Out of debt but out of sorts

a_silver_lining

Identify a new goal for sure.

I get a real kick out of saving, I'm actually overlapping the saving and debt paying as the debt is borrowed from family towards property deposit, so in my mind is over paying the mortgage with a big pinch of guilt. Once it's gone I know my relief will be small, and then I'll focus on getting the savings to 5k

Lauralou79

Well done first of all. Maybe you need a new goal, a savings target for a treat? Or something you need? Think on what your goals are in the next year/few years, maybe give yourself a new focus

Savings can become quite addictive it's nice seeing it build or maybe overpaying your mortgage you have one? But also you deserve after that time to live a little and maybe treat yourself?

Debtfreeforever

Thanks soooooo much everyone for not judging and saying that I am an ungrateful ba£t@rd!

Really appreciate this sound advice and will take on board everything you said!!!

Newstart3

Well done, that's a massive achievement! I've fallen into the trap of popping bits on my credit card & instantly regretting it! I have mine set to pay the full amount so I don't incur any interest but I obviously suffer the following month for my lack of restraint. Maybe set a savings target and see how quickly you can save up for a well deserved holiday or a nice treat xx

another_casualty

Interesting thread .
Well done on those who are debt free, and good luck to others who are still plugging away .

Being in debt for long periods can get ontop of us making us trapped and put in a corner scratching to get out .

What I've found is that from the year 2000 until now , we had the supposedly good times where it seemed that loans / credit cards / mortgage applications etc were basically chucked at you and giving the false sense of security . Then we had the worst recession possibly of all time , which has affected so many of us .
Now it's all about "affordability " even if you have a fair bit of equity in your home. Then of course, the employment situation . It's all linked .

Wages are for most of us unskilled workers actually less than 10 years ago . If I were to get £10 an hour 10 years ago, I would be looking at minimum wage or £10 max when everything shoots up in price .
Plus of course, employers can treat you as they like as so many more apply for the same positions often for less money .
Those are reasons enough to never want to be in debt and feel like shouting from the rooftops. However ...

There are some nasty manipulative adverts on tv which want you to have a loan with a guarantor / release equity in your property / have a credit card where you are more or less likely to have one and give a percentage of your will to charities who already receive billions.

In other words enjoy your freedom , swear at tv (or better still turn
over )and breathe a sigh of relief .

CapricornLass

Well done you for getting yourself out of debt! :T



Its very easy to feel flat though. You've devoted such a large part of your time and energy to reaching this goal, but nobody (apart from us, because we've all been there and are still wearing out the t-shirt) really appeciates what struggles you have been through. Its also quite a mind-shift from being in debt to debt free, but I totally understand your worry of falling into debt again.



I think the way forward for you now is as LauraLous and Silver Lining say, to set yourself some new goals - something to save up for, or even save up what you can so if you do treat yourself to anything, the money is there for you to do it.



The most important thing is that you don't forget the lessons you have learnt over the past 15 years , and continue to carry on doing those things that you did to get yourself out of debt.

Willing2Learn

When I got debt free, I started a 'savings snowball'. It's exactly the same as a debt except in reverse. I ordered the individual saving targets according to their priority and then started the snowball. £10/month into each saving target, with the remainder all going to target #1.

It worked for me as it gave me new goals. It may be something you may want to try too

Chandelier.

Good advice there from Willing2Learn.

Like you Debtfreeforever, once I paid off all my debt I was left feeling rather deflated and overwhelmed. It even contributed to part of a depressive episode I went through. I expected to feel over the moon and be able to shout out to the world that I did it but I didn't.

The debt I had was for my car and I managed to save lots of money utilising low interest loans/0% cards to cover the balance. I saved £1000's in interest through doing this and enjoyed the challenge each month to see how much I could bring it down too. It was like a drive and I was so determined to save money in any way possible to get rid of it.

Then once I finally paid it off, I saw no more challenges. I already saved money each month to go towards other things such as a house deposit fund etc but then I had money left that I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't want to spend it but at the same time I had no goals for it.

After a while I found a way that worked for me and diverted my spare money/funds into seperate accounts for different things or purposes i.e. holiday fund, emergency fund, car fund, entertainment fund. I now find great joy in seeing those balances build up and I then have the cash for whatever purpose I need. I challenge myself to come under budget each month in different accounts and it still gives me that drive, just in a different way. I have targets I set myself and I am determined to meet them in any way possible. I am still quite savvy at the whole money saving situation and through looking after the pennies, I see the rewards in the pounds.

I still utilise a credit card that I put a small balance on each month then pay them off in full, just to build credit history. I have other credit cards for different purposes (travel card, 0% purchases etc). For example with the 0% purchase card, I have made some purchases onto this but pay just above the minimum amount each month and with the savings I make, I put these into a high interest accounts. to reap the benefits. At the end of the term I will have the funds to pay off the full balances whilst also gaining interest. However I understand this does not work for everyone, but I am rather disciplined when it comes to my finances.

Debtfreeforever

Thanks so much for extra comments everyone, so so helpful.

Thanks so much Chandlier for your honesty.

I am starting to get used to the idea and I am now budgeting nearly everyday, using the YNAB method but my own spreadsheet, getting a real kick out of it!

Stared a saving account too, to pay for regular payments such as car maintenance, insurance etc...

tealady

Chandelier what a great idea having different account for different purposes. Think I will do that myself.