How does everyone stay motivated?

moanymoany

With debts that have a 'can't see the end' feel about them, there really is no alternative for most people but to pay them off. We had no debt as such, but we had a mortgage shortfall that would hit us just two years before we want to retire - that is the same thing. We already had a cheap deal mortgage but discovered that we could pay an extra £500 a month. It would take us three years to pay the extra - even with compensation. We set off by saying that we would pay it and live on whatever was left and we did that. We sold our second car.:rolleyes: It just seemed like forever 'giving things up'. After about six months I felt my attitude changing. I started to do many of the things I read on this most amazing site. When I started logging on to Martin and the fantastic contributors to the threads it became a kind of game. We did it and in less time than we expected, but along the line I got such a feeling of support from 'Martin's Angels' :A - the contributors. There are threads for thrifty use of money in all areas of life. I've used so many of them - and most worked! You know what? I've noticed no drop in my quality of life and I've got a great feeling of 'doing something' towards my retirement.

The one time I was in the USA there was a 'getting free of debt' programme on the TV. It was Martin's message. They said that when you have finished paying one thing off move that money to add to something else and then pay that off more quickly. They said 'you have got used to living on that amount - make the most of it'. We kept on saving the money we would have paid extra on the mortgage and it is adding up nicely for our retirement fund.

A penny saved is a penny earned.:T

DebtIsBad_2

First post alert!!

I've printed out my snowball (www.whatsthecost.com), and stuck it on my fridge. Each month, I try to prove it wrong by beating it (financially, not with a stick. Although sometimes I'd like to beat it with a stick). :-)

Normally it beats me :-(

But it still helps. I can SEE my debt going down.

1_step_closer

Now that made me laugh! Perhaps we should all print out a total of our debts figures, attach it to an old cushion and whack the living cr*p out of it every now and then!

Vision of feathres/stuffing flying everywhere all over Britain - perhaps a national debt whacking day?

richardvc

My motivation is a mixture of the following -

Fear of increasing my debt
Excitement of clearing my debt and owning all my pay again
Fear of disappointing my other half
Excitement of being in control of my finances for the first time in my life (using MS Money has been a great help)
Fear of me being proud of my achievements so far with regard to my debt and then having to come to this board and say 'I got it wrong'
Excitement of having a debt free date and having the motivation to beat it and finally the Excitement of helping two friends who have debt problems and guiding them to this site and being there when they had their LBM !! How can I let them down !!!

Punkygoth

I would recommend logging onto the Debt Free Wanabee board reguarly and maybe join the Money for Nothing Olympics! :beer:

JohnsonGMM

My favourite phrase is "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves". It is so true and should be used by everyone.

I have never had much debt and have absolutely nothing a present but did have about £3,500 after buying a house. I bought the house, with my fiancee, in 2004 and two years later, I have zero debt, we are getting married aboard, are about to go to Paris for the weekend, have booked to go to Barcelona in September as well as being able to afford a car and a holiday in 2006.

There were three key things that allow me to get out of debt quickly without affecting my lifestyle.

Number 1. It has been mentioned above but spending at the workplace can be a big problem. 50p on a can of coke from the machine, 40p on a snack bar, £3.00 on lunch, £1 in the collection, it adds up and quickly. It does the exact opposite to what we want, swells the waistline and reduces the bank balance! If you spent £3.90 a day on food, and for some that might be conservative, it is a whopping £1014 over 52 weeks. Take sandwiches from home, take a drink from home, eat fruit and not snacks and you can easily leave yourself with an extra £600 (at least) a year. That is £50 a month towards a credit card or debt.

Number 2. Log your incomings and outgoings on Excel (or pen and paper if you do not have a computer). What I was shocked at was the amount of "cash withdrawal" entries on my bank statement. Apart from a few, I could not think what I got with the cash at the end of the month . You know what it is like, take £10 and buy a paper for 50p, the £4.50 weighs heavy in the pocket and is spent on, well, nothing really. Then the fiver is broken into and £10 is gone without you knowing it. Between me and my fiancee, we were taking in the region of £70-120 a month out and I did not really know what it was for. We stopped and now take only about £30 if that. Tied in with point 1, it means I get better value for my money. Equally, you will also see your spending trends which can help. I budgeted a certain amount each month to pay off credit cards and, simply, stuck to it.

Number 3. Keep an entertainment budget to one side. I would say it is not a realistic goal to spend nothing a month on enjoying yourself. Also, if you tried this, no doubt you would get depressed and more likely to make an impluse buy. It does not have to be a huge amount, just something to make you feel that you are getting something out of your salary.

I hope this helps and I wish you all the best with getting out of debt. This month, my balance on my credit cards amounted to £0.00 and I paid off my wedding. What a feeling! Now I am after one of those Nintendo Wii's to celebrate!

pippo

My motivation is quite personal I guess, DOH supported me when I was young(!!!) then let me get on with looking after finances. He cut up cc many years ago! I (unfortunately) kept them 'ticking over'.
He had nervous breakdown & I felt (O. K. misguidededly) that I owed himand have for 4 years tried to keep up the lifestyle of a double income family. he is now trying so hard to get his own business up & going & he almost freaked out 6 months ago when I mentioned cc debt.

So personal motivation is to clear this without him being 'too aware'.

I still haven't got the bottle to post SOA (it's around £27,000 in cc debt) but in the mean time I have swapped it all over to 0%.
I have lurked on this site for a while so I am cutting costs where ever i can. I am lucky to have a good salary (£32,750) I know that insurance and or pension would clear these but given what he's given me I don't want him to feel I let him down.

The sad bit about doing this without sharing with DOH is that can't get too excited about the saving or the no spends!

Never mind.. my personal motivation is to become debt free (mortage & car loan (@4.9% I may add) excepted so that me & dearest OH can return to a trusting honest relationship.

skintmostofthetime

Find a BIG bill - or the biggest yuo've got & plan to pay a percentage off in -say - 6 weeks time - it works for me. I've just got £ 190.00 plus £90.00 plus another £40.00 odd for overpayment on gas/elect/ & sewage charges for the last 12 months. Great - that's £300 off something else AND £20.00 for a cheap Indian/chinese meal out somewhere which we couldn't have afforded before. Where's that leftover plonk from xmas ? Night out he we come !!

bobbadog

I've sort of lost my motivation to 'clear debt' since OH has been out of work (a month), but am managing to keep afloat, just about, which is more than we'd have done 6 months ago (without CC's or parents)... and that's with £192 quarterly gas & elec plus a £141 water bill (our first in the flat)

Generally, my motivation is watching the debt figures go down, and the promise is soon starting a savings account for our first house. We have our heart set on escaping the Smoke and going to St Neots.

sluggy1967

I feel so angry, we worked really hard all our lives and I gave up work to bring up our son. It meant going without holidays, nice clothes, had to drive an old banger for a car etc, but so what? Having his mummy at home seemed to be the right sacrifice. Then my husband fell seriously ill & I am now at home to look after both a 4 yr old & my husband. We are not entitled to income support because we were "sensible" and paid (heavily) into my husband's pension, the same pension which now ensures we are just (by a matter of pounds) above the poverty line, so not entitled to income support. I cannot work, no matter how much I might want to, and our financial situation is one which is impossible to change. I have "O" Levels, "A" Levels & Degrees coming out of my ears, but know that the system makes it impossible to work. How motivated am I (and other people who are full time carers) on a scale of 1 to 10?