What's your approach?

MrsSave

I am a dfw. We built up over £10,000 debt through our honeymoon, being on maternity leave, and taking a while to get back into regular work after maternity leave (I am a supply teacher - takes a while to build up contacts, etc). All excuses, all very silly. But, since our lbm right at the end of August, I am proud to say not one more penny has gone on the credit cards.

We are paying off the debts slowly. It is all on 0% cards, so not costing more than we spent. What I'm wondering is, how much do you 'enjoy' whilst paying off debts, or are you very strict financially and throw every spare penny on the debts? We've been thinking recently about going away with our son (now almost 2), and basically enjoying different experiences and making memories.

We are continuing to pay off the debts, but spare money is being split between our emergency fund (so this doesn't happen again) and accounts such as holidays. I know there's so right or wrong answer, and as long as the debts are being paid off it is all ok. Just wondering what other people are doing.

koselur

Hi mrssave

I often find myself wondering the same thing! I'm really early in my DFW journey so still trying to figure out the balance myself. More complicated for me as most of my debt was built up through keeping up with the joneses and never saying 'no' to anything fun (or myself!) - so that's where my problem spending tends to lie.

I don't think you can deny yourself all treats - for me this would mean I ended up back at square one thinking 'sod this' and going back into denial - and I'm sure I'm not alone in this! I think if you are saving and there's no risk of borrowing more then there is no reason why you shouldn't go on a trip with your son - it doesn't have to be a round the world cruise! There are loads of cheap options for holidays.

Your son is only young once, you should enjoy it while you can - like you say it is so important to make memories

MoneyMission2015

Obviously everyone does it differently but personally for us we still budget for holidays & entertainment, otherwise we would lose enthusiasm & end up just completely going off track so the debts would start building up again. We also want our kids to have holidays to make memories that they will remember forever.

For me I just want to make sure all bills are paid & we're paying more than the minimum on the cards. Some months I am paying more than others, depends how much I have left over in my entertainment budget. Anything I don't spend I'm adding to the overpayments.

andyfromotley

Balance.

i don't want or need to live like a monk in order to repay my debts.

I need to

Budget relentlessly, and stick to it.
Sell my assets which were funded by debt.
Drive down bills relentlessly.
Keep on paying every spare penny toward the debt.
Not be persuaded that my life will be fabulous by bying the latest guitar/campervan/new car etc.

I don't have to live on rice and beans and wear hair shirts. But then my debts aren't overwhelming and i am lucky enough to have a cast iron guaranteed income.

MrsSave

Reading those responses has put a smile on my face. I thought I was being careless, but I guess at the end of the day what difference does it make if I pay my debts off in 4 years or 8 years, as long as I can afford to pay the monthly repayment each and every month? You're all right, balance is the key.

sourcrates

I think correct budgeting is the key to success, I strove through 6 years of an IVA on a very strict budget, you must include everything, treats as well.

Since becoming debt free I have, I must confess, thrown my budget out of the window, and have spent a bit too much in recent months, I intend to "raine myself in again" and try and be more conscious of what I'm spending on in future.!!!!!!

Red-Squirrel_2

I'm using YNAB to make sure I have a bit put aside to still have a social life. I'm also having a cheap holiday later in the year, it was already booked before my LBM but I think I'd still have done it anyway.

I'm not budgeting anything for new 'stuff' for myself, no gadgets, no clothes except essential replacements, no DVDs/games/books etc. but I do think its important to still see my friends and family and have some fun and some nice times while sorting all this out.

We need to stay emotionally as well as financially healthy and as long as there is an alternative without going under then life shouldn't just be about working to pay debt.

Karen777

Some months I do better than others but I really try not to spend any money unless I absolutely need to and to pay every spare amount off my debts. Life gets in the way spectacularly sometimes (cars, boilers, sick animals, wayward household appliances) but thankfully I have had the help of someone dear to me in those moments and am managing where previously I would have had to take on more debt. But I don't have a strict method as I find that once I start to feel restricted, something in my head rebels. My eyes are firmly on the debt free prize, some months I am able to move closer to it than others.

One thing I have decided is that once I am DF, I will buy good quality everything as it really does last longer. The old saying buy cheap buy twice (or even three times) is very true I have found.

Beaker99

I find it fun trying to find cheaper ways to pay the essential bills, but the main thing that made me happy was just seeing that every month the credit card bill went down. We keep a simple spreadsheet of how much is on the cards each month, and the to see the total going down (rather than up) is all I need.


It's a bit like having a baby.. every part of the journeys seems to take forever, but when you look back it's amazing how fast time flew by.


We started in Jan 13 with 19,248, and accounts heavily in the red. It's now 12,900 and have 4k in the bank which pays for anything that could go wrong. It seems to gather momentum. We also now only have the one card. - so it's slowly but surely.. and like I said to see it coming down, rather than the relentless increase is all it takes to be happy.


All the best.