Living in absolute DENIAL

Lucy1010

suze1 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. Very inspiring! It's helped me to realise that I'm not the only one and my problems are not insurmountable! Like Lucy1010, I now delete every email offering free delivery, 10% off etc. Alot of my spending was me thinking I was getting a bargain, when 9 times out of 10 I didn't need the item anyway???!!! Some warped thinking there!!! My current "addiction" is not shopping, but trying to have no spend days. Today was one of them :-)

I'm absolutely on the same page suze1, my addiction has turned into no spend days... it feels good and long may it continue for us

Nickyj

Hi Lucy. I was in exactly the same position about 6 years ago when I had my LBM. I owed a ridiculous amount of money on credit cards and loans. I cut all my cards up. I became debt free last month and will never ever have another credit card or loan. If I want something now I either go without or save up. It's a nice feeling knowing that everything I buy now I have bought outright with my hard earned money rather than on credit. Good luck, you sound really positive and are going the right way around things. Keep us posted on how you get on (you too suze1) xxxx

Lucy1010

Nickyj wrote: »

Hi Lucy. I was in exactly the same position about 6 years ago when I had my LBM. I owed a ridiculous amount of money on credit cards and loans. I cut all my cards up. I became debt free last month and will never ever have another credit card or loan. If I want something now I either go without or save up. It's a nice feeling knowing that everything I buy now I have bought outright with my hard earned money rather than on credit. Good luck, you sound really positive and are going the right way around things. Keep us posted on how you get on (you too suze1) xxxx

I love hearing stories like yours.... I dream to be YOU one day posting this reply to another person in my current situation. Thank you for your reply! How much did you owe and how did you do it?

Lucy x

ms_london

I was in debt of £19,000 and had run it up on the same things as you, took me a couple of years to pay it back (second job/being a hermit) but once I got into the swing of things and was debt free I then carried on saving and went travelling... I do have a budget now though as if I take my eye off the ball or get caught up in material possessions and wanting to "treat" myself I will end up overspending. It is all about moderation though, so you're doing the right thing sticking to a moderate budget rather than limiting yourself too much. Xx

suze1_2

Nickyj wrote: »

Hi Lucy. I was in exactly the same position about 6 years ago when I had my LBM. I owed a ridiculous amount of money on credit cards and loans. I cut all my cards up. I became debt free last month and will never ever have another credit card or loan. If I want something now I either go without or save up. It's a nice feeling knowing that everything I buy now I have bought outright with my hard earned money rather than on credit. Good luck, you sound really positive and are going the right way around things. Keep us posted on how you get on (you too suze1) xxxx

Wow Nickyj - what a transformation!!! :T I too, hope to be like you one day in the not too distant future. I just hope I can maintain my determination & current outlook. Thanks for posting

suze1_2

ms_london wrote: »

I was in debt of £19,000 and had run it up on the same things as you, took me a couple of years to pay it back (second job/being a hermit) but once I got into the swing of things and was debt free I then carried on saving and went travelling... I do have a budget now though as if I take my eye off the ball or get caught up in material possessions and wanting to "treat" myself I will end up overspending. It is all about moderation though, so you're doing the right thing sticking to a moderate budget rather than limiting yourself too much. Xx

WOW ms_London!! Couple of years to pay back £19k is incredible :T Massive well done to you! Hope to be in that position one day! Apart from the obvious problem of paying back the debt, it's also a case of a radical change of behaviour & thinking! Hope I'm up to the challenge!!

saffer_in_fylde

Your story is so similar to mine. I completely buried my head in the sand and thought my debt was around £8k (think I even posted it on this site) and then I added it all up and got the biggest fright of my life! I couldn't sleep, became very snappy and don't think I even smiled once. The one thing people always said about me when they know/met me is that I am always happy and smiling, nothing got me down. But the thing that did was just how stupid I have been.

I am determined to be debt free by 2015! A long way off, but I am going to do it! I want to be able to go out and buy things and not put it on plastic and then worry about paying it back.

The first step is admitting it (gosh - this sounds like an AA meeting - hahaha!) and you have done the right thing. You CAN and WILL be debt free.

FireWyrm

Denial is always the downfall of every addict. The problem is, we're actively encouraged by our friends, society and even government to live outside our means. I really believe that the worst thing to happen to this country was the advent of commercial TV. We are bombarded day in day out with adverts for stuff we dont need or really want. Out of interest, I sat one night and actually paid attention to the adverts. I counted how many were for something that was a positive luxury rather than something that is actually useful or was going to change my life in some way. During the course of an evening, I watched with my new NEED not WANT eyes and do you know, there was only one advert where I really thought, oh, better make a note of that for next weeks shopping. Almost every thing else was high priced rubbish that wasnt going to improve my life one little bit.

Fast food was discounted for instance, cosmetics, anything to do with home improvement, perfumes, cars, definitely additional sources of credit. Go on, actually watch those adverts some time...count how many are for things you actually need.

Lucy1010

saffer_in_fylde wrote: »

s and not put it on plastic and then worry about paying it back.

The first step is admitting it (gosh - this sounds like an AA meeting - hahaha!) and you have done the right thing. You CAN and WILL be debt free.

It is... it's REHAB in here, I love popping into to see how many others can help us through..!

Thank you and to the other replies, very motivational :-)

Newyorkdreams

Hi Lucy - Ive been following your thread with avid interest because I too feel like I can relate! There are so many insprirational stories here - thank you all for sharing.

My background is that I started spending more than I had at uni and it went from there....the amount that is owed is for me and my husband but still represents over £25K each!!! I am lucky now that I have a decent paid job, house, car etc so I can get stuck into getting my debt paid off. I too have set a reasonable level of budget otherwise I will get hacked off and throw in the towel. I'll continue to watch your progress Lucy, I'm sure you will achieve your goals and we will support you along the way!
NYD x