A Thread for After Debt?

-Selene

Hi, hope I can join in here I'm debt-free now but as it wasn't very much debt I was initially in, I haven't really gotten into a good money routine. I did an SOA this afternoon and apparently have over £500 a month spare... I moved house last month so no longer paying extortionate amounts of rent, and one of my incomes is paid four-weekly instead of monthly so that always skews the results slightly... but where the blimming heck did £500 a month go?! _pale_

I'm going to start a spending diary tomorrow and hopefully keep my spending in check. And find out when I get paid. I really shouldn't be clueless about when my money's coming in...

seasideDreamer

I'm just not spending my leftover money...nicely building up in my current account and I've been saving:eek: Planning on spending most of January in the gym so hopefully it will stay that way. Transfer £450 to your savings when you get paid or something...its there if you really need it but you wont spend it on little bits.:money:

166million

Oh God I need to STOP spending.
Blimming Amazon giving £10 on a £50 order. At least I used it to stock up on some birthday presents I will need throughout the year. And I got 5% cashback on Tob cash back, and 5% on my works rewards thingy.
But its still next months money!
STOP IT

leebo87

What about a goal of saving as much as you had when your debt was at its highest in the same time that it took you to pay it all off?

backinbusiness

Good morning all,

It's now 5 years since I became debt-free, changed my ways completely and embraced MSE, so I thought I would update this thread to confirm that there IS life after debt.

My debts arose due to a marital breakdown, and the one thing I wish I had known back then was that dreaded defaults stay on your file for 6 years - I would have moved heaven and earth to stay out of default (if I could have). Anyway, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and my last default of 3 fell off my credit file at the end of Sept '15.

I have two teenage daughters, one at University, both of whom have benefited from our family's experience and are frugal, with a good work ethic, (part-time/summer jobs).

From being super-obsessed with checking online banking and updating spreadsheets, (which actually I sometimes miss!), I keep a close eye on everything still, but not obsessively.

I run a main current account for all income and dd's, a second account where any surplus goes which is available for spending. The main account has a decent balance and pays credit interest which is better than any isa, hence I've no isa at present.

I hold 4 credit cards, (2 of which I've had since the bad old days - "Bad-credit cards"), and contrary to MSE mindset I do feel loyalty towards the companies that gave me a start again. However, 3 out of the 4 cards are only used for petrol (to tick them over) and cleared in full.

The 4th card (and this is where I feel like I've really made it!), is a 0%, 21 month interest free card from my own bank. This is a major, major milestone for me - at times I thought I'd never qualify for 0% ever again!

I've been lucky in that my hours at work have increased to full-time, and a major stumbling block - spending on non-essentials - has eased a bit. I've been lucky enough to holiday abroad the last two years, (although still surf the internet for the cheapest deals), and treats and trips to the theatre, etc don't cause me too much stress any more.

I really hope this post doesn't come across as gloating, I'm by no means affluent, however the process of becoming debt-free and then moving forward thereafter HAS taught me the value of things other than material possessions and I just wanted to encourage those who are perhaps overwhelmed by their situation, that there is a future.

Happy 2015 all,

BiB x

backinbusiness

Lol 2016 even!

Mort

backinbusiness wrote: »

I really hope this post doesn't come across as gloating

BiB x

It's a statement of facts so not gloating at all.

My last default drops off at the end of this year. I have a credit card which is kept on a very tight leach and I buying a car at a very reasonable monthly rate. Modest overpayments are being made on the mortgage as well.

I agree that there is life after debt.

Mort

In September I said goodbye to my basic bank account with the Co-op that I had been using since 2006. The new account is a "proper" or standard offering current account. There's no overdraft though, one wasn't offered probably as the last default didn't fall of my report until this month. The lack of an overdraft is of no concern as I’ve not had one for ten years.
With the default finally gone from my credit report my credit score with the big three is now looking much much better.

The_Only_Girl

Hi all just discovered this thread and would love to join in. I've been debt free for nearly 2 years now and still on and off post in NST challenges. Though the community is very welcoming and supportive, I feel somewhat like a gate crasher and a gloater when I declare my savings going towards the emergency fund. I have yet to read all the posts but I agree on some of the points from the posts I've read so far. Firstly, it is easy to slide back down to the path of debts again. I didn't learn to properly budget (and stick to it) until a few months before our DFD but after learning to do it, I feel at a loss without it now. The moment I take my eyes off the ball, few little expenses here and there, that I don't account for or budget for, add up to hundreds of pounds that I now feel is a wasted opportunity for savings. Shopping used to be a hobby and a passion for me but now fills me with anxiety and discomfort. I am looking forward to sharing and receiving inspirational stuff from this forum, if you'll have me.

CapricornLass

Oh yes, please, I would like to join too - there is definitely a need for this sort of thread!

I got debt-free last year after I was able to pay everything off thanks to a redundancy payment, but I still find it a challenge to remain debt-free, and there are have been some very close calls! I've taken my pensions now, and I'm also juggling handling the lump sum scenario too, but hopefully the lessons I've painfully learnt since 2007 will now be put to good use.

Like you, The Only Girl, I don't go shopping very much anymore - although I have to be careful with shoes, as I have large, rather funny shaped feet and if I find a pair that fits I'm inclined to buy it because its so hard for me to find a pair in the first place, and I find the various no spend challenges useful too. I'm trying to follow the Frugal challenge too as well as keeping a monthly spreadsheet of spends - interesting to see how money is spent from a different angle!