The "Pay ALL your debt off by Xmas 2012" challenge - PART 3!!!

psychopathbabble

I've just been very MSE in organising Mr S's birthday I wanted to book him a meerkat experience at the zoo on his actual birthday but they are booked up so I've had to order it as a voucher instead. Using MrT vouchers (which I usually use on food!!) I've got myself £12.50 towards my own admission when we do go... AND I've also got us two tickets for Thorpe Park so we can still do something on the day! Rather excited! From now on, I vow to no longer use my points vouchers on food...

mf0u1098

My LBM was more like a dim flicker that increased gradually. I went to uni and was always given credit and they gave the impression that it was perfectly normal to have loads of debt and that uni wasn't bad debt...?! Now I know differently and I feel I've been brainwashed my whole adult life into thinking that debt was ok.

I came to realise that buying the latest gadget or branded clothes or flashy car wasn't making me happy, it's people that matter and the right people at that!

I think we've all got to go back to basics and find out what really matters to us in our lives. It can be: sewing, baking, picnics, running, gardening, puzzles etc... Whatever makes us happy then that's what we should do. The brilliant thing is that most of these things don't cost a lot of money as we're doing them ourselves not paying a big corporate giant to make them for us and charge a fortune. I personally find it difficult to find clothes that I like as all the clothes shops are telling you what to wear, so the answer is to make your own! Why not?! Our grandparents probably did so why not us? We have more access to patterns with the internet and fabric is relatively cheap so why can't we make clothes we'd love to wear?

Ultimately though it was because I felt I was being left behind all my friends who had got married, had kids and owned lovely homes. What did I have to show for my life? DEBT. How sad... That's when I made the change in November and said enough is enough. I just want to be happy and I'm slowly trying to figure out what that means to me each day...

Sorry for the waffle but just brain dumped! xxx

kerri_dfw

Hope you're feeling better soon Jemma, forgot to say earlier xx

SpagBol

My story is similar to yours Jemma (except I have got a home with a huge mortgage) in that no real LBM just a growing realisation that things couldn't continue. I haven't been abroad in 7 years, my 2 kids haven't even got passports, my car is old, we are always struggling but our salaries are good. That p!ssed me off. My DH was made redundant a few years ago and we lived on credit to get through it, we didn't ever change our lifestyle though. I suppose we could remortgage and have an even biggger mortgage and no unsecured debt and carry on as before but as you all say I've realised how futile all the spending is anyway. As you can see above we never had a showbiz lifestyle or anything but we spent £££ on takeaways, pubs, treats for the kids etc. We've saved £8.5k :T just by cutting that out. How scary is that?!?:eek:

SpagBol

Oh, and I'm mid-30s :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I can't blame my parents at all my mum is Ms Frugal and has always saved, never frittered. I could blame her for my insistence on stretching to the max for the best property in the best location but that's just common sense imho...

I agree with you Kerri about the convenience market though, I can save more money now I work less and have a lower income because I have more time and am not so knackered all the time and feel like I/DH/the kids need a treat every other day

his_missus

Every time I had a LBM, I get a loan from the bank, pay off all the credit cards/debts so I only had one debt (yes I know that sounds stooooopid now:o) only then I'd end up spending again on the CC (holidays, concerts, clothes...) So I think "I'll get a bank loan, pay off al the debts" and go round in circles!

If I'm honest, I'm still living a bit above my means (finding giving up holidays/weekends away difficult still) though I have cut back massively when I look back to how/what I used to spend and if I'm not debt free by Xmas, I certainly hope I am by June 2013

EDIT: It also helps havign Hubby on board, he's only really just had his LBM!

jakes-mum

I feel a bit of a fraud now with all your stories as I never had the LBM, I was always frugal I just wasnt tough enough with DH. I almost had his LBM for him

The hardest thing for us financially is that I had DS days after my 22nd birthday, while my mates were out drinking etc I was changing nappies and paying a mortgage.

I do find it interesting that DH and I both came from families that were low income and where as DH wants all the things he couldnt have as a child (on credit ) I totally followed my mums teachings. She would take her own dresses, cut them down for my eldest sister, who passed them to my middle sister, then to me. All foods were bulked out and home made, we could all cook before our teens and yellow stickers on the food was the norm.

I finally just got fed up of never getting the stage of having something for myself because I was always paying for things DH wanted us to have. I know reading some of my rants it sounds like he still spends like a leaking tap, but he is actually so much better (still room for improvement though )

My dream is to go to disneyland orlando, stupid dream I know but it comes from when I was very little and I begged my dad to take me, he promised when my sisters left home he would take me and he never did (never promise a 6 year old something and not deliver people, they never forget). Well I also have a 15 year savings plan running that matures next year, again this was supposed to be for my dream, but now its for a new car I will not give up my dream, its become a bit of an obsession, I will get there with my kids, my daughter will meet Mickey Mouse while its still something that would be amazing for her and I cant do that until this stupid debt is gone

Kerfuffle

Canucksfan wrote: »

Oh Kerfuffle, I agree with you 100% about the high cost of emigrating. Yes, we earn a lot more out here than in the UK, but the cost of property and day to day living costs are a lot higher too. When we were leaving the UK, we were in a hurry to leave once the visas arrived, as I had a start date for my new job. Well we gave away so much of our stuff, cos it wasn't worth shipping our beds and tatty, well-bounced on and well-loved-by-the-kids sofa. So the day after we came here, we had to do lots of trips to IKEA to buy the same stuff again!
Oh well, we are turning it around now aren't we...Thank God for this forum to keep me on the straight and narrow!
I liked the last line in your piece about being MF - am gonna use that as my mantra...v inspirational! x

Hi Canucksfan,

Ah well there you go then, it just goes to show how different people have different experiences. We earm less than we used to do in the UK, and our current living expenses are less than the UK :rotfl:which is why we're managing to tread water. If we earned more and our living expenses were as they are then life would be rock and roll, if we earned less and and our living expenses were more then we'd be sunk :eek:

I guess I could do with your earnings and my living expenses

We did bring most of our carp here, shipping cost 5000pounds so it was money well spent, although we did have to get rid of masses of the stuff. The charity shops around our area did very well from us . But then off course we couldn't bring appliances so we had all that kind of expense.

I'd love to sample the big smoke lifestyle that you have so once we've got our carpet laid we'll have to do a houseswap. I'll sample where you live and you can sample where I live (you can go ski-ing ), the offer is extended to your kids but I think they'll have flown the nest by the time my carpet is laid :rotfl:

his_missus

jakes-mum wrote: »

My dream is to go to disneyland orlando, stupid dream I know but it comes from when I was very little and I begged my dad to take me, he promised when my sisters left home he would take me and he never did (never promise a 6 year old something and not deliver people, they never forget). Well I also have a 15 year savings plan running that matures next year, again this was supposed to be for my dream, but now its for a new car I will not give up my dream, its become a bit of an obsession, I will get there with my kids, my daughter will meet Mickey Mouse while its still something that would be amazing for her and I cant do that until this stupid debt is gone

No dream is ever stupid and I know that one day you'll make that dream come true x

[Deleted User]

I am not going to be debt free by Xmas - I am getting some surgery so I have taken out a consolidation loan to pay for that & the rest will get rid of most of the remaining debt.

Hope you dont mind if I stick around tho?!?!

Feel a bit of a fraud to be honest - I know its not essential that I get this surgery but it is something that I have wanted for such a long time & it really affects me emotionally so I have decided to just go for it.

My loan willbe over 5 years - I need to check if there are any penalties for paying it up early I am still waiting for the paperwork to come through.

Dxxx