How does everyone stay motivated?

Bambywamby

What kept me focused was the desire to own a home rather than rent one.

Lydia.42

We seemed to lose motivation towards the end of 2006. However, with our first baby due in May, i would say that our renewed motivation has come from raw fear. :rotfl: I am petrified about not being able to afford to live when i go on maternity leave. :eek:

I have renewed my efforts of keeping a spending diary, and am looking forward to seeing our shopping spend come down (need to get this sorted, as we can't go on wasting this amount of money each month).

I also keep a spreadsheet detailing all our debts, and the current interest rates and balances. At the end of each month, my OH and i get all the info together by calling each company up and update the details.
It's so good to see the total coming down. Even is if it going to be very slowly after May. It also means we can transfer balance about, as we know when each deal is coming to an end.

Ultimately we want to move/emmigrate but can't do this until OH finishes his contract and training in 3 years time. So we have 3 years to clear the remaining debt, so we can move and get a normal mortgage deal - not a ridiculously high rate due to our credit rating/commitments.

Reading this site each day also helps keep me focused. We want to get on with our lives, not have them dictated anymore due to limited choices because of debt.

ktb

my motivations echo lots of those already mentioned... I would like to have a baby in the not too distant future and before that happens want to spend 6 months doing a ski season in Canada with my OH. I need to be debt free so I can save for both those things!

clarab_3

my motivation is to be able to go back to having a normal life - no more chasing my tail across the country and knocking myself into the ground for a bit more money than i could get at home.

shorter term, I set myself targets, for instance, this month my egg loan will go under 6000 for instance. The month after - Im looking to break below the £15,000 barrier... and so on.

Ive promised myself a "payment break" where i just make minimum payments on my loans for a month when i pay off my last credit card in about june!

honey_gem

My motivation is I'll be able to get a house eventually, the only debt I'll ever have again is a mortgage!

LouieB

January20 wrote:

I never take any money to work. I go there to earn money not to spend it.

This is going to be my new motto!

scaredy_cat_2

This is so great to read - i am new to this 'new year new attitude' and have really adjusted my spending.

But my problem is still not really understanding what is happening - e.g with loans - i know interest rates etc now but never really thought about the debt reducing with each monthly payment (doh!)

i also think the spreadsheet idea is great - i wanted to use microsoft money but don't have it on new pc but never thought of just doing a spreadsheet - am not very good on them but maybe dh could? i need to have a running total rather then pen and paper!!

so thanks have picked up lots of tips just reading this.

I do have children - and at the moment am having anxiety as dd1 (nearly 4) would enjoy ballet lessons but as she already does swimming i jsut can't do it. I know she doesn't miss out but i still feel bad got us into this! my motivation is not feeling anxious!!

GirlRacer_2

I'm not motivated at all at the moment. I get some weeks where I'm really on the ball and scrimping and scraping and really doing well then I get days like today where everyone wants some of my money and I think what's the point!

The thing that keeps me going is the fact that I WANT not NEED to change my car in approximately 18 months and the only way I can do it is to get my butt into gear and keep ploughing on with the debts!!

chicken-noodle

Want baby, spreadsheet, baby, spreadsheet,spreadsheet, baby, baby, baby, stare more at spreadsheet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This a rare glimse into my mind!!!!!!!!!

janiegs

LouieB wrote:

This is going to be my new motto!

It's not hard either. My friend challenged me to make her a cheap and decent lunch because I was laughing at her moaning about going out in the rain to spend £2 on a sandwich.

For 89p I made her two bread rolls with tuna and sweetcorn filling, she also had a packet of mini cheddars and a cereal bar and a packet of cadburys mini fingers (I bulk buy the snacks when they are on special offer).