Is Is Possible For Me To Be Debt Free By 30? (27/09/2009)

saver03

This is my last day of my 3 days off so back to work tomorrow unfortunately

I intend to make the most of today and have already done a bit on slice the pie before I wanted to rip my ears off rather than listen to some of the bad music :rolleyes:

I am also trying to sort out my ebay boxes and get a bit of organisation with them as they are starting to breed!! I think if they are in some kind of order it will make it easier to list, hopefully.

Need to be paying for my holiday soon so will be clearing out my isa :mad: and then will need to save the spending money.

saver03

I think I am getting a cold and I am not happy, may need to put heating on :eek:

I am so glad it is Friday tomorrow as if I can survive it I will be off for 3 days! Also, if I can make it through next week I will be off for 10 days :j and I have some serious ebaying planned.

We both get paid tomorrow and I am working out my VERY strict budget as we need to pay for the holiday in a couple of weeks and also save up for the spending money!

saver03

I love having my Mondays off as OH is at work and I can spend a whole,uninterupted, day of ebaying and budgeting. Well that is always the plan but somehow it always manages to go wrong it is usually due to my great skill of procrastination :rotfl:

I have done my daily clicks and some slice the pie, well before I wanted to rip my ears off!! I will not get down to some serious ebaying but the cat keeps trying to help and keeps sitting on my hands as I try to type!

I have got a very strict budget this month and I am doing my very best to stick to it but as it is only very early in the month I should not feel too complacent! I have joined the grocery challenge and I have done most of my shopping for the month so hopefully will just need fresh food and will come in well under my budget. :j

Also my mum and nan have given me some money, despite my protests, and I will have an extra £1300 in my bank account. They are angels :A. So I have paid for my holiday and paid the tv licence for next 12 months.

Any advice is always greatly received as I definately want to be debt fee by 30 and just 19 payments so go :eek:

:money: I WILL BE GOOD TODAY :A

saver03

I am hoping to be debt free by the time I am 30 but I also would like to go to Florida for 2 weeks for my 30th birthday. Do I prolong my debt-free date so I can go on holiday over my birthday or do I work really hard to make sure I am debt free by 30 and then go on holiday at a later date:question: Any suggestions greatly received.

I am also ebaying like a woman possessed so that I can save up all my holiday spending money for Cyprus and Centre Parcs and then I can just throw any extra money at the debt.

I really would love to be free by 30 but with only 19 payments to go it may not be possible so should I just forget that dream and go on holiday????

shoeaddict

Hiya - just found your thread!. Firstly, congratulations on all the changes you've taken on board; getting your mobile phone tarrif down etc etc. (I also appreciate your frustration with your job!)

Reading your thread, however, I'm not entirely sure if you've had your 'proper' lightbulb moment. I think it's flickering strongly, but there are times when it seems to go off! Times when you spend hundreds of pounds on concert tickets, fashion phone contracts and designer glasses, and book two holidays for the year.

Now, I'm really not having a go; I recognise myself in you. It's easy, when you've got debt - and also, when its a 0% loan from a family member - to think that adding a bit here and there won't matter. Believe me, my groaning shoe cupboard is (or should I say was, they've all ended up on Ebay!) evidence of that! :rotfl:

When I joined MSE, I had an overdraft and credit card debt and still continued to spend. I thought by just doing small things - cutting out magazines, going onto PAYG - would be enough to clear it all. But it wasn't. The shoes, the clothes, the weekends away (I kidded myself in thinking they were cheaper than a 'proper' holiday but they all added up) all kept going onto the credit card/OD...

When I had my 'proper' lightbulb moment last May I realised that I had to budget for everything. Absolutely everything, down to the last 40p chocolate bar. And, more importantly, save for things before I bought them. By doing this I have completely changed my attitude to money and have managed to (almost!) clear my debts - and I am well on the path to saving for a blowout holiday to New York for Christmas and New Year. It's an amazing feeling knowing that none of it will be on the C/C or owed to other people when I get back!

The reason I am posting this is not to detract from the fantastic steps you've already made, but to hopefully keep your motivation up - and provide some of the inspiration I've found on these boards. Imagine, if you threw the hundreds of pounds you've spend on tickets etc at your debts, you would well be able to afford that fabulous holiday at 30 and be fabulously debt free at the same time! :T

Just to add, my aim was to be debt free by the time I was 30; now I'm aged 28 and have under 500 to go, I am so pleased I found this site :rolleyes:

Apologies for the long post, and keep up the good work. :beer:

saver03

shoeaddict wrote: »

Imagine, if you threw the hundreds of pounds you've spend on tickets etc at your debts, you would well be able to afford that fabulous holiday at 30 and be fabulously debt free at the same time! :T

Hi thank you for you advice. With regards to the above you will be pleased to know that I have put my Kylie tickets back on ebay I am hoping to at least break even but I know that I may make a loss :mad:

I am just taking a quick break from my ebaying as I am making the most of the free listing weekend. I also have some stuff finishing tonight so fingers crossed I will make my fortune!!

shoeaddict

Wow! That's fantastic news - you should definitely be applauded for resisting the temptation of going to the gig! Before my LBM, I knew I shouldn't have bought things, but I always though 'Ah well, I'll go to the gig/wear the shoes etc etc and start saving tomorrow' And I never did - well, until I found this sight!

And you could have the last laugh if the tickets actually make you a profit...

I know what you mean about Ebay... I have been listing like a demon today too! If we carry on like this, we'll both be debt free well before we're 30! :beer:

Keep up the good work. I'll definitely be checking in with you regularly

moanymoany

As a hardworking mum who has saved by going without to provide money for my retirement I can tell you that I wouldn't lend a child of mine that much money. What I would do is to work with them to create a budget and help them organise their spending so that they could pay off their debts themselves.

Your mum may be a wealthy woman who will not miss the interest she would have earned by keeping her cash in ISA's and high interest accounts. This much money is easy to spend, but it is very hard to save. I hope that you are able to keep up the payments by cutting back your spending to the bone. It is not easy to do as so many on this site will tell you.

Just had a better read of your posts, It's not April 1st for about three weeks .. cheeeky!

saver03

moanymoany wrote: »

Just had a better read of your posts, It's not April 1st for about three weeks .. cheeeky!

I don't understand that bit? I am probably missing something though as my brain is addled from hours of ebaying! :rotfl:

moanymoany

saver03 wrote: »

I don't understand that bit? I am probably missing something though as my brain is addled from hours of ebaying! :rotfl:

If you read the threads on the DFW part of the forum you will see people who are trying to get debt free and you can read what they are doing to achieve that. Mostly they stop spending .... I read on one when someone said that their lightbulb moment made them realise that saving 40p really counts. Buying coffee out is too expensive, someone else has budgeted an unlimited cinema ticket to provide them with all of their entertainment. They spend nothing else.

Tbh, your posts don't read like you are really serious. There was an Oprah Winfrey programme where several in debt 20somethings were helped to budget and learn about money saving. At the end of 2 years all but one were either completely or nearly out of debt. And the one - well his parents had paid his debts for him - with the idea that he would pay them back. He had since then racked up just about the same amount of debt again.

I wasn't sure that your posts weren't a little bit of a wind up, that was my allusion to April Fool's Day. Sorry if I was wrong.