How Can I Get The Debts Finished!!

silkglade

I need some help from you wonderful people and advise from your experiences.

We do not have much left to do, or we didn't have till this weekend!

We still Owe my mum £1280, which should be paid off in full when we get paid this month due to money saved from this month, back pay owed from work and overtime done this month.

I did have a Tesco credit card bill of £304. with tesco for a dishwasher we bought in the Jan sale, it is on 0% till 1st June

Problem is we are so close to being debt free that we keep forgeting the plan and getting those little extras.

I am now feeling really guilty as on Thurs we went to the Land of leather sale and got a a new 2 and 3 seater sofa set for £499, reduced from £1698.

We then got 3 new rugs fro downstairs that total £67.97

And at the begining of the month got my 7year old daughter a bike as she had taught herself on a friends bike £99

An lastly got hubby a DVD for £13.99

All this on the Credit card above - it is at 0% till Aug 07

The problem is that I feel guilty for spending money full stop. I know we have saved a fortune on the suite (the one we have is no its last legs) and DD bike is the first thing she has had since xmas (w have a 12,7 year old and 22month old) none of them have had any treats and we spent about £50 each for xmas and that was it. They know things have been tough and that it will come to an end soon - hopefully.

I need some advice and help to get the last little bit done and encouragemant to stop spending more money.

Do you think that I have messed up by spening this money?

What can I do to get motivated - I think the problem is that we are so close and getting so excited about it all that we think we have got there already. We have been together 10 years in Sept and have never been debt free or had finances easy.

Thanks for your time

finallydebtfree!!

dont feel hard on yourself!!

so you slipped up, it wont take much to get you back on track! just make sure you dont dont it again!!! (only messing!) it may just take you a little longer until your debt free date but im sure you will get there!

Im feeling bad this weekend too as I have been so good these past few months, only buying stuff I need and limiting unnessasary (sp?) spending but last week i went and blew £100 on new clothes which however much I try and convince myself were not actually needed!

silkglade

I feel that I have let everyone down. I am the bread winner and my Hubby is an amazing Househusband. So it all falls to me.

I feel a failure as I don't provide for my family properly

helping_hubby

I think it's good that you feel guilty. I know you have got them on a 0% card till August, but what if you have an emergency? The boiler breaks, you need to buy a new washing machine, your roof needs replacing? You might suddenly find yourself snowballing into debt again.

I know you said your sofa is on it's last legs, but could you have just saved £500 for 4 months and then bought a new sofa outright? There are _always_ offers on sofas at these stores.

I think that's your next step to being debt free for life....trying not to buy things until you've saved up for them.

finallydebtfree!!

dont feel like that, its hardly letting them down by buying a new sofa? if you had gone and blown all the money on yourself, then that would be another matter!

so intead of £304 on your card you now have around £984, which if you were to pay it off by then (only 4 months later than you were intending to be debt free) you would need to pay off about £196 per month

silkglade

We can easily afford to pay in excess of £500 a month comfortably after April (when mum is paid back) as we will have spare money to live on of around £1032 a month.

silkglade

helping_hubby wrote: »

I think it's good that you feel guilty. I know you have got them on a 0% card till August, but what if you have an emergency? The boiler breaks, you need to buy a new washing machine, your roof needs replacing? You might suddenly find yourself snowballing into debt again.

I know you said your sofa is on it's last legs, but could you have just saved £500 for 4 months and then bought a new sofa outright? There are _always_ offers on sofas at these stores.

I think that's your next step to being debt free for life....trying not to buy things until you've saved up for them.

Thank you for your honesty!


Do you think I have messed up. We moved into a new house in November and have been fighting every bone in my body not to start decorating till the debts are gone, even though I needs it badly.

helping_hubby

So what are your plans for your £500 a month when you're debt free in say May? June?

finallydebtfree!!

so it will take you 2 months after you have paid off you mum then if you pay it off at £500 per month, or go really careful (and no more spending!!) and you can pay it all off next month! then you will be debt free!! I would pay it all of in one go and not be tempted to take advantage of the 0% just get rid of the debt!

then I would put aside some of the money you are currently using for debt repayments each month (thats exactly what I did) and use this money for purchases such as those listed above (limited of course) and emergencies, you will be surpirsed at how quick it builds up!

silkglade

To be honest for the 1st month just spend a bit. not loads as we are not used to keeping any spare cash for spending, just be nice to buy the odd DVD or little treat. I don't believe in working really hard just to exist. Then use our 2nd account to save with. every month we will transfer the remaining balance and just forget about it till it is needed.

We want to be comfortable and expect nothing more. to be in control of our finances rather than them in control of us.

finallydebtfree!!

sounds like you have it sorted!

It took me 6 months to decide whether or not to pay my loan off with nearly all of my savings! looking back now I dont know why I didnt do it sooner! but less than 6 months later by putting that money away each month I have the same amount of savings and no loan! I would have still had that loan until next january! (and probably only half of my savings) I have vowed to try not to get anymore credit agreements and only use my credit card to earn points for vouchers! and pay it off in full each month!

now I save that money each month and just go carefully, before I wouldnt have thought twice about spending, putting it on the credit card, getting another credit agreement, now I think twice (three times........!) before I spend any money and now I have the money to spend 9 times out of 10 I dont want to!! :rotfl: