I've had the worst of times - now for the BEST of times!

peaceandfreedom

Hi everyone - woo hoo, I've finally started a diary. :j

The worst of times was having large credit card debts, an out-of-work OH, me earning very little and the last of savings being gradually whittled away. The best of times means having NO DEBT of course - but sadly, this is still quite a long way off.

I have been around these boards for many years and in all that time have been in varying levels of debt. At one point, when the good times rolled, I paid off all debts but then the bad times came a-calling and I used up any savings I had and ran up more debt. OH lost his job, my freelance work dried up and it all looked very bleak for a while.

My financial arrangement with my OH has not helped because for many years, even though he was earning vastly more than me, I still had to bear a large proportion of the household expenses, including paying completely for Christmas and birthdays for all the children for the past 25 years. Even when he was unemployed, he didn't feel the need to cut down on his drinking and on the high quality food he likes to eat. Nor did he spot a single job that needed doing around the house.

Anyway, having got that initial whinge about OH out of the way, I am not going to include him much in this diary. Things are not rosy between us but there is nothing to be gained from slagging him off all the time.

I could go on forever about why I am permanently in debt but it all boils down to one simple reason - I seem to be incapable of living within my means. I've always been bad at managing my finances, whether I was earning a lot or a little. I have never had a jot of good sense or forward planning. For the past few years, I have done much better but I am still inclined to stick things on a credit card if I can't afford to pay for it there and then.

So this diary is to help me stick to the straight and narrow. I am feeling upbeat and positive about it all and I am relying on all you lovely people to give me a kick up the bum when I need it.

I reckon I can clear my current debt in 2 years. So, let the adventure begin! :j

peaceandfreedom

As explained in the first post, I need to change my ways. Although I have cleared credit cards in the past, I keep spending on them again. I never seem to learn. However, I have NEVER had a late payment, a missed payment or defaulted in any way. To the best of my knowledge I have an excellent credit rating. I intend to keep it that way.

My debts amount to £19020 at the moment. I have worked out everything on various spreadsheets and aim to repay this by December 2015. This should be do-able. I am not planning on doing an SOA as I've done all that before and it's looking good. My problem is actually sticking to it. Also, I never have any money for emergency/unexpected costs, and this is when the credit card is produced again. So I am working on building up a small emergency fund.

Around 10K of the debt is on a 0% credit card - part of that has just been transferred over from an 'active' credit card. As I clearly can't be trusted with a credit card, I plan to close down this credit card account and actually live within my means - this should be interesting!

I am on a fairly low income because I changed career slightly last year and needed to start in a junior role. However, I am quickly proving my worth and hope to move to a better paid job in the next year or so, when I have consolidated my current skills and experience. I earn a small freelance income as well - I am aiming to increase this considerably over the next few months.

Next post gives you my plan of action.

peaceandfreedom

There is usually a two-pronged approach to debt-busting - reduce outgoings, increase income. I have done the first as far as possible - in fact I am wildly impressed by how little I can live on at times. A couple of my sisters earn more than twice what I earn and they still can't seem to manage. :eek: Even the running-up-stuff-on-credit-cards comes to 2-3K a year at most, which while it is daft and wrong, it is hardly of Kardashian proportions.

So the outgoings have been reduced as much as possible. I will continue to keep outgoings low by taking part in some of the DFW challenges and following lots of the excellent advice in these forums.

Now I need to do the following which will really be a bit of a sea-change for me:

1. Ensure that if I want to buy something, I have the money to pay for it there and then
2. If I don't have the money, then I need to either NOT buy it or generate the extra money somehow
3. I can generate money by:
   1. Doing some extra professional freelance work
   2. Selling stuff - mainly on ebay (I still have plenty of sellable stuff knocking around the place)
   3. Selling books/DVDs on amazon
   4. Doing an occasional car boot sale

Only the first of the 'generate money' items above is sustainable so I need to think of other forms of regular income. I will be thinking about that over the next few weeks.

When all my debt is paid off, I will be concentrating on building up some provision for my retirement. That's a whole new adventure.

peaceandfreedom

I have so many plans over the next couple of years, to do things in the house, tidy up the garden etc. And all on a miniscule budget. It will be a challenge but I'm looking forward to it.

So I've done enough waffling on for now - it would be nice if anyone has any advice or just simply a quick hello. :wave:

tattycath

Hi peaceandfreedom :wave:
Welcome to the dfw board.
You have a great plan and we all support each other on here.

ani*fan

Hi there peaceandfreedom


Welcome to diaryland!!! We have a similar amount of debt though it's going to take me much longer than you to pay it off, I fear!!


Well done for getting a plan together. I look forward to hearing how you get on.


a*f

RainbowBridgeReturns

Hi Peaceandfreedom, you have proved you have done this before, so you've got the skills and can bust those debts again.

The next part, which is staying out of debt and moving on to building up an emergency fund etc, etc, is where I continually get stuck too. Hopefully this time it will be different for both of us.

All the best on your journey.

DedicatedDFW

Hey p&f :T

i was going to ask if you were thinking of starting a diary but i didn't want to put any pressure on you - so glad you have

You can do it Have you thought of joining the bay of e challenge on jwils thread?

And have you got a target card you're throwing everything extra at?

As you know you can PM me if ever you want to

peaceandfreedom

tattycath wrote: »

Hi peaceandfreedom :wave:
Welcome to the dfw board.
You have a great plan and we all support each other on here.

Thanks for the welcome, Tattycath.

I shall while away some time reading some of your diary later, I do love reading other people's diaries and it really helps to give me ideas and keep me motivated.

peaceandfreedom

ani*fan wrote: »

Hi there peaceandfreedom


Welcome to diaryland!!! We have a similar amount of debt though it's going to take me much longer than you to pay it off, I fear!!

Thanks Ani, I suspect I am being hopelessly optimistic but I thought I'd give myself an ambitious target.

However, it is more important for me to establish financial stability, so that I am not borrowing again to pay off incidental costs. If this means reducing debt repayments, then so be it. I need to be able to pay for all costs throughout the year without slapping out the credit card - if I achieve that in 2014 AND repay some debt, I'll be happy.

peaceandfreedom

RainbowBridgeReturns wrote: »

Hi Peaceandfreedom, you have proved you have done this before, so you've got the skills and can bust those debts again.

The next part, which is staying out of debt and moving on to building up an emergency fund etc, etc, is where I continually get stuck too. Hopefully this time it will be different for both of us.

All the best on your journey.

Thanks Rainbow. I will confess that when I did it before I was earning a LOT of money on a contract - this time I am earning vastly less.

You are absolutely right though - staying out of debt and building up an emergency fund is very important this time round. So here's to success to both of us on that one. :beer: