I Don't Need Any More Stuff (AGAIN!)

Skinnylatte

So......

I've been debt free, I've been on the debt free role of honour, but here I am again. In debt :mad:

I am in a hugely better place than when I first started on this journey in 2013. But for some reason, once I get clear, give me a credit card and I'm off, on one, on a mission, and it's got to stop, now.

So here is my debt, as of today:

Barclaycard: £[STRIKE]1612.50[/STRIKE] £923 @ 17.68%
Barclaycard: £4800 @ 0% until Mar 2021
[STRIKE]Halifax CC: £510.66 @ 22.2%[/STRIKE] Paid
Very £149.97 0% until May 2020
Santander Car Loan £5,893.00 3% until Mar 2021
Carpet Shop £165
Total debt: £[STRIKE]13131.13[/STRIKE] £11631.03

I am going to stay on this board until I have cleared this debt and built up 3 months contingency fund. That is my sole aim.

So here we go.......

Skinnylatte

Jobs for this week:-

1. [STRIKE]Read meters at flat and holiday house[/STRIKE]
2. Phone heating people to figure out how to use the app as the heating seems to be stuck permanently on
   [STRIKE]
3. Pick up £80 cash I'm owed[/STRIKE]
4. [STRIKE]Resubmit Youtube channel for monetisation[/STRIKE]
5. Check all bank accounts to see what can be cancelled/Amended.
6. Look at BT package for the holiday home as it's coming to an end
7. Have a clothes sort out and make an appointment at the dress agency
8. [STRIKE]Have 4 no spend days. Working away from tomorrow PM so should be fine until Friday[/STRIKE]

Willing2Learn

Hi Skinnylatte

Just dropped by to wish you good luck on your debt-busting journey.

It is good that you have recognised the problem nice and early...

(Is this going to be a diary to chart your progress?)

[Deleted User]

Welcome back Skinnylatte

You can do this xx

EssexHebridean

Skinnylatte wrote: »

once I get clear, give me a credit card and I'm off

You've actually given yourself the answer to the situation you're in above, you realise? When you get clear this time, DON'T GET THE DARNED CREDIT CARD!

When I was 18 I got offered a credit card by the bank, and in common with many others I thought "that sounds like a good idea - where do I sign?" and I started off thinking I'd pay it off every month, except then I needed car insurance....which was more than I could pay off in a month, and I'd not budgeted for....then the car needed a big repair.....then I got close to the credit limit on the card and the bank "helpfully" increased it...and repeat. And yes, I found myself in trouble and it took a couple of years to get myself sorted. I learned from that though - it as somewhere in the region of 15 years before I DARED to trust myself with a credit card again. Now I use cards, but I make them work for me - a cashback card cleared IN FULL :money: every month for routine spending. And a 0% card which has a chunk of the spend from my need for a replacement car earlier this year on it - the monthly payment on that is set to the level it was when I first got the card, so chews away a little more of the balance each month (If I'd just set it to the minimum it would be at £68 now - instead I pay £105 still) and the money that was budgeted and saved ahead of time for the car purchase is still sitting in my savings account earning me interest - OK it's a pitiful amount of interest, but the principle is what counts here...! Bottom line though is that the financial institutions I use pay ME - I NEVER pay them.

When you get shot of the debt this time - and you know you will as you know how it all works don't you - don't automatically think you can reach back for credit again - instead ask yourself whether you need to, whether you want to, and most importantly whether REALLY you can trust yourself to.

monetxchange

Welcome back.

Echoing what EH said, I always find it interesting on here when advice is given along the lines of "keep a credit card when cleared to help with credit scoring, but only if you can guarantee you won't use it again". Now I'm definitely NOT able to guarantee I won't use it again, in fact I've ran up many over the years. So I've gone down the route of closing every card I clear as I know my pattern of behaviour. At least from this you know how to go about it when you get debt free again - join the no cards allowed club with me!

Best of luck on your journey.

Skinnylatte

Hello and thank you all for your kind words and great advice!
Yes I completely get what your saying, when I cleared my last debt I managed my card very well, the balance was paid off in full every month (if I did use it) and I budgeted and saved for what I wanted and needed. However for some reason that has slipped, and I do not know why that is, this is the issue I must resolve once the debt is cleared. I'm a grown woman, managing a credit card should not be that hard!!
I need one for work as I have to pay for all my expenses up front, and then claim them back. I use a cash back card.

So today was a NSD yay. I went to collect the £80 I was owed, but she wasn't in, that was annoying.
Expenses paid today, so I've been able to clear the whole Halifax card, and paid £56 off the Barclay. Also received £14 cashback on my Santander account, so paid that in too.
Working in the Midlands this week, so nothing to spend on food.

Skinnylatte

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Hi Skinnylatte

Just dropped by to wish you good luck on your debt-busting journey.

It is good that you have recognised the problem nice and early...

(Is this going to be a diary to chart your progress?)

Thank you x. Yes, I'm going to write it all down, to keep me on track.

enthusiasticsaver

There are some people (not saying this is you) who just really should not have credit cards. There is too much temptation and if you think that you cannot trust yourself once debt is cleared it is best not to get another one or keep one open.

tealady

If you want to keep a credit card then any I suggest the following.
Every time you are tempted to put something on your card check you have the available money to pay for it in savings.
If you do, and you really want/need the item then buy it.
I use a CC for the extra protection it gives me but I know when the bill arrives the money is there to pay it.
Oh and only have one card (unless you are good at stoozing)

EssexHebridean

OK - I'm assuming that you now have your budget in place and aren't actually using credit cards currently? Do you also have an emergency fund in place? Assuming that you do,m then here's a challenge for you. Cut up all the physical cards. Then delete their details from anywhere they are stored online. That way you CAN'T use them (unless you happen to know the numbers, security codes and expiry dates off the top of your head?!)

If you don't have an EF in place yet then do this for all bar a single card - and that single card needs to be put somewhere safe and out of the way. In the loft? Under the mattress? Given to a trusted friend of relative with instructions to ensure that it is ONLY to be returned to you in the event of a proper emergency? Any of the above really - just not anywhere that you can easily use it.