Inspiration

egoode

I know when I was losing weight I would set my self targets and then some kind of reward when I reached that target which was non-food related. Maybe you can do something similar with you debt repayments but make them non or low money focussed. Like a trip to a free museum (I love that London has so many free ones), a picnic out where you make all the food yourself or a day to yourself reading books/playing video games or whatever it is that you love to do but won't cost you much.

isaisababy-

Hi kickuptheasstime (great name!)

I joined the site today as I have had very bad motivation also.

I stupidly took out a large overdraft and a credit card when I was younger, as the whole 'I can get credit' thing seemed great! Stupidly (again), I spent all of this money on silly luxury things, many of which I don't own any more. I told myself when getting the credit, that I would be responsible and pay the money off monthly. This didn't happen.

It's been a few years now since that happened, and a couple of months ago, it started really getting me down. I still wasn't doing anything about it though, which is my own silly fault.

I wanted to do something about it, but unfortunately as I haven't got the best credit rating ever due to a few late payments and the large amount of credit, I couldn't get a reconsolidation loan from any of the main lenders which wasn't a good feeling.

Recently, I have searched on here and found out about Zopa. I took out a loan which was accepted, and this will all be paid off within 3 years which is a fantastic feeling!

The only thing is now, I am wanting to save up so I can make an early repayment on the loan, but I personally find it hard to stop spending. I know it is something that I just need to stop doing, but I work in a job where the teams are very social and have lots of events happening which I am expected to go to, which involves money!

I know this is my own fault and I just need to stop spending so much (nandos is my weakness!), but I really need the motivation to be able to save to pay off this loan early!

Pollygarter

My own debt problems came about through abandoning my frugal ways on marriage to a spendthrift. Completely forgot how to budget and he threw fits if I ever tried to save so I spent. Marriage over, spending too much continued. Reduced income led to instant debt. Big wakeup call and I've halved that debt.

My key motivation? Bankers and others with rhyming names making money from my careless extravagance. I work for the tax man first, then the mortgage lender, then the bankers and last of all for myself. Rich Dad Poor Dad. Great book my son gave me. My son? Yeah, he has more sense than I did. I could weep for all the cash that got splashed. Its gone now, bar some fabulous holidays it was all wasted. Money represents energy. Use it, don't get used by it. And I second what others have said about Mr Money Moustache. He is fab. I paraphrase him but he says something classic like everyone should regard any kind of personal debt as the same as being covered by a swarm of big nasty stingy things. A personal emergency! Don't stop swatting til every last stinging blood sucking Beastie has been swatted off! We owe it to our future selves who will love us for taking care of ourselves.