This is a bit backwards, but...

northerner999

I keep a monthly tally of my debts and assets, it is a great measure of where I am but occasionally have had moments where my debt has gone up due to balance transfers and the fee overriding the payments elsewhere.

But it is very satisfying on the other months where the debt is just going down and my assets going up. Look again in a month and you will see real progress.

I would recommend a monthly Limited SOA to anyone trying to reduce debt, it gives me a snapshot of what I owe, when deals end, and where I have cash on hand. And every time I need a boost I compare the figure for that month to 12 months back and am amazed st the improvement. I may still have a niggle credit card to wipe out before I am debt free, but if I maintain the rate I paid off debt in the past 12 months I would be debt free by the time i am 40 (eight years). Thoughts like that keep me focused when I am hungry at work and fancy going to the vending machine or in town and fancy a coffee.

debbie_debt

chocolatepiggybank wrote: »

Applied for a reduction on my credit card limit as well. May not be able to get rid of the icky feeling, but I can stop myself doing any damage as a result!

Well done! You can't force yourself to feel something that you don't feel, but you can force yourself to do the right thing in spite of the way you feel. Be proud of yourself! :beer:

chocolatepiggybank

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, after a few days I'm feeling a lot less weird about it, and getting quite addicted to moneysaving!
Still have a bit of an itchy credit card finger, but it's mostly looking for a bill or a debt to pay

Sanctioned_Parts_List

It's something about overdrafts that they don't feel like real debt, just because it's your day-to-day current account and you get kinda comfy with how it normally looks at the end of the month. I had this - it's "minus-blindness". We humans like big numbers and learn to ignore the minus-sign in front of it rather easily.

Presumably you've done your SOA and worked out your budgets. One idea might be to open a basic bank account, transfer your monthly "spend on whatever allowance" to that and just leave your current account locked in a drawer somewhere (or frozen into a block of ice, if you're that way inclined. Just don't defrost it in the microwave - they don't work so well after that). And just check it for weekly accounts. If you've got your budgeting right, you'll be able to largely ignore it.

Then you can get over your "minus-blindness" and relearn the meaning of zero.

LE3

I think you are probably just blind to that little - sign! When you have been used to it so long, it becomes kind of invisible but when you start to see +£500 you will know it was all worth it & the day you see +£2000 you'll wonder how you could ever be comfortable with the -

chocolatepiggybank

Sanctioned_Parts_List wrote: »

It's something about overdrafts that they don't feel like real debt, just because it's your day-to-day current account and you get kinda comfy with how it normally looks at the end of the month. I had this - it's "minus-blindness". We humans like big numbers and learn to ignore the minus-sign in front of it rather easily.

Presumably you've done your SOA and worked out your budgets. One idea might be to open a basic bank account, transfer your monthly "spend on whatever allowance" to that and just leave your current account locked in a drawer somewhere (or frozen into a block of ice, if you're that way inclined. Just don't defrost it in the microwave - they don't work so well after that). And just check it for weekly accounts. If you've got your budgeting right, you'll be able to largely ignore it.

Then you can get over your "minus-blindness" and relearn the meaning of zero.

Love the block of ice comment, I'll bear that in mind if I get desperate!:rotfl:
I have set up an envelope budget app on my phone (in painstaking detail) and I'm learning to check that rather than my balance to see what I have available. At the moment I would rather keep my spending allowance in the same account to minimize the interest I'm paying - but if I start to stray from my budget I will definitely reconsider!

LE3 wrote: »

I think you are probably just blind to that little - sign! When you have been used to it so long, it becomes kind of invisible but when you start to see +£500 you will know it was all worth it & the day you see +£2000 you'll wonder how you could ever be comfortable with the -

Definitely looking forward to that day!