Paying off the past 22 March 2016 at 12:49PM in Debt free diaries 19 replies 1.8K views

PatrickStar

I'm on a mission to clear my debts by the end of this year. I graduated from university in June and my years at university were pretty tough finance-wise. I worked by butt off all summer to get into credit and managed to save enough to fulfil my dream of travelling!

I started with three months volunteering in Sri Lanka, followed by two and a half months travelling through South East Asia. It was an incredible experience and I have no regrets, however nearly six months of spending and not earning has put me in a lot of debt. I'm about £600 into my overdraft and I've got just under £1500 on a 0% interest credit card. I can live with all of that, but the worst part is my friend paid for my flight home, so I owe her over £200. I think everyone knows to never borrow money from friends so I want to pay her back ASAP!

I hope to go back to university in September to complete my masters which will be another huge expense. I want to have saved as much as possible to make this a little easier on my bank account.

My plan is to find a job - any job - and to get relevant work experience on the side. I also plan to make as much money as I can on the side, through online sales and sites like swagbucks (every penny counts, right?).

So I plan to use this diary to help me keep on track of my saving habits and hopefully learn some tips from others.

Wish me luck :A

luckofthe_irish

Good luck on your journey - always feels good to have the realisation that you need to tackle the problem head on rather than just ignoring it!

You sound very determined which is great - deffo get on with the job search. It will feel fab to be able to put some money towards the debt.

I have recently started my own journey to debt busting and have created a spreadsheet to help me log my spending over the current months and help me stick to a budget - maybe this is something you could try?

PatrickStar

Oh that's a good idea! I've been trying to find an app that lets you track your spending kinda like those calorie counting apps. Spreadsheets are just too much effort for me!

I knew I would have to work hard when I came back from my travels, so I think it's easy to be determined! I've worked off debts before and I can do it again! This time it will be easier as I'm not paying rent so there's more money to put towards my debt.

luckofthe_irish

I decided spreadsheets were too much hassle for me too... until all the changes I thought I was making, weren't actually happening and I still ended up in my overdraft and using my CC! So I downloaded a budget template spreadsheet, filled it out for my current situation and will be starting to populate it come next payday (hopefully Thursday due to bank holidays this weekend).

If you don't want spreadsheet hassle, there is an app called Spending Tracker where you can log all your spending. Also I find OnTrees good to have visibility over all my accounts and the areas I spend the most in!

ChicaBonita

Hi Patrick (love the username!) just thought I'd say hi, and I've subscribed
How wonderful that you got to go volunteering. Once in a lifetime! I considered going to South America to volunteer teaching English, but unfortunately the costs just meant I couldn't do it. What did you do out there?

PatrickStar

Oh what a shame! It was very costly for me too, but I worked hard for it and I think it was worth it. It's just a shame I underestimated how much I would spend and now here I am, in debt...

I worked in mental health hospitals and care homes for adults with special needs, as well as a little bit of teaching English. Good experience for a psych graduate.

I'm sure if you work hard enough you can find some time and money to volunteer abroad too!

PatrickStar

Not much has been going on for me. I've seen the perfect job for me posted online, so I am currently working on my CV and cover letter. I've been clearing out my room but there's not another car boot sale near me for another month! So I'm not really sure what to do with everything.

I found out I have a savings account with the post office which had 16 years worth of compound interest! The amount in there was quite small but I can't complain - it should be enough to cover my overdraft hopefully!

I need to get on and sell some stuff on eBay. I'm thinking of just putting clothing bundles up as I don't really own any branded clothes, so that might be the best way to shift it. Any ideas, anyone?

PatrickStar

My gran let me know that she had some of my cash kept in an envelope. It was cash that family have given me for Christmas or birthdays over the last 2 years that I always forgot to take when I went back to uni. It was £100 in total, so I'm taking that to the bank on Tuesday, which will knock 1/6 off my overdraft debt! Yippee!

ChicaBonita

Ah how good is that! Lovely when you come across money you didn't know you had

PatrickStar

Things have been going very slowly and I am quickly losing motivation.

Wednesdays are meant to be the best day to put thing on eBay, so I will try to put a few things on. I think it's time for me to say goodbye to my electric guitar and amp that I've owned for 10 years. Very sad, but I haven't played for years.

I've just found out that Amazon no longer have a trade-in service! Such a bummer as I have textbooks that I paid over £80 for that I will never use again. I'm not sure where else to sell them.

Nothing else is going on for me. Gotta get my a*** in gear!

ChicaBonita

I recently found out that the amazon trade in service was no longer available, I was sad as I have LOADS of books to get rid of, I managed to get rid of most of my Uni books through there so it was a godsend! Try webuybooks.co.uk- they have an app and a website, and seem to take books, cd's and games, from what I've read they pay more than musicmagpie, so might be a better one to look at