Becoming obsessed....

Sarahwithlove

That's frustrating that they aren't being cooperative have you asked if a note can be put on the file to say your gives permission for you to make overpayments on his behalf. Or asked them if there is a way to pay it online without the direct debit being reduced. 

EssexOstrich

Noting a small thing to remind myself of a good feeling.... I've finally given the electric company and gas company meter readings, and paid the bills so am completely up-to-date for the first time in years! Ridiculous I know, but this has been a big head-in-the-sand moment for the past few years and I feel stupidly relieved for having done it, and also for no longer needing to avoid the meter readers when they knock Ironically the bills weren't even that bad as I'd switched to DD over a year ago and was still paying top whack through the summer months so had caught up a bit.

EssexOstrich

2 old credit cards cancelled this week, 1 paid off and 1 transferred to another 0% card on time. Feeling so much tidier now, I'm down to 3 credit cards and 2 loans, having started with 11 balances plus an overdraft and no savings. This months mission is to find the extra £97 to pay off to bring the total balance below £17k.
Out of interest, do people tend to reduce credit limits as they pay off more of their balance? I don't feel tempted to spend it or anything like that but wasn't sure if I reduced the limits my debt would look worse as I'd have a higher utilisation % (sorry can't think what else to call it!).  I also have a £7k credit limit with Next and £5500 limit with Very which is total madness.

Sarahwithlove

I never bother reducing mine as tbh having the extra and keeping utilisation down is better for your credit score and if you're gonna just close it in end it doesn't make much difference. 

Coffeekup

Well done EssexO, you've done really since your LBM, it looks as like you could have this all behind you in 18 month's. 
Keep your eye on the ball and set yourself some new goals as these get paid off l.e overpaying the mortgage or helping your partner with any of his debt's if he has any.

As for your E/fund I would personally keep it as you are doing, may be even increase it at a later date. Most seem to agree 3-6 month's outgoings if you fall on hard times.

Planning different accounts or saving pots helps me for things, i.e. Christmas gifts.... I have a budget for everyone I buy for. I total them up and multiply by 2 and divide by 12 this will give me the monthly payments to pay for Christmas and birthdays and them things like mother's/father's Day, Easter and other odd celebration day's that can cost, thus not needeing to spend ever again on credit. 

Same goes for holidays, work out what u wanna spend on a holiday, factor in spending money and divide that by 12 monthly payments. Put in a separate account and spend when the time has come.

I wish you all the best.... I enjoyed your read.

erin_transport

Wonderful progress. Very inspiring. 

EssexOstrich

Thanks for the encouragement! I still feel a bit of a fraud for being here tbh. It feels a bit wrong to be posting about a debt-free journey when I'm able to pay off as much as I have in a year and feel very lucky to be in this position, but for me it's more about a change of attitude towards money and debt. Having spent most of my life owing money and letting it snowball, yet having nothing to show for it at the end of it. this year has been a revelation and I'm ending it with a nice clear head.

Just over a year ago the bank said no to me taking a secured loan out against my house (we have no mortgage) of £35000 to pay the debts off and do a bit of maintenance on the house. I was trying to take a 10 year mortgage/loan out, they said no based on my affordability. I was outraged and threatened to close my £2k overdrawn account in protest. Thank god they said no!!!!! I came on here looking for solutions and found so many inspiring stories which put me to shame as I was just terrible with money and overspent whereas others were facing proper hardship and difficult choices. So embarrassing!

I had set myself a goal of paying off 50% of my debt in a year and saving £2000 in an EF. Today I have met both goals and feel sooooooo happy. It kinda shocks me that I have been able to do this, what on earth was I spending my salary on for all those years?! Admittedly I have worked crazy hours in overtime to throw money at it but I'm cross with myself that I've paid god knows how much in interest over the years and caused myself stress for no reason. Definitely the best thing I ever did was taking my head out of the sand and faced it all. The EF has made the biggest difference to my state of mind.

So in March 2020 to now...
Loan1: £6000 - balance now £4756.23
Loan2: £3227.28 - balance now £1997.84
Loan3: £2592.47 - balance now £0
CC1: £9196.90 - balance now £6370.25
CC2: £2820.06 - balance now £750
CC3: £2705.36 (0%) - balance now £1478.28
CC4: £2338.03 - balance now £0
CC5: £556.59 - balance now £0
Storecard1: £234.61 - balance now £0
Very: £225.07 - balance now £0
Paypal Credit: £157.75 - balance now £0
Overdraft £2000 - £0

Total £31852.73 - now £15352.60 - 51.80%
Emergency fund: £2101

Still way more debt than I'm comfy with but I'm in a much healthier place. I'm now aiming to get below £10k in the next 6 months. The only draw back is I now view money as numbers on a page to be moved around like Monopoly money. At some point I need to learn the real-life value of it again! I'm excited for the day I don't have to make any debt repayments and will hopefully feel rich!

EssexOstrich

On a separate note..... the diet is going s**t! I've put on half a stone 

Legs21

A fraud? You are in debt and trying to get debt free, how is that you being a fraud? Regardless of how much you can throw at it the feeling of being in debt feels the same to all of us who are. You’ve done so well, very inspiring. 

I feel your pain with the weight loss. I need to start treating my excess weight as a debt and put a plan in place to get rid of it. 

astrocytic_kitten

I know what you mean, I’ve also felt guilty that so many people here are struggling and have debt incurred for ‘proper’ purposes / circumstances beyond their control and are doing amazing things stretching their income, whereas mine built up mostly via holidays
and clothes I didn’t need. It’s been pretty sobering. 

But on the other hand, posting here has not only kept me on track to being debt free but has made me examine the reasons why I ended up in debt time and time again and why I felt the need to spend so much, I had some pretty deep seated insecurities in addition to no idea of the value of money (and an attitude that I had a good salary and worked very hard so obviously I could also afford anything I wanted). It’s all valid, and you’re doing brilliantly.