Burnt out and broke

bluesbell

So after months years in an downward cycle of shuffling increasing balances around 0% offers and several weeks reading through DFW, diary threads and the DMP support thread, I've bitten the bullet and cancelled all my direct debits to my credit cards, written to my creditors and approached SC to set up a debt management plan.

So a little about me, I'm in my 30s and single. My debts have been on the rise since I purchased my house a few years ago. I managed to save for the deposit (with some help from family) and decided that I'd mastered this money management business. How wrong I was! My debts are a result of buying said house, mental health problems, periods where I've been too ill to work, and never really budgeting for everything. I've had access to ever increasing credit and 0% deals, when it was the last thing I needed,  but now it's time to draw the line and get myself together. I owe around £31k across 11 creditors (credit cards and overdrafts)

In the last two weeks I have:
Started an emergency fund by selling a few bits on eBay and taking a few surveys on iSay and AttaPoll, too
Signed up to YNAB and taken some tutorials - I've set my goals, and will begin to budget from payday this week. 
Cancelled DDs, filled out the SC paperwork and written holding letters.
Practiced living within my new budget - so far it seems realistic. 

I started out thinking that I'd throw every single available penny to clear my debts quickly,  but now I've realised I need to pace myself, budget realistically and live a little.  I'm in this for the long haul (at least four years) so have set this diary up to track my progress as I find writing things down helps.

storybookgirl

Hi!  I'm in my 30's and have just started tackling our debt too.  I'm also in the camp of people that need to live a little and pace myself.  I know that if I shut the world out long-term it just won't work for me!  I haven't seen those surgery sites but I've signed up to Qmee and Prolific which seem quite good so far.

bluesbell

Thanks for posting on my diary, I wasn’t expecting anyone to look so I’ll have to work out how to turn notifications on! 

So, payday this week and I’ve set up YNAB with all my recurring bills and have logged my spends so far. I think I’ve got my head around how it works, but I keep checking my bank accounts and back up a spreadsheet  just to make sure I’m not missing anything! 

I’ve reached the final stages of setting up my DMP with SC, they have been great so far. One more payday before I start paying so I’ll be trying to squirrel as much  cash away into my emergency fund as possible.