Getting professional help to beat debt. Diary

Getmeoutofdebt

Well it was two years ago this month that I had my LBM and I know I keep saying it bit I can't believe how fast it has gone!!!

My starting debt was £27,924 and now I'm at £6662 !!

I can't believe I have paid off over £19k in 2 years!! (I had 2k written off by MBNA which makes it up to 21K)

Before I went on my debt plan I was paying out 5 or 6k a year and it wasn't even making any difference due to the interest I was paying and the fees involved in swapping one debt to another when the interest got too high.

I am so pleased I got out of that downwards spiral and if I hadn't had the guts to phone National Debtline and the great advice from them I would never have managed it.

National Debtline were fantastic and gave me all the info and support I needed to go self managed which I think has really helped as my creditors seemed more happy to help me than when I went on a managed plan a few years ago. Yes I have had some ups and downs but the downs weren't really bad, just me lacking motivation some times or feeling a bit low. I have had no hassle from my creditors at all.

From 11 debts when I first started, I am down to my last 2 credit cards and am hoping to get them paid by the end of the year.

My main focus now is saving every last penny, doing online surveys etc, earning bonus at work, any money saving thing I can do to put that little bit of extra money towards my debt in order to stay on track.

When I first started my plan I worked it all out on a spreadsheet from day 1 until the final payment and from where I was at then on the spreadsheet I had to scroll down numerous times to get to the end. Now I look at it and from where I am now, I can see the end without having to scroll at all! There is finally light at the end of the tunnel! :T

Spring is in the air today too!! That certainly helps on the optimism front! Yay!!!:j

Hope you all have a great weekend.... I'm off to do some more surveys! :rotfl:

Rollercoaster_Rach

You are a total inspiration! I hope I can follow in your footsteps....Feels painfully slow with so many 'surprises' popping up to halt us in our tracks....any big tips????

RR x

Getmeoutofdebt

Rollercoaster_Rach wrote: »

You are a total inspiration! I hope I can follow in your footsteps....Feels painfully slow with so many 'surprises' popping up to halt us in our tracks....any big tips????

RR x

Hi rach, I have times when it feels painfully slow too. It's only really when I look back at what I've done that it sinks in that I'm actually doing ok. I guess I have just got used to not spending any money on anything other than food, bills and debts. I don't go out, don't buy clothes don't have holidays etc. I pay as much as I can off everything I can on payday and only leave myself with enough money to eat (cheaply) and put fuel in the car for the rest of the month, so I can't spend anything. The problem is, when something does go wrong I'm stuffed!! My car has broken down on me twice this week and I can't afford to fix it unless I spend my food money! That's when I get really down but I just tell myself that the more I suffer now, the sooner I will be debt free and life will be so much easier. I'm driving myself insane with these flipping surveys, spending hours earning just a few pence etc but once I'm out of debt I'll never have to do another survey again! :T
You are doing well! Even if some months you aren't paying much off, if you are not getting further into debt you are still doing good. Just try and focus on things like that to remind yourself that you are actually doing ok! Chin up & good luck xx

Rollercoaster_Rach

Oh this was just what I was going to write on my diary this morning! I pay the biggest over payment on payday and then fret all month that I won't make it through the month (I usually do) but it's the only way of forcing myself to get the debt down as a priority over everything. Waited for minimum payments to go out for BC1 and BC2 today and have overpaid today. Feels great but now....help! Stuffed if anything goes wrong! Oh well like you it will be fantastic to be out of debt and use money WISELY in the future!!!! Start from scratch with all I've learned from here. xxxxx

RR x

LAM2011

HI GMOOD


Sounds like you are doing well. It is an amazing feeling when you can look back at how much you have paid off - its like a mixed feeling of what you could have done with that money but the important thing is to put it behind you and move on- life will be better.

Getmeoutofdebt

Oh these last two weeks have been a nightmare!! :mad:
Things are starting to go wrong and I am back in my overdraft again after I had managed to pay it off!! I feel so down about it all. I'm absolutely broke!
March is never a good month for me as it has so many birthdays & mothers day etc in it that it is like Christmas all over again! So I had that to contend with for a start and then my car broke down again and we are struggling to find out what is causing the problem. To cut a long story short I have spent about £600 on car parts and labour and it is still faulty! It's like the original fault has set off a domino effect and made a whole load of other faults appear.
On top of that my company have decided to send me away for 5 nights next month down south on 2 separate trips and I need to wear a suit during the day (I don't own one!) and a black evening dress at night for a dinner dance! (Again I don't own one!) So that is two outfits I need to buy just to go there and then I will need money for drinks in the evening as I can't just sit there without and they are flipping expensive at these hotels we get sent to! I felt like I was going to cry when my boss told me I had to go! Any extra expense at the moment is sending me into a panic! I tried to get out of it but he won't let me! It's a pain in the you know what!!
On top of that it is my birthday this month too and my family and various friends are all pestering me like mad to go on various meals/ nights out etc to celebrate. I'm refusing to go on any and now they all think I'm avoiding them! Grrrr! :mad: I've tried to explain that I'm skint but they don't understand. If they say they are skint it means they are running low but can still muster up a couple of hundred £ from somewhere. If I say I'm skint I really mean it! I'm running out of money to buy food!
So sick of being in debt and even more sick now that I know for sure I will not reach my target and get out of debt this year!
I need a miracle!
On the plus side...... and it is the only plus I can think of this week..... I withdrew £15 from My swag bucks surveys! But even that didn't really help as I spent it on the car instead of my debt! lol! :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

Morning GMOOD, I think you are doing a great job. You've paid off an awful lot of debt in such a short space of time, don't beat yourself up xx As for suit & black dress how about looking on ebay for something very cheap, or do you have a good friend that would lend you something in your size? I've bought evening dresses in charity shops before now and they were a steal and I managed to sell them on again on ebay for a profit so perhaps that could be an idea? Hope you manage to find a solution

Fortune_Smiles

Oh GMOOD - how frustrating for you. Could you ask for money for your birthday to help with the car costs? I hate it when I end up spending gifts on life stuff but it might alleviate the pressure. Lovely that you're so popular with friends and family but the social stuff gets so expensive. Could a family member hold a party for you? Maybe afternoon tea and everyone could bring a contribution? That way you'd get to see everyone and it wouldn't cost a lot.

I wish we'd known about the work stuff a couple of weeks ago - I've just sent a fabulous dress to the charity shop which you could have had. I'd only worn it once. PM me your size - since retiring my work wardrobe has been languishing and I've plenty of smart outfits which you could have. It's all good brands, like new and I had it dry cleaned before retiring it. Alternatively, do friends or family have anything you could borrow? It's such a shame when you have to buy something for one event. Or maybe a lovely new dress is on your birthday list?

Stay strong. It's a set back but you've been doing so well. I know you can get past this hurdle too.

Fortune x

Getmeoutofdebt

Thanks Fortune and debtfree

You are so kind and so full of good suggestions!
I don't know whats wrong with me at the moment. Maybe it's just that I'm having a hard time at work and it is making everything else seem worse than it is.

After your suggestions I have spent the afternoon searching e-bay and have my eye on a couple of dresses that are only at £2 so far. I will try my luck with them for a start. The suit will have to wait till pay day. I struggle with suits anyway which is why I don't own one. I'm a 12 but I'm pretty tall at 5'11". For some reason my arms are long and shoulders are wide at the back. I find that if I bend over or go to lift anything my jackets split at the seams at the top of the arms. I end up with trousers that fit but then I have to get a large jacket to fit my back that looks too large on the front as I'm small chested! I'm a freak!! ha ha!!I normally wear trousers with a tight cardigan at work so theres a bit of give in it when I move. If I get any birthday money I can put it towards the suit. It may come in handy for future as I am half tempted to try for a new job once I'm out of debt..... I may need something for interviews...

I have re-done my debt spreadsheet today so that I am paying less off a month. Not much, maybe £100 depending on what I get paid. This makes me debt Free next February instead of this Oct/Nov as I had hoped. It drags it out a bit longer but gives me a bit of a cushion each month in case something goes wrong or I need something extra. If I don't need it I can always pay it off my debt later on.
I am still stressing about it all but I do feel a little bit better. I guess that a few more months isn't really the end of the world if it makes the journey a bit smoother....


Thanks again for your support!
GMOOD xxx
:T

Getmeoutofdebt

So annoyed with myself today! Got so engrossed in online surveys that I missed the end of both auctions for the dresses I was trying to buy on ebay! One went for £3.20 which was only 20p more than I had bid! Still..... on the plus side I have nearly reached another £10 from surveys so i guess it was more profitable in the end! Laugh! :rotfl: