My Debt-Free Journey - The Final Push

GirlyGirl30

Ok, so this has been a long time coming, and that's why it's such a long post! I would like to start by introducing myself and 'setting the scene'

I have been using MSE for a few years, lurking around the boards and following other peoples' journeys for inspiration. I will be 30 later this year, living at home with my parents and currently around £21,500 in debt (I will post a full SOA at some point, I just wanted to get this out first!) That all sounds so awful, but I earn a good wage - and just over 2 years ago this figure was over £38,000. I feel quite guilty saying that I feel good my debt is almost down to 20 grand, but I've paid off nearly that much in under 3 years so this is the final push.

The reasons I got into debt were many. As a university student I had a credit card and overdraft which I never used. I finished with a First and just(!) £7.5k student loans through careful money-management and two good part-time jobs. I got a full-time job immediately (where I still am today) and started spending well beyond my means! I also had a loser of a bf - I'm not going to blame him for all the debts, but he was abusive, terrible with money and had a drink and drug problem. The amount of times I bailed him out from debt collectors for mobile phone contracts, credit cards which were unpaid, and paid £1000's off to get drug dealers off his back etc, I dread to think. I'm not saying that it was all him, we both had a lifestyle we couldn't afford, but I was the one picking up the tab for us both (unsurprisingly, he hardly had a job while we were together). This was a relationship that lasted over 10 years and left me crippled both financially and mentally. I had finally taken as much as I could just over 2 years ago and from somewhere found the strength to send him packing. Somehow, I managed to get through all of this without my friends, family and colleagues knowing there was a big problem.

The realisation of the mess I was left in was terrifying, I had my LBM and I started throwing almost my entire salary at my debt. I moved back into my parents, where I live rent-free at the moment (my parents are just wonderful) and have been seeing the most brilliant man for the last 12 months. Fortunately for me, my new bf is sensible, solvent, kind and understanding. Unfortunately for him, I haven't told him about what I'm tackling even though I trust him 100%, I just don't think it would be fair to burden him with it, and I'm also very ashamed. Even my parents don't know the extent of it.

I'm a professional young woman, people respect me and think I'm intelligent - they wouldn't if they knew! - and I feel like I'd be letting a lot of people down if I came clean. Plus, I'm very proud and this is my problem, and I don't feel I will have learnt my lesson until every last penny is paid back through my own blood, sweat and tears. This is my punishment, and to a point I think I deserve it - I spent the money, right? Now it's payback time! It's tough, but I'm definitely a better, stronger person than I was this time 3 years ago.

I would like my debts to stay private if possible, but my snowball calculator reckons I'm 20 months shy of being debt free so I know that this may not be possible. I've told a lot of people I'm saving and that's why I can't do some of the things I used to. There may be some questions at the end of my 'savings period' as to why I have nothing but a big smile to show for it, but I think once it's paid back I will be more comfortable telling people how much of a mess I was in.

I currently put £1050 to debts every month which I can afford if I continue with my frugal living budget of £300p.m for petrol, food, toiletries, clothes etc and also I save £150 a month into my ISA for emergencies (usually car related expenses as my car is rubbish, and currently has a balance of £400) and £215 a month direct from my salary into a share-saving scheme at work which I will get out in 2 years. I'm due a bonus in April and one in August which will clear £2.5k from my debts and I will be one O/D down by March as well through my thriftiness over Christmas and New Year.

I feel a bit like I'm wishing my life away now I've got the wheels in motion. I just can't wait for my next payday so I can watch that figure go down! I might celebrate with a pizza when it drops under £20k in March!!

So this is a place for me to sound off about where I am because I'm proud and stubborn and don't want my family and friends knowing, but I still need to talk to try and keep myself on track! Any advice or support would obviously be welcomed with open arms and I will try to update as often as I can.

(Today is my 7th NSD of the month )

GG30 X

GoalDebtFree

Hi GirlyGirl30

a big congratulations to you for getting to where you are now (both in terms of reducing debt and getting out of a bad relationship). Your determination and dedication is inspiring and certainly shows me how it can be done. I may not owe quite as much as you but its definitely worrying me enough to spur me into action! I know you must feel very stressed if you are not sharing this with anyone, so if you feel that's not possible this is a great place for advice and inspiration. I have been having a look around the forum for inspiration and have joined a weekly challenge board. Maybe one of those would help you keep up the momentum.

Well done and good luck with the rest!

GirlyGirl30

Thank you so much for your reply I have been trawling the boards for some time now, and although I wasn't actually a member up to now I have been doing the Frugal Living challenge for the last year. I think I will ask to join that challenge this year, hopefully I'm not too late! I'll also have a look at some of the others, I quite like the look of the 1 debt/100 days challenge - I like to keep motivated and that's a good motivator!

It was, and still is, a frightening amount of money to owe - especially in today's financial climate. I know my job is fairly safe for the next two years, and I've been here for nearly 9 years but having this hanging over me is making me a bit stale I think. I will feel soooo free when it is finally paid back and my salary is my own! Who knows, I might be able to save a meaningful amount and actually buy myself somewhere to live! My thoughts are if I can pay back £38k in under 5 years then surely I can save that amount in the same time, maybe even more because I won't be paying the crippling interest I am now - they'll be paying me! I wonder if they'll pay me 24.9% on my savings like I'm paying them? Hmmmm... wishful thinking!

Is there a challenge for having as much fun as you can on the cheap?
I already do a lot of walking, it's what my weekends mainly consist of because I love it and get to see some beautiful parts of the countryside. It would be nice if I could find a big list of cheap activities to keep me entertained! A few years ago, the first sign of any stress or boredom would be met with a shopping spree spending money that wasn't mine... so glad that I'm in control of my stresses now and they're not in control of me. Now if I'm stressed I just go for a big long walk or a run, not that I generally get stressed these days. I'm much calmer.

I would like to add that this morning I also stitched up my favourite known brand sheepskin boots (I'd put my big fat toe through the end of them! Doh!) - they are my favourite and have already lasted me two years but I don't want to throw them out. Time was, I would've bought myself another pair without even thinking about it, but I've actually 'made do and mended!' Hehe!

GG30 x

jwil

Well done on what you've paid off so far, that's great!

Have a mooch around the various different boards on here, there will be plenty of suggestions for free/cheap days out.

Good luck with the debtbusting

mrsb83_2

Another new subscriber here

You've done so much already! Congrats!

I'm in the Payment a Day challenge which is fantastic if you're motivated by the numbers going down like I am!

GirlyGirl30

Oooh yay! Replies!

Another NSD for me today and my lovely OH bought me lunch. He's too good to me

jwil - thank you, I was going to have a mooch around the various threads looking for cheap ways to entertain myself but I've been getting distracted with other peoples' diaries today! I just love reading about different peoples' journeys; they're so inspirational and really help motivate me

mrsb83 - Wow - look how far your debt has come down! That's so nice for me to see, since I am in a similar position now as the one you were in to begin with. I KNOW it can be done, but it's so nice to see someone who's actually doing it. I do love to see the numbers coming down, I get very excited updating my spreadsheet each payday!

I will take a look at the payment a day challenge, I sometimes find it easier to think about it all in smaller numbers as it can be a bit daunting when I think I'm faced with £21.5k (without interest! :eek:). Taking a little bit off every day will be very satisfying!

GG30 x

mrsb83_2

I love the PAD precisely because it makes me feel like I'm working every day to bring the figures down!

I can honestly say that I haven't found it too difficult - the information on this forum is worth it's weight in gold. There are plenty of people with high levels of debt and knowing that others are doing it too is definitely a good thing!

Keep posting

jwil

The payment a day thread is great. You can also join us on the pay of as much as you can in 2012 challenge if you want to - you can set a target of whatever you want.

Diaries are very addictive on here, it's great following everyone's progress!

GirlyGirl30

So, here's my SOA. And it's very encouraging as I currently owe under £20k (just!!). However, this is likely to change by the beginning of the month as I will be further into my OD that I'm in the process of paying off....

As you will see, there is very little I can shave off my budget apart from my savings which are for my very rubbish car which costs me a lot of money (I don't want to end up getting further into debt to get it fixed when it regularly breaks so I'd rather have that buffer)

I've also put the minimum payments for my credit cards, but in fact I am paying practically all of the difference to my OD and BarclayEggCard at the moment.

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 3

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1544 (my pension and share money comes direct from my salary)
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1544

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0 (yes, I'm incredibily lucky and my parents are the best in the whole world)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20.42
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 39.55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 150
Total monthly expenses.................. 389.97


Assets
Cash.................................... 400
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 1320
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3720

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Natwest CC.....................3080......70........24.9 (Limit 3500)
Santander CC...................3720......98........24.9 (Limit 5000)
Barclaycard CC.................2904......66........22.9 (Limit 3500)
Ex-joint account OD3...........1795.6....60........23.9 (Limit 2000)
Graduate account OD2...........1719.2....60........23.9 (Limit 2000)
Natwest OD 1...................302.......12........23.9 (Limit 1000)
Natwest Loan 2.................977.2.....69.8......0 (Have put 0% for loans as the interest was added on at the beginning of the loan, these are the actual amounts that are now owed - no interest will ever be added on
Natwest Loan 1.................542.......67.75.....0
Tesco Loan ....................2632......154.8.....0
Nationwide CC..................1325......44........18.9 (Limit 1750)
Barclaycard (was Egg)..........965.......33........29.9 (Limit 1200)
Total unsecured debts..........19,962.....735.35....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,544
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 389.97
Available for debt repayments........... 1,154.03
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 735.35
Amount left after debt repayments....... 418.68

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,720
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,962
Net Assets.............................. -16,242

mrsb83_2

That is a really tight budget - good for you!

Here's a suggestion - decide on how much you're going to pay off every month. The snowball calculator at whatsthecost.com is soooo useful for this. It'll tell you exactly how long it'll take you to repay and in what order you should do it to save on interest.

I now pay £1100 a month towards debt. When I started it was £800 a month but I've been able to make a lot of savings and move my DFD forward.

Once you've decided on your level, make sure you pay that realistic figure every month. If you have £ left over a the end of the month, you can pay it towards debt or not. For example, your entertainment budget is so low that I think it'd be really hard to maintain over 2 years. If that went up to say £50 and you were still making good payments then I think life would be easier and you'd still be making huge progress.

It's been my experience that especially in the beginning, paying as much as humanly possible can be demoralising and really hard work. Fastest isn't always best if you know what I mean.

That turned into a bit of an essay but just wanted to give you a bit of the benefit of my experience!

skintas_2

good luck you to, have you thought of ebaying unwanted items at home, or gumtree or amazon. maybe a extra job at weekends or spare timejust to keep busy maybe like bar job so your socialisng too? on your soa what about using ur shares and bonds to pay off your debt so your saving on the interest. your soa looks really good compared to mine. you should be sorted in now time at all. what do you like to do for fun, read books watch films,? good luck to you ur facing it ur debts head on..