Credit Card Balance - Nil. First time in many years.

Well done on getting rid of your credit card debt. The only debt that is "ok" is a mortgage, but even that seems like a massive rip off to me these days.

Personally I would rather do without than pay interest.

Rgds
 
Spunkey said:
Before I sorted myself out, I was up to £18,000 including credit cards, loans and overdrafts.

As of this month it's down to less than £7,000, and will be paid off by July next year at the latest.
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Well done dude. My debt peaked around £7000 and its hung over me for years. You coming down £10k must feel great.

Just frustrating that we never learned the lessons earlier eh? I always knew it was dumb but its easy to just pay small amounts and continue being a mug.
 
Advice for everyone who has debt except 'car' & 'mortgage'. Pay it off as quick as you can and try not to get more 'credit. in the future. It's nice to be able to pay for things without needing 'credit'.

Feels better all around to be able to pay for a MBA in cash or a brand new DFS sofa or an iPad or iPhone straight out of pocket.
 
It does feel good watching the balance drop :)

To be honest, what did us in was when we had our daughter the wife had 10 months off work, and we got a loan to cover ourselves. Turned out to be about the dumbest decision I ever made, and there have been a few :)

Live and learn I guess.
 
Well done mate, I did the same but on a slightly larger scale last year. Not an ounce of debt to my name now. And oddly enough, I have tons more money than I used to!
 
mrbell1984 said:
Advice for everyone who has debt except 'car' & 'mortgage'. Pay it off as quick as you can and try not to get more 'credit. in the future. It's nice to be able to pay for things without needing 'credit'.

Feels better all around to be able to pay for a MBA in cash or a brand new DFS sofa or an iPad or iPhone straight out of pocket.
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Absolutely. You can bet your ass that as soon as our cards and loans are all paid, we won't be taking credit for anything (within reason/emergencies) ever again... and we'll be in a financial position to do so.

The end of the debt is like a narrow tunnel opening into a massive ball room of wonders.
 
Most people's credit card balance is nil, every month after it's all paid off :D

As for reducing the amount of debt you have to pay back, if it goes so far that it's handed over to debt collectors you can always make deals with them by saying if you can pay 'x' amount by a certain date will that clear your debt.

Sometimes they'll accept that to get a decent amount instead of dragging it on with small payments every month or so.


But by that time it will have destroyed your credit rating so it's not all great :)
 
Good to see you're on the path to a better credit rating.

You should keep the card and use it providing you pay it off each month and it'll bring your rating back up.

It's not all bad used safely :)
 
When I was 18 I racked up around 11K worth of debt because of IT. I was in the stage of 'learning' so I thought every penny would assist but I was a fool and got anything and everything I wanted without looking back. It's all payed off now though.

You feel so much better not having any debt at all it can cause real emotion problems once it gets out of control.
 
I don't fully understand credit difficulties.

Over the past 5 years I've bought a top of the range PC, mac, ps3, xbox, TV, car, car insurance all on credit. I earn not much over minimum wage yet have never missed a payment and have never paid interest on any balance. It baffles me how people can run up double figures of debt to the stage of debt collectors coming round by the time they are in there mid 20s?
What exactly are people buying that costs so much?

Obviously sympathy to people who have suddenly lost their job and have fallen in a spiral but most of the time bad debt is just greed or not understanding basic budgeting and finances.
 
Its a good feeling :)
Lived beyond my means for a few years after uni, fast cars (£-7000), nights out (cc £-2000) having no money actually meant bottoming out my over draft (£-2000) etc.

at 23 felt I had got it all out my system, got a good job, started saving, settled down and just exchanged on a house (26 almost 27) where we are putting in £40k each for the deposit :)

Its easy to turn around and really worth it. Biggest, easiest savings are

- Clothes, I literally get a few new outfits every season, quality rather than quantity.
- Nights out, cut down, simple.
- Gadgets, I have a 3 year old Macbook which is in tip top condition. New mobile when upgrade is due. Thats it.
- Car, Ford focus, gets the job done.
 
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JohnnyDrama said:
Obviously sympathy to people who have suddenly lost their job and have fallen in a spiral but most of the time bad debt is just greed or not understanding basic budgeting and finances.
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Even if you lose your job you can still stay out of debt, that is if you don't buy in anticipation of your next paycheck and spend what you physically have in the bank.

Lt_Red said:
Cut up your credit card NOW and get a bank account where you can check the balance online.
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You can check your balance on your credit card online too :)
 
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