Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You have done brilliantly in reducing the debt by almost 30% in less than a year so as you now seem to be focused I have no doubts it will soon be gone and hopefully in 2019 you will be looking forward to things like buying a house or having a baby. You have learnt new habits, you know how to live within a budget and are getting in the habit of saving for things you want rather than putting them on an overdraft, loan or credit card. Persist with the things you know work and you will be successful.

Good luck with the battle with your OH. I would have to say I would be miffed if he went for amazon prime, Netflix and Sky. That is way over the top for the entertainment budget especially when you weigh in with gym subs and meals out etc.

Thank you very much! I have to say that it was one of your posts early on in this thread that made me have a second light bulb moment You said that at my current level of debt it would take me years or even decades to repay and this really stuck with me. I was always reluctant to tackle the cause of my debts (my spending habits and head-in-the-sand attitude towards finances) because I kept deluding myself that the debt wasn't permanent, I'd get a bonus or I'd have a really strict six months and that would pay it all off. Facing up to the idea that it could take me decades to pay off my debt was horrifying :eek: but I really needed that and I don't think I've said thank you for it so THANK YOU!!!

I'm going to keep on fighting against the Sky subscription. OH feels justified with having given up a paid-for luxury (although he is now getting the same luxury just without paying for it!), but I've started pointing out things that we will have to buy at some point in the near future.
The sofa has started creaking ominously and although we managed to fix it last time, I think we need to recognise that it is on its last legs (or springs). Our TV packed up earlier this year, we're making do with got an old set that used to belong to a relative but this has lots of things wrong with it ... like the volume not working properly, the picture goes funny if you walk a certain path across the living room, it won't turn on or off by remote control etc. I can live with all of this but I think it is a sign that is also not going to last much longer. I'd prefer that we had the money in an emergency fund to pay for repairs or buy a replacement without a panic (or, the dream!, to have saved up to buy the replacement over 6-12 months!).

GeorgianaCavendish

JoJoC wrote: »

How very MSE of you GC! And the friends will never know Love it! Although I once regifted a book that my son had got thinking i was being really clever (it was a duplicate) but the one I regifted actually had my son's name written on the inside cover by the giver. Oops! Slightly embarrassing but we glossed over it.

Thanks for the link, i'll go and have a nosy now! My husband doesn't have a kindle so the book sharing wouldn't be any use to us (unfortunately, as I do LOVE getting new books) but there might be some other useful bits in there.

I got a "secret" santa gift from my husband's Hateful Aunt that was an [STRIKE]old[/STRIKE] regifted notebook containing a few shopping lists and notes about what she was going to plant in her garden :rotfl:

Hateful Aunt is my own private nickname for her, she goes out of her way to be nasty or snarky to me and is the chief "how selfish of you not to provide MIL&FIL with grandchildren" :mad:

enthusiasticsaver

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

Thank you very much! I have to say that it was one of your posts early on in this thread that made me have a second light bulb moment You said that at my current level of debt it would take me years or even decades to repay and this really stuck with me. I was always reluctant to tackle the cause of my debts (my spending habits and head-in-the-sand attitude towards finances) because I kept deluding myself that the debt wasn't permanent, I'd get a bonus or I'd have a really strict six months and that would pay it all off. Facing up to the idea that it could take me decades to pay off my debt was horrifying :eek: but I really needed that and I don't think I've said thank you for it so THANK YOU!!!

I'm going to keep on fighting against the Sky subscription. OH feels justified with having given up a paid-for luxury (although he is now getting the same luxury just without paying for it!), but I've started pointing out things that we will have to buy at some point in the near future.
The sofa has started creaking ominously and although we managed to fix it last time, I think we need to recognise that it is on its last legs (or springs). Our TV packed up earlier this year, we're making do with got an old set that used to belong to a relative but this has lots of things wrong with it ... like the volume not working properly, the picture goes funny if you walk a certain path across the living room, it won't turn on or off by remote control etc. I can live with all of this but I think it is a sign that is also not going to last much longer. I'd prefer that we had the money in an emergency fund to pay for repairs or buy a replacement without a panic (or, the dream!, to have saved up to buy the replacement over 6-12 months!).

Nice to know one of my posts helped motivate you to start clearing the debt. As a debt counsellor I used to find that sometimes asking people to just sit and think about the amount of time it will take to clear debt and how much interest they will eventually pay are two of the things which help most people have their LBM. It interferes with life to such a degree that it impacts on the big decisions like whether to move house or have a baby. As you found it is all too easy to put off addressing the root causes of financial difficulties. Overspending is so easy for all of us regardless of income or outgoings simply because of easy availability of credit for most of us. I am so pleased that you are turning this around now.

Maybe you could use the lure of saving for a new TV for your OH to sacrifice one of his TV subs. No point in amazon tv, sky or Netflix without a decent TV. :rotfl:

enthusiasticsaver

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

I got a "secret" santa gift from my husband's Hateful Aunt that was an [STRIKE]old[/STRIKE] regifted notebook containing a few shopping lists and notes about what she was going to plant in her garden :rotfl:

Hateful Aunt is my own private nickname for her, she goes out of her way to be nasty or snarky to me and is the chief "how selfish of you not to provide MIL&FIL with grandchildren" :mad:

She sounds lovely You have children when it suits you and OH not extended family. Do your family know the extent of your debt and how hard you are working to reduce/clear it?

JoJoC

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

I got a "secret" santa gift from my husband's Hateful Aunt that was an [STRIKE]old[/STRIKE] regifted notebook containing a few shopping lists and notes about what she was going to plant in her garden :rotfl:

Hateful Aunt is my own private nickname for her, she goes out of her way to be nasty or snarky to me and is the chief "how selfish of you not to provide MIL&FIL with grandchildren" :mad:

Oh wow... what a delight! :eek:

boxofpaws

Good morning Georgiana, just trying to catch up on everyone's diaries...

I can't believe how well you're doing. The big chunk when you got your bonus was just the start, am I reading it right? Have you cleared another £3-4K since then?

Got to admit, I'm a little jealous. You're pulling way out in front of me!

Mummy_bear

Hi, just read through your whole diary. Very inspirational. I've subscribed

You've done so well transferring debts etc to get better deals

Orange_Ena

I've been reading a little while and I'm just de lurking to say well done, you're doing brilliantly. Very inspiring actually Wishing you well on slaying the rest of the debt

GeorgianaCavendish

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Nice to know one of my posts helped motivate you to start clearing the debt. As a debt counsellor I used to find that sometimes asking people to just sit and think about the amount of time it will take to clear debt and how much interest they will eventually pay are two of the things which help most people have their LBM. It interferes with life to such a degree that it impacts on the big decisions like whether to move house or have a baby. As you found it is all too easy to put off addressing the root causes of financial difficulties. Overspending is so easy for all of us regardless of income or outgoings simply because of easy availability of credit for most of us. I am so pleased that you are turning this around now.

Maybe you could use the lure of saving for a new TV for your OH to sacrifice one of his TV subs. No point in amazon tv, sky or Netflix without a decent TV. :rotfl:

Overspending is so easy and I think the biggest realisation is that the level of consumption/consumerism doesn't make me happy at all. In fact it has the opposite effect but I suppose that is true of any emotional crutch. Even though I have a long way to go, I feel like I'm in the driving seat rather than being tugged along by my reckless spending habits.

The Sky subject was broached a couple of times over the weekend but I headed it off by suggesting we go and have a look at some sofas to get an idea of how much we will have to spend. OH was very receptive to this and we found one that we both really like, so now it is a question of budgeting to work out when we would be able to buy it.

GeorgianaCavendish

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

She sounds lovely You have children when it suits you and OH not extended family. Do your family know the extent of your debt and how hard you are working to reduce/clear it?

JoJoC wrote: »

Oh wow... what a delight! :eek:

Yes, she's a real joy! Close family (parents and siblings) know the extent of the debt but not the HA. I think that I will have to get better at telling her that it is none of her business when we have children, I find myself being overly polite and nice to her in order to help smooth over any tension but maybe I should just tell her where to go!