry it won’t be delivered until Wednesday then being told Wednesday it will either be Thursday or Friday, we told them to forget it. We cancelled the order and asked for a refund in fact, my lovely meek and mild wife told them they had been stringing us along and put the phone down on them. A complete Shambles!! I have since discovered on an open forum that our experience is not an isolated case. I Phoned the Manufacturers of Dura Beds direct, they don’t sell to the public, but they recommended one of their retailers in Newcastle, literally 15 minutes away from me. I told them my story she said “ say know more we know Direct Bedroom and don’t supply to them “ I could tell by the tone in her voice that the company is a shambles and my story was familiar with her. You have been warned don’t purchase anything from ‘ Direct Bedroom ‘ or ‘ For my House. ‘ I have paid £40 more for the same Mattress but with the peace of mind that the Manufacturer themselves have recommended one of their own retailers who will phone me prior to delivery in two weeks.

duddon16

I have just discovered on another thread that this company Direct Bedroom used to operate under the name corban direct I wish I had known this before thread after thread of AVOID AVOID AVOID, having looked at some of the threads its looks like were going to have a battle on our hands to get the refund of £184...

LittleOne83

Hi all!

Am still ploughing through the thread but just wanted to say hi!

I'm about to become debt free thanks to some compensation. It's going to wipe out my 8k debt that I have managed to get through poor money management, not knowing 'how' to save and good old impulse buying. I'm ashamed I've not managed to claw my way out of it on my own and also really worried that I haven't learnt good money habits and that it's going to happen again.

So my plan is as follows:

16k compensation coming in.
2k overdraft paid off and dropped to 0
Both credit cards paid off (£1500 and £1250), one closed and the other kept but limit dropped to £200. This I will use for grocery shopping and pay off in full each month buy putting the money aside when I spend it to keep getting the green ticks.
Next account paid off and closed (£1000)
Simply Be account paid off and closed (£1200)
Jacamo account paid off and closed (£500)

Annoyingly all of those credit accounts were opened to improve my credit rating following defaults and although I have green ticks, my habits haven't changed. My last default falls off in 2 years and I hope to have a stonkingly good rating and a good amount of savings to get myself on the property ladder.

The rest (£8500) will be split as follows:

£500 new sofa. Extravagance I know but my current one is on it's last legs and really not comfortable. I don't want to get a second hand one as I have cats, one of whom isn't too happy with things that smell of other people/places and scent marks by peeing! So a new one that she can just roll/rub on rather than pee on is preferable! Bless her.

Account switch to First Direct. Either drip feed £3600 of the compo into a high rate regular saver OR save £300/month from salary to save a further £3600.

I'd like one, maybe two more current account/regular saver combos for the rest of the money but not sure which to go for. Currently with NatWest and plan to leave them and close all accounts. Fresh start and all!

£2.5k moving costs (new rental so deposit, fees and van). Moving 12th September and hoping to get my current deposit back (£1k).

I have YNAB and do get on with it but again it didn't become habit. This will change, it has to. I need to get into budgeting and planning my money.

My goals:

Long term is to have a deposit to buy a house. Not sure how much, but as much as I can save in the next two years will be a start.

Short term I'd like to take my friend who has a long term disability to Las Vegas next year for the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention. If I can save an extra £3600 by this time next year that should cover it. We wouldn't go for the warts and all packages, just entry for the week, the hotel it's at so that we can rest when needed and flights/spends.

Budget, budget, budget!

Build a buffer/emergency fund.

Any other apps, tips etc would be gratefully received.
I'm actually quite excited for the cheque to clear and get this started!!

ETA: Oh...and learn to drive!