Finally debt free

sortingmyself

Reached the end of a very long journey after a second light bulb moment in the middle of the year. I have just paid the last £250 off a V%rg$n credit card which I have also just cut up.

Now begins the more difficult part for me which is remaining debt free. It is all too tempting to start spending again and I need to continue with my more disciplined habits. It hasn't really hit me yet that all of my money is now my own again but I still don't feel that I am completely cured of my spending ways.

I'm going to use this diary to try and curb my spending. My first target is to save money for an emergency fund and then see how that goes. I'm lucky that I have already covered Christmas apart from the food so December should not be too painful.

A:j

floopnoodle

Massive congratulations.

I found that once you have a nice little pot of savings which increases each month the desire to spend reduces substantially as it seems like you're now spending real, actual, money that you've worked hard for. It becomes much more satisfying seeing the total going up rather than down.

Good luck with it

slowlyfading

Congratulations :j :j

sistafromanothermista

congratulations!!!!! :T

downsizer3

Well done!
I too paid off my last debt yesterday and it feels great! :j
I'm going to be out of work from April next year so am obviously finding it easier to dicipline myself and save. Basically I'm putting all that I used for debt repayments into an account. If thats too much - how about giving yourself a £50 'treat fund' or something over and above your usual spends so its not too hard and get a spreadsheet going for a savings plan. How much would you need for 6 months unemployment say? Then open up a 30 day notice account so you can't dip into it and stick it in there. Once thats over - your salary is your own!! Just another few months in the scheme of things and really great to use the lessons you've learned rather than go back to where you were when you racked up the debt?
Good luck!

boobiebonboo

:TA big well done from me:T

JustinCredibleGillespie

HUGE congrats from me too!!

Stick on the debt-free wagon! Dont fall off this time unless its 'good' debt ie Mortgage

All the best for 2013.

JCG

xx

sortingmyself

Thanks everyone, it just hasn't sunk in still but here is to a debt free future and I was paid today so it is a good start to the weekend and a great year end.

A

unimaginative_user_name

Fantastic news. Good luck with building up your savings pot!

cookson

Congratulations!!! I bet you feel a lot less stressed now!

As for managing your spending going forward, what I do is when worked out how much I can afford to spend each month on non essential items and take this out at the start of the month.

It's all too easy to over spend when paying by card. It takes a lot of discipline, but if you're worried about over spending, this may help, you'll actually be able to see how much you can spend each month and won't be tempted to blow it all too soon!

MummyRivett

Well done, I hope to get there one day soon too.