How Are You Doing It?

Jojo1410

Hi all
As a newbie to the forums I finally had my LB moment (LBM?) and faced the debt I had built up.
So, having taken advice from lost of helpful DFWs, I am currently working on reducing my outgoings and setting up a regular payment with a DCA.
However...it's going to take me about 22 years to pay off my debts with my current level of repayments.
So my question is...how are you doing it? I noticed the Debt Free in Three forum, and also see other posters talking about how they have managed to pay off so much over a number of months.
I'm looking for inspiration and wonder if any of you would be willing to share your story, in a nutshell.I'd love to start paying back my debts faster but can't see how I can do it. Surely selling some personal possessions on eBay isn't going to generate much and my monthly income won't allow for anything other than minimum payments.
Apologies if this is already a forum topic. I looked but couldn't find anything.:o

princess*daisy

Hi Jojo :wave:

Welcome to DFW All the best with your debt free journey!

Me, I'm taking things small steps at a time, to make sure things are realistic and achievable for me.

My first step was to CUT UP THE CREDIT CARDS!

My second step was to complete an SOA. This helps you to see where you are overspending. If you post it in here, people will give you lots of ideas about where you can cut down. The key is to come up with a budget and stick to it, so that you no longer overspend. Any extra money should go towards your debts. Use the SOA calc from here - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

My third step was to read, read and read some more! I scoured these forums and the main site in every minute of spare time I had, to make sure I knew about all the things I could do to save money and even up my income with vouchers, freebies, surveys etc. Doing Martin's "money makeover" on the main site is a good place to start

Because I'd been so used to overspending each month, for the first two months I still only made minimum payments so that I could get used to budgeting without using credit cards. It's a scary thing not having the CCs to rely on when you're so used to them, so I figured it was the safest thing to do was to make sure I didn't set myself up to fail from the word go.

Then, eventually, I started to increase my payments on the CCs to £10 per month over minimum, £20 over the following month etc. Always make sure you focus on the ones that have the highest interest first though. The payment a day (PAD) thread in the debt free diaries section is a great place to start, because you can make small payments each day which add up over time to equal big payments. I've paid an extra £20 off this month doing this. You don't even notice it if you round down to the nearest £1 in your bank account. Even 50p a day is £182 per year Check it out

I also started to do online surveys, collect vouchers, freebies, write compliments/complaints/queries (genuine ones, ofc) to companies, many of whom will send you vouchers or samples as a goodwill gesture I've "saved" (or "earned"?) loads doing this. eBay is good for selling, but don't forget it's equally good for buying clothes etc, rather than spending top dollar in a shop for new. Freecycle/Freegle can also be useful for grabbing freebies. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and all that.

Finally, don't forget the odd small treat from time to time. It doesn't even have to be a treat that costs anything (e.g. could just be a night in where you pamper yourself), but you do need a reward for your hard work.

Good luck

Edit - meant to add, if you put your running "current debt vs debt paid" in your signature like I have, you can see it going down and it's a good incentive. Even by doing "baby steps", as you can see I've paid off over £1000 since the end of January

Jojo1410

Hi
WOW! You've made a huge dent in your debts already. Well done. It's really inspirational to read other posters stories. I've done the SOA and received lots of good advice. CC is gone and a temporary payment plan is set up on it and a loan.
I'm at the stage of practising budgeting for the next couple of months...seeing how much of a savings I can make from my household expenses.
I see your point about baby steps and need to get started somewhere so I'll start with selling some stuff on ebay.
And I love the debt countdown in the signature box...I'm gonna do that too!
Many thanks, princess*daisy, for your great ideas. What a good start.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi and welcome! I know exactly what you mean. I see people on here who are paying an extra £1000 a month off their cards and I am so jealous! Even with tightening our spending down as much as possible we can only just pay slightly more than the minimum - and for the last couple of months we have had extra bills and havent even managed that.

BUT as Princess Daisy says every small step counts. We managed to get most of our cards onto 0% deals, we have stopped spending on rubbish and cut our household bills as low as possible. Yes its slow progress but the balances are going down and we just have to accept we are in it for the long haul.

The main thing is that for the past year or so we havent put anything on credit and thats an achievement in itself. Its tempting sometimes to think "this is going to take forever, whats the point" but you need to keep plodding away.

This forum is great for support - good luck.

kjp

A few little things from me... Make sure your SOA covers all eventualities - if you've already posted it here I'm sure it will, but things like car tax, insurance - make sure you're putting a little away. I've set up mini esavers in my bank accounts which i transfer money into each month - amazing how quickly it tots up! I also do little things like buy presents throughout the year to save the January panic of 'how am I going to pay for all that?!'. Keep a spending diary! Pop by to see the daily 'What Small DFW Things...' thread - reminds you that sometimes just doing the little things - taking your lunch to work, committing to a NSD (no spend day) - will help in the long run. And don't forget to treat yourself on occasion - maybe not a big blow out but a tub of ice cream or a bottle of wine or a new cheapy nail polish will do wonders - and sometimes, you think, actually, I don't want to spend £4 on a bottle of wine, I'll pay it off my debt instead!

Good luck in your journey!
Kx

camuk81

Hi Jojo, I'm one of those lucky one's who can throw a bit more at their cards but I'm on very high APR so I come looking all these people on 0% and sit there green with envy, I did my own statement of affairs and made some hard choices early on.

I cut my phone bill down by 3/4. I don't spend on my cards (well normally but had a very naughty month last month and boy am I paying for it.) I've changed my tariff. Checked the benefits calculator, rechecked my tax code (went backwards on that one and lost £100 a month!), changed my energy package. Moved my council tax to 12 months instead of 10. Changed brands in the super market )much to the annoyance of my husband who is yet to have a LBM of his own.) I now spend more time researching items on the internet i.e. shopping even down to the dog food and prescriptions for the pets!

I think there have been some amazing points raised already. For me my brian in programmed for numbers. Last night I woke up to a cold fact that if I hadn't have started on this journey I would have paid £7 in interest to get debt free. By overpaying I'm hoping to get to the £1.5k.

Have a look for the free listing days on ebay they should be a great help for you

ms_london

Hellooooo.

You are certainly in the right place - I lived here when I was in debt, and as you can see, still pop in - there are some great people on this forum, and it is nice to know you are not alone..

I used to owe £19,000 - I was fortunate (?) that I was single with no children, so I was able to get a 2nd job and able to throw £1,000 a month at my debt, it was hard work and looking back, not sure how I got through it - I literally relied on as many freebies and free trials (dvds etc) as I could and basically just avoided the shops so I couldn't be tempted - no magic, just a lot of hard work. However, I used to be so materialistic, and as a result of going through being in debt, realised what was important and it wasn't necessarily spending money......... I also ebayed a lot!!

xx

Carlos27

Hi Jojo,

At my worst I was in negative equity on a mortgage. I didn't even live in the house. I had negative equity car finance, and my car was vandalised and I couldn't afford to have it repaired. Plus at max every month in my overdraft (for 10 years) credit card balances + owed money to friends and family.

How I did it?

Every time I got some extra money from selling something or payrise I would increase the amount I was paying off my debts (Highest interest first). I over budgeted for social events, food and petrol. Then If something I budgeted for cost less the difference went towards paying something off.

My key to this was a spending diary which included my budget per week, per month and debts column. I loved amending the totals to lower the debts and over budgeting and always knocking little bits off really kept me going.

When ever I got a little low I came here for inspiration, I lurked and saw how well people were doing and it picked me up.

(Even though last year I paid back everything I was paying interest on. Last week I paid the final payment for a house deposit I borrowed 12 months ago from my girlfriends dad. Now my debts column has changed to a savings column.)

brizzledfw

Hi jojo

Welcome to the boards. We are a friendly bunch on here and keen to help out. There is no magic either, just a lot of thinking, strategising and effort being put into the small steps. It's quite an effort most of the time, exhausting too but so worth it as you plot your progress. I have had several hiccups over the last few years..but this time I think my financial behaviour has changed for good:T

I agree..listing every thing in the daily small dfw things thread is great. I also keep my motivation higher with a diary..seems to work for me, support but also firm words from people in the same position when needs be!

Bst of luck anyway

Brizzle

Debt_Free_Guy

My approach for tackling debt was all about changing my attitude towards money. By taking control of the small daily purchases I found that I could drastically reduce my monthly spending and instead channel that money into paying down debt.

Jojo1410

What a lovely welcome from you all, and so many ideas. The most important message I hear is to not be overwhelmed by it and break it down into small steps. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better over the coming years. I guess I'll be here a while.
Please keep your stories coming, every experience is proof that it can be done, and hopefully it can inspire not only me but all the others who come here looking for help. I have a long way to go and am still floundering, but at least I'm not sinking anymore. x