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New, skint member who is on a mission!
Rebus81
Posts: 18 Forumite
I am a new member on MSE and this is the start of my diary. I am skint, stressed but confident that I can claw my way out of this hole that I've been digging for the past 4 years. I'll start with a brief background of myself:
Since I have started to earn my own money, which is when I started working at the age of 16 (I'm 32 now!), I have struggled with money and never really had any savings or assets. I have been in debt and got out of it more than once before but this time I am in deeper than ever before (current debt is about £10,000 :eek:). I've had a couple of opportunities to really excel financially but due to my attitude of 'live for the moment', I have dwindled this away on junk over the years and don't really have anything to show for it. At one point I made just over £50,000 profit from a house sale but after splitting this with my now ex-partner and spending the difference on rent to live in a city centre apartment, including buying loads of clothes, nights out etc, I was left with nothing. This is one of the biggest regrets of my life but the positive I can take from it is that I was only 21 years old and know that I wouldn't do the same if given the opportunity again.
My debts mainly consist of the dreaded pay day loans, which I just can't seem to shift. I think that is mainly because I'm paying drips and drabs as and when I can as opposed to having a focused plan that I'm committed to. I have a really old CC debt of nearly £2k, which I really need to see the back of this year!
I'm aiming to get married in 2015 with my OH of 4 years, so I really want to be debt free by then and know that I can if I put my mind and heart into it. It's really not fair on her to be held back due to my poor money management! I earn over £2k a month but have large outgoings, especially with the car and the fuel to commute to work. However, I still spend too much and like the odd flutter, which I'm desparate to knock on the head as it's started getting a bit silly recently. I have had my head firmly rammed in the sand over the past few years by ignoring the debts, ignoring phone calls, letters etc and also spending money at the weekend to go out or get drink in the house just so I can 'switch off' for a bit. I had my LBM this week and know that I've been doing everything wrong. I just think of the nice times ahead once I've paid all my debt back and have my own money to myself again without feeling sick when I spend it. I can't fully start with the budget etc until I get paid again, which is on 24th Jan.
My diary will be me documenting the ups and downs (I'm assuming there will be many - although more ups hopefully!) of my journey trying to clear my debt. I'll be honest with where my money has gone, I'll budget plan and highlight if I have overspent, I'll celebrate when I have a NSD and I'll keep a running total of my debt. I hope that there are people out there who can relate to my situation and find comfort that they're not the only one. I hope that my diary can inspire people to join me in the quest to be debt free and I hope that my diary will attract those who have been or are going through this to offer me support and guidance. I'm going to need it! I want to be able to get into bed at night and be able to fall asleep soundly without the same old thought spinning around my head. I want to be able to treat my Son more, who deserves every penny I earn.
Anyway, that's enough for now! Sorry to bore you all but I truly believe that if I document my situation and progress then it will help in my quest!
Until tomorrow....
Since I have started to earn my own money, which is when I started working at the age of 16 (I'm 32 now!), I have struggled with money and never really had any savings or assets. I have been in debt and got out of it more than once before but this time I am in deeper than ever before (current debt is about £10,000 :eek:). I've had a couple of opportunities to really excel financially but due to my attitude of 'live for the moment', I have dwindled this away on junk over the years and don't really have anything to show for it. At one point I made just over £50,000 profit from a house sale but after splitting this with my now ex-partner and spending the difference on rent to live in a city centre apartment, including buying loads of clothes, nights out etc, I was left with nothing. This is one of the biggest regrets of my life but the positive I can take from it is that I was only 21 years old and know that I wouldn't do the same if given the opportunity again.
My debts mainly consist of the dreaded pay day loans, which I just can't seem to shift. I think that is mainly because I'm paying drips and drabs as and when I can as opposed to having a focused plan that I'm committed to. I have a really old CC debt of nearly £2k, which I really need to see the back of this year!
I'm aiming to get married in 2015 with my OH of 4 years, so I really want to be debt free by then and know that I can if I put my mind and heart into it. It's really not fair on her to be held back due to my poor money management! I earn over £2k a month but have large outgoings, especially with the car and the fuel to commute to work. However, I still spend too much and like the odd flutter, which I'm desparate to knock on the head as it's started getting a bit silly recently. I have had my head firmly rammed in the sand over the past few years by ignoring the debts, ignoring phone calls, letters etc and also spending money at the weekend to go out or get drink in the house just so I can 'switch off' for a bit. I had my LBM this week and know that I've been doing everything wrong. I just think of the nice times ahead once I've paid all my debt back and have my own money to myself again without feeling sick when I spend it. I can't fully start with the budget etc until I get paid again, which is on 24th Jan.
My diary will be me documenting the ups and downs (I'm assuming there will be many - although more ups hopefully!) of my journey trying to clear my debt. I'll be honest with where my money has gone, I'll budget plan and highlight if I have overspent, I'll celebrate when I have a NSD and I'll keep a running total of my debt. I hope that there are people out there who can relate to my situation and find comfort that they're not the only one. I hope that my diary can inspire people to join me in the quest to be debt free and I hope that my diary will attract those who have been or are going through this to offer me support and guidance. I'm going to need it! I want to be able to get into bed at night and be able to fall asleep soundly without the same old thought spinning around my head. I want to be able to treat my Son more, who deserves every penny I earn.
Anyway, that's enough for now! Sorry to bore you all but I truly believe that if I document my situation and progress then it will help in my quest!
Until tomorrow....
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Comments
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First step taken. Well done. I can't wait to see the progress from here. What I have learnt is that mindless spending can create things other people are willing to pay for. Have a look around and see if there's anything that will help you get a handle on even a small debt. It's a big motivator. Best of luck, I'll be checking in and remember if you can get yourself in debt more than once, you can get solvent more than once tooMortgage at 01.01.14 £119,481.83:eek: today £0 Emergency fund £5.5/5.5k & £200/200 cash.:jWeight 24/02/19 14st 7lb now 11st 13lb determined to stop defining myself by my mistakes. Progress not perfection.:T100%through my 1% mortgage challenge. 71.3% through my pb challenge.0
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in_need_of_direction wrote: »First step taken. Well done. I can't wait to see the progress from here. What I have learnt is that mindless spending can create things other people are willing to pay for. Have a look around and see if there's anything that will help you get a handle on even a small debt. It's a big motivator. Best of luck, I'll be checking in and remember if you can get yourself in debt more than once, you can get solvent more than once too
Thank you for the reply! It's good to know there are people out there who are so supportive! I know I'm the only reason I'm in this position but know I can get out of it again! I work extremely hard in order to increase my salary (which incidentally saw me get a £7k pay rise last month!
) so that I can throw everything at it! Onwards and upwards! 0 -
Congrats :T on you LBM i will follow your journey to debt free and try to give you some tips and advice. Try doing a soa as soon as to get a better view of your finances you will be surprised on how we pay too much for mobiles, utility, food etc...
Payday company's make an absolute fortune from desperate people who turn to them for a short turn solution. I have had a few payday loans which i have only borrowed for a week or until payday the interest rates a are shocking.
Good luck with your journey remember you get out what you put in
“People are caught up in an egotistic artificial rat race to display a false image to society. We want the biggest house, fanciest car, and we don't mind paying the sky high mortgage to put up that show. We sacrifice our biggest assets our health and time, We feel happy when we see people look up to us and see how successful we are”
Rat Race0 -
Maybe you could post a statement of affairs so the good people on here can give you some specific advice on getting your debts down.0
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Congrats :T on you LBM i will follow your journey to debt free and try to give you some tips and advice. Try doing a soa as soon as to get a better view of your finances you will be surprised on how we pay too much for mobiles, utility, food etc...
Payday company's make an absolute fortune from desperate people who turn to them for a short turn solution. I have had a few payday loans which i have only borrowed for a week or until payday the interest rates a are shocking.
Good luck with your journey remember you get out what you put in
Cheers Rat Race for your post! I appreciate all the help and advice available! I'll be doing an SOA tomorrow when I get some free time and will update my signature with my current debt balance. I already feel better by signing up on here!
I've moved my post onto the Debt Free Diaries forum now so if you would like to follow my diary then I'll be on there!0 -
harrys_dad wrote: »Maybe you could post a statement of affairs so the good people on here can give you some specific advice on getting your debts down.
I've just said to Rat Race that I'll be uploading this tomorrow and have moved this thread onto the Diaries forum! Here's to a productive 2014 :beer:0
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