Time for me to be debt free 6 January 2021 at 6:51PM edited 11 January 2021 at 5:49PM in Debt free diaries 58 replies 2K views

Babybelles

I thought I’d start a diary to help me on my way to becoming debt free. I’ve had varying amounts of debt, my highest being around £25’000 to the amount of around £13’000 I currently have. I’ve been on this debt cycle for such a large part of my life that I am ready for this change. I have a very supportive husband who I hid my debt from & I am sorry to say has bailed me out more than once. I now know this has not worked for me as my mindset had to change, & I honestly think this will only happen if I myself pay this debt off instead of accepting help from others. 

A few things got me into debt, moving house, having children, being on mat leave & reduced income but mainly because without a doubt I had shopaholic tendencies. My debt does shame me as it is something I don’t want friends & family to know about, I will say I have credit cards to pay off etc but no one in my circle knows the amount I owe. I’ve just gotten to the point now where I’ve had enough of living this lifestyle. It’s been a long slog but I have managed to stop the reckless spending so now is the time for me to pay off the debts that are taking up far too much of my hard earned cash. 

I hope you manage to get something out of reading my diary as I love feeling inspired by those other diaries out there. Take care all.

Love B x

Babybelles

Here is my not so lovely debt amounts:
CC B £3,279
CC T £2,185
CC D £2,788
CC L £1,700
CC N £3,006 
My grand total is £12,958, all on CCs & squandered on everyday living & buying too much too much of too many things. I do have nice things to show for it, I live in a nice home & have a nice life but it’s simply not worth it when I am still paying for it. I’m going to pay off some of the debt tonight & will post with updates. Realistically I am thinking it will take 2 years to pay this off but hopefully with a bit of effort I can get there a bit quicker.
I hope you all have a nice evening.
Love B x

GeorgianaCavendish

Welcome to the boards and well done for starting your diary! Are your credit cards on 0% rates or are you paying interest? 

Babybelles

 Hi Georgiana, unfortunately I have 2 CCs with high interest rates. However, due to the poor credit utilisation I have there’s no chance of changing them to low interest rates at the minute. It’s frustrating but it just makes me more determined to get this sorted. 

GeorgianaCavendish

You’ll do it! When I started all of my cards were on high rates but as I started to snowball the debt I got better and better offers until everything was on 0%. Good luck 🙂

Babybelles

Thanks Gerorgiana, that’s good to hear. I shall pop over to your diary after posting to help keep me inspired 😀

I paid some amounts towards my debt last night so my debt is now showing as:
CC B £3,100
CC T £2,160
CC D £2,700
CC L £1,690
CC N £3,000

This gives me a new debt total of £12,650. It’s still shocking but better than yesterday’s figure of £12,958. I have a few bits on eBay but I’m not expecting to list much or make much this month so I’ll have to wait until the end of the month to get paid from my work & to start properly tackling my debts again. I’m just trying to stick to the straight & narrow for the rest of the month & not get sucked into buying things I don’t love or need. 

I’ve only got a mobile phone bill & eBay fees to still pay this month, so for once I’ve paid all my credit cards at the start of the month even though I normally wait until the middle of the month to pay off a couple of them. It’s baby steps but I’m heading in the right direction.

Take care,
B x

Babybelles

Over the last few days I’ve read quite a few diaries & it is amazing how far some people have come, & how they are managing their debts. Writing my own diary will hopefully keep me motivated & accountable for the mess I have gotten myself in. 

I’m sick of paying so much of my wage towards debt & interest. Having no debt will be a revelation to me as for most of my adult life I have used CCs freely without truly thinking of the consequences. I mentioned earlier on I had shopaholic tendencies & wasted lots of money. I mainly bought stuff for my house & my 2 children, so no big purchases as such but far too much stuff we didn’t need.

I’m now a big fan of decluttering after following a well known method, so at least i have managed to finally stop adding to the debt. 

My goal for this year is to hopefully pay off half my debt & to not add anymore to it. 

I wish you all well on your debt free journeys.
Love B x 

pencakes26

Just popping by to say good luck on your journey! This site is full of great stories and support from people in similar boats and just being able to write down your thoughts always helps IMO. 

Babybelles

Thank you Pencakes & I can I just say you have a very impressive signature! Your debt busting total is amazing! Well done you!

warby68

Well done for getting started.
Sometimes there isn't enough emphasis on the first stage of debt busting, which is stopping the overspending in the first place. You seem to have got that loud and clear.
Even if you don't do much with the debt immediately the change of habits makes you much more likely to succeed with the paydown when you get going.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary. 

Concentrate on those high APR debts first & everything else will follow.