Today is my lightbulb moment!

helliecopter_2

Today is a great day as I've finally sat down and drawn a line. I don't like having debt and like everyone else I want rid of it. It is as simple as that.

I feel a little silly posting this, but I'm so pleased that I've finally stopped thinking that over spending will sort itself out in the next month or the month after. My hubby has 99.9% job security so we know the money will always be there and it's lead us into a false sense of security.Compared to other people our debt is small, but I still worry that it keeps slowly adding up.

My hubby is the only earner as I'm a stay at home mum with very young children. We have made this life choice for personal reasons because my husband works away a lot and sometimes for several months at once. Our children are the most important things in our lives and we have realised today that we don't need material things bought using bad debt to have happiness and fulfillment in our lives. It's not only our future security we are now planning, but theirs too.

We've sat down and produced a monthly planner to keep track of our outgoings so we can plan our money and try to hit the targets we've made.

Thanks to the site for our inspiration & good luck to all. xxxxxx

hypno06

Hello and a big huge welcome to DFW and MSE!!

You have taken the first, very big step, and you know that you are now on a journey to financial freedom!

Keep on posting, the help and support that these guys round here can give is immense, and worth its weight in gold.

x

Sea78

Fabulous - welcome to the wonderful community!

Do keep on posting and join in on a few challenges - sign up to all the survey and clicky sites to get some pennies in and also you could do some possible mystery shopping?

Sea xxx

Me_Myself_2

Hello.

Your debts seem quite low to me (it's all relative), but Iwish I had your sense before I got into this position.

Good luck

MM

Burlesque_Babe

Don't feel silly at all helliecopter. Doing something about it when debt is a small amount is much better than letting it build up and then thinking 'why didn't I do something earlier'.

Well done for having a plan in place.

doodledo_2

Hi and welcome to the board from a fellow newbie :beer:

vyvyan_2

Hi and welcome :wave:

tealady

Hello and welcome.:grouphug:

helliecopter_2

Lightbulb +1day

Thanks guys for the posts - I know compared to some people it does seem small, and I admit we do have savings which would pay off a chunk. I worry that we're getting deeper and deeper.Every time we come into a bit of money OH bonus etc it gets swallowed up and we never quite clear our names. The debt starts building again and we get a little more money to clear it, but it never goes completely.

When we married hubby had £12000 which is paid off in 2 years (Balance of £3000 was the sale of a house) and we started again. A computer on the never never and a small car loan. Had a little money from some shares and paid most of it off. Next it was new electricals and the cycle continues on and on. Our loan paid off our cc and most of od, but still left a little. We've carried on over spending and they've starting creeping up. The last thing I want to do is wake up in 5 years and for it the debt to be ten fold. This site has helped me realise that we need to change our livestyle. We need to stop overspending and start saving to pay off our loan early. My children are my motivation in the fact I want to provide a secure future for them - help pay for their education etc. This is years off (my eldest is 3) but I hope by addressing the debt now we can start and build when we are sorted.

As I said circumstances vary and as a couple we do need our ISA rainy day money. The reason being is that we own a house, but we rent it out at the mo. If we don't have it let we need to find £659 a month which would kill us on my hubby wage alone. We are in a very lucky position that my hubby gets a really cheap house with his job and we are trying to make the most of that whilst someone else is paying 80% of our mortgage. This savings is a head start on paying the mortgage whilst the house is empty. Looting that account would mean we'd struggle paying for the house.... miss payments.... ultimately could risk our house. It seems far fetched but it's my safety net of 4months payments. Any way I'm waffling on now, just thought explaining our circumstances would help you understand my logic of having savings and debt.

I appreciate your posts and feel great that I've put into words whats going on in my life. Its trude when they say a problem shared is a problem halved! I've set some aims for us to met over this next few months and this is all a positive start. I'm confident now about how we're going to do this from all the advice on MSE and I knew I was off to a good start today when I found £1 coin in the street! I'm £1 closer than I was this morning!:rotfl:

always_amazed

hey,

welcome and well done! sometimes just knowing MSE and DFW are here helps so much... one thing that really helped me was reading through the Debt Free Roll of Honour... just to know and see, yep, it can be done!!!

xxx

agaks

Hi, I am new hier, just watch Martins video about debts
I need to check how much debt I really got....