November 2023
I'm always in it, it's only the depth that varies....
Current debt: £10,806.75
Debt free date April 2025 (though expecting this to come forward)
We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Trying to Hide a Secret £20,000 Debt is as Tricky As it Sounds! (:#)
Options
Comments
-
savingmore said:CMD79 said:savingmore said:Just posting to say read your whole diary this morning. Well done for every small step you have taken and perseverance through the hiccups. I am excited your very card nearly paid off. You are getting there!! Your diary should be a great boost to others in debt to show how it’s worth sticking with it and working on every penny. I just started surveys again yesterday and made £6 so inspired to keep going. I got demoralised last year when got kicked out of prolific and have no idea why. Queried it but they won’t tell you. It was quite upsetting. Anyway will follow now. 😀
I didn't get accepted for Prolific, the only one I really use is Qmee. It pays barely anything, but they are okay and have literally saved my skin on a few occasions. But if nothing else, when I feel like I haven't done anything, it gives me a quick win to pay a little off of something.
xx6 -
SusieT said:You have made amazing progress, horrible that you were ripped off but even without that you are smashing it.
Your work is really starting to pay off, with the pay rise and promotion taking around a year off, you could be looking at this being the last winter of horribly high interest rates, and the possibility of 0% offers at some point
That's a good point about the 0% offers, though having switched my bank accounts multiple times in the last few weeks and opening burner accounts to facilitate that, my credit rating will have been affected. Fortunately, i won't be planning on taking out any new lines of credit for the foreseeable!!
November 2023
I'm always in it, it's only the depth that varies....
Current debt: £10,806.75
Debt free date April 2025 (though expecting this to come forward)5 -
I find Shop and Scan worthwhile but not sure how you get onto it! I've been doing it for quite a few years. Takes a few minutes each time you go shopping and then attach your clicker to laptop to send your barcodes. I always change my points of Amazon vouchers as we buy quite a lot from there and if you don't use them immediately can save for Christmas or birthday presents. I get a £10 voucher every couple of months.
Have also had an invite for petrol panel where you fill in how much and what type of fuel you've bought. There is also another panel for Food on the Go which I no longer do as don't buy stuff while out and about!
Just looked and it's by invitation only but no idea how you get an invitation and there doesn't seem to be a referral code but it might be worth emailing them to ask about joining the panel.5 -
joedenise said:I find Shop and Scan worthwhile but not sure how you get onto it! I've been doing it for quite a few years. Takes a few minutes each time you go shopping and then attach your clicker to laptop to send your barcodes. I always change my points of Amazon vouchers as we buy quite a lot from there and if you don't use them immediately can save for Christmas or birthday presents. I get a £10 voucher every couple of months.
Have also had an invite for petrol panel where you fill in how much and what type of fuel you've bought. There is also another panel for Food on the Go which I no longer do as don't buy stuff while out and about!
Just looked and it's by invitation only but no idea how you get an invitation and there doesn't seem to be a referral code but it might be worth emailing them to ask about joining the panel.
I'm going to have a look todayNovember 2023
I'm always in it, it's only the depth that varies....
Current debt: £10,806.75
Debt free date April 2025 (though expecting this to come forward)3 -
Well done on the side hustles and the payrise and it will be great to be debt free next year but I think you are wise to proceed with caution and not overcommit due to cost of living at the moment. Hopefully you will see the end of that Very and Next though.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
The 365 Day 1p Challenge 2025 #1 £667.95/£301.35
Save £12k in 2025 #1 £12000/£80004 -
Hello!! I've finally caught up on your diary, wow what a rollercoaster of a ride you've been on. I really hope you are taking time to reflect on all your achievements. I can see how far you've come already in such a short space of time. I'm so proud of you and very inspired that you've kept on pushing forwards.
I hope you are ok and are continuing your journey. I'd love to know which sites you use for mystery shopping?
Love Adele xx3 -
How are you getting on @CMD79 ? Did you make that overpayment already?4
-
Wow what a read @CMD79! I've just read your diary from the start after having seen your amazing achievements on the Payment a Day thread, and I'm so amazed by all that you've achieved 🤗. Whilst I don't have ADHD I can identify with the erratic spending and accumulated debt as I have bipolar and it has got me into some really sticky situations... 😬.
I understood why you kept things a secret from your husband as you needed to find your own path first, but I'm really happy for you that you were able to tell him and I can see that the support from him has really boosted your resilience and confidence in your ability to clear things, so well done you!
Congratulations on bringing your debt free date forward by so much, that's incredibly impressive inspiring. Also congrats on the promotion and your side hustle earnings, very impressed. I'm going to do the Make £10 a day challenge as well, it's actually making me think about money and debt differently. I've managed to rework my budget so that it doesn't include my freelance work. I can then use that to get myself on track with making extra payments, saving some and spending some. It's amazing what tips you pick up on this forum isn't it?Debt Free Diary:- The Mental Debt Struggle
(Original Debt on 15/07/2016 was £33,056.76) 🙈 but Debt Free on 09/02/2025 🎉
2025 SAVINGS: Emergency Fund (£604.30/£5,000) 12.09% saved
2025 CHALLENGES: #16 Sealed Pot Challenge ~ 18 || #9 50 Envelope Challenge 22/505 -
Hi everyone,
Things have changed a lot since I last updated my diary, although I have been keeping engaged with the Challenges.
My husband offered me a massive lifeline, and £10,000 to pay off my debt. This in itself was great and I hugely appreciative, but this is not the elation I expected....
It's half way through December and I realise and my nemesis Christmas is hitting me hard in the face.... I have spent most of the month so far rocking in a the corner with a pile of credit cards in my hand with zero balances and £12,000 available. Not being (so much) in debt, has so far not been easy, and not been fun. Each and every day I think of something I need, she needs, he needs and I lose hours internet shopping and then abandoning my baskets and then repeat.
I won't say nothing has been spent, but I'm so confused, I don't how much - but not much! I do have a learning disability, so this probably, like most of my diary, might seem difficult to understand, but that's what's happened.
So today, I have worked through all of my accounts. I have paid off the little bits that had accidently crept on. I have basically zero in the current account....and all other accounts, but at least I know where I am again. I have also phoned around closing all the accounts - not all have been possible to close, but I'll call around again 1st January as interest needs to be added and paid off etc.
I feel, and have done for several weeks, tormented. That's the best word for it I think. I don't feel happy, I feel restless and aggitated and fearful. I'd like to think that I could manage a credit card like a normal person. Use it when I need to, clear it at the end of the month etc. But I can't do that. When i went into my Very account earlier, I had 10 items in my basket and another 33 saved! I've got £280 of mens clothes in an M&S basket, I could go on!
I have got a bit of a plan and that is to work on paying the money he gave me from our Help 2 Buy saving back into the the account. The reality is, I'm not better off in terms of what I owe really, I'm just owing someone else (my husband). But of course, the interest has gone, and the inability to make my monthly payments is also gone. But, I just don't know how i can change the habbit of a lifetime.November 2023
I'm always in it, it's only the depth that varies....
Current debt: £10,806.75
Debt free date April 2025 (though expecting this to come forward)3 -
I think in your instance you are better off closing down the accounts as and when you can.
If the money isn't available you can't spend it.5
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards