Irresponsible spending resulting in £21k debt at 24

DebtFreeMe6

Stayed in last night instead of going out. Woke up in 2024 hangover free and without the dread of looking in my bank after getting carried away whilst on a night out!! 

Really looking forward to getting my debt right down in 2024. 

Good luck to anyone also on this journey 🥰

misstara

Happy New Year to you.  That's a good start to the year waking up hangover free and without the dread.  Good luck with paying down your debt this year.

RelievedSheff

Happy New Year to you. 

Don't be too hard on yourself about your debt. It happens. At least you have realised early on and have plenty of time to pay it back and make new spending habits.

It has taken some of us much longer. I'm 40 in a few weeks (not sure how that happened) and am still paying debt off now. 

Don't forget to give yourself some room in your budget to enjoy yourself. Paying off debt is not a punishment. You can still enjoy life.

DebtFreeMe6

misstara said:

Happy New Year to you.  That's a good start to the year waking up hangover free and without the dread.  Good luck with paying down your debt this year.

Thanks misstara. Good luck to you too ❤️

DebtFreeMe6

@RelievedSheff thank you for this it means a lot… it’s hard not to be hard on myself when I’m ashamed but it really helps to know I’m not the only one 😊 

Wishing you a very happy 40th birthday! 

RelievedSheff

DebtFreeMe6 said:

@RelievedSheff thank you for this it means a lot… it’s hard not to be hard on myself when I’m ashamed but it really helps to know I’m not the only one 😊 

Wishing you a very happy 40th birthday! 

You are definitely not the only one. You certainly are not the first and you won't be the last either.

LightFlare

HampshireH said:

Good luck. I would reconsider talking to your partner.

They will notice your change in spending habits and if they aren't onboard/aware of why they could expect the same lifestyle which will mean you are conflicted when out and not buying everyone a round etc. It will make it harder to say no unless you avoid scenarios like that entirely, which again could lead to questions.

If you are upfront they can support you not to be in that social situation 

Please head this advice.
Please talk to your partner 

A very good friend of mine ran up massive debts without his wife knowing and it didn’t end well at all.

nyermen

One quick comment from a glance - the debt seems to be on 0% cards.  Assuming i’ve not already missed it being discussed, after the minimum amounts, you’ll want to focus on the cards based on rate expiring first of course.  (And if they’re all the same dates, then prioritise the one that has the highest rate afterwards).

Budget wise - I realise the mobile phone is fixed term, what is the split, eg. is the insurance also fixed term?  If you have home contents insurance, it may well cover accidental damage etc.

Note council tax and mobile bill will go up in April, mobile is likely CPI+4% which is around 8% this time I think (assuming december’s CPI).