Debt free (well, in control)

CREATIVE!11 · 2 May 2013 at 13:03

feriso said:
Control is awesome; I remember some years ago I used to worry and lose sleep over how to pay for the bills and had to juggle stuff but a few years ago my hand was forced (in a good way) and I had to focus on what I was spending and start repaying. I've made good progress and each time I look at a statement its a good feeling about how its come down and not worry about what it is now.

Over the next 6 months I have a few loans that will then pay off so I can accelerate the repayment of the rest.

I've been itching to get myself some new toys like a new TV, camera, macbook but I remind myself of how to pay for it and I want to pay for it in cash or 0% and I can't do either atm so I say no......

It can really get me down sometimes, especially when I see a 'friend' of mine who went through a period of a few years spending loads on two houses, laptops, holidays, phones, cars (but then had no job security, pension, savingsetc..) and then it all came crashing down within a period of about 4 months for them and they pretty much had to shuffle it all off - whilst I was jealous at the big time and to some extent pity them, I'm not jealous as I'm the one in a better long term position. I'm not even sure they've learnt as they still appear to be spending monmey they don't have on stuff. I could never balance what they would be getting/earning *cough* with apparent expenditure.

Wow, wall of text but its a big thing in general for me as I made mistakes when I was younger and now I'm 'paying' for them; it'll be OK in the end.

No surprise there, human beings always look at short term instead of long term. Being fat is perfect example, if I eat this burger now i'll feel good for all of 10 mins!!!! if you lose all that weight though you feel better for the rest of your life.

Yaayuh! · 2 May 2013 at 13:07

Congrats and well done

Pestilence · 2 May 2013 at 13:10

Hopefully about 8 months or so until we're free of it too. Main loans expire in August, and the rest is just about 4k in credit cards to clear.

Once that's done, a cool circa £700 in the savings for us each month.

Can't wait -- it'll be the first time ever that we'll really start to see the benefit of working so damned hard.

elmarko · 2 May 2013 at 13:39

Ay, it's a great feeling.

Cleared all my debt last year (was manageable & not that big but annoying as I didn't want to go without for an extended period to clear it) but decided to - now the money I used to spend on paying interest I stick into my work share plan (really good return on this one actually!) & into savings.

It's quite a different feeling moving from debt -> savings & I'd recommend anybody with the ability to - to do it asap.

anything I don't mind · 2 May 2013 at 14:16

Well done! i am on my way in to the green myself, still got £2k to go but already feel awesome about it.

Looking forward to that extra £300 a month that currently goes to the debt.

Musty Pie · 2 May 2013 at 14:19

I have lever let myself slip into debt yet (26). However I understand how some people do.
VERY well done to you for sorting it out though mate! I have a lot of respect for people who work hard and dig themselves out of financial turmoil.

Terrier_Jimlad · 2 May 2013 at 14:19

Ducati owner moaning about finances - lul wut

PaulyD · 2 May 2013 at 14:32

I too am a soon to be debt survivor. Silly times before when I was younger and never got a handle on it meant it just accumulated. Not as bad as some but got to me. About 7k in total of silly loans, overdrafts and credit cards.

Been paying £525 a month for last year and only about £1,300 to, just a couple more months and then completely debt free. No credit card, overdraft or loans to pay. To say I am excited about that is an understatement!

Well done for everyone else getting it sorted and on their way!

Freefaller · 2 May 2013 at 14:34

Being debt free and being able to put money aside towards savings and fun stuff is such a great feeling. At the time you think you'll never get there, but when you do - it's such a load off the shoulders...

elmarko · 2 May 2013 at 14:42

I found focusing on increasing my earnings allowed me to clear debt much quicker (sounds obvious, but worth putting some real effort into by learning some specific skills).

Scougar · 2 May 2013 at 14:45

Awesome, seriously well done. Do not slip into casual mode now. Focus on savings or investment targets now instead of the debt

Hostile-17 · 2 May 2013 at 14:56

KaHn said:
Nice one I pay off the last of my student debt this month, all 10k of it

Offshore bonus is going to good use this time instead of holidays and toys

KaHn

Congrats!

I'm almost in the same boat as you, reckon I've got a couple more months left on my student loan

Well done OP!!

Sliver · 2 May 2013 at 15:06

Well done OP.

I have about £2500 left from an original £12000 debt. I see the light at the end of the tunnel now and have promised myself to first save and then pay for what I want from now on.

platypus · 2 May 2013 at 16:03

Cool story brah or not, it's a great thing to be able to say.

Congrats

.

CREATIVE!11 · 2 May 2013 at 16:04

I want to ask some of you guys, be honest too.

How did you accrue some of the debts you've got? How heck you spend so much. A few contributors to this question would be appreciated as I'm curious.

platypus · 2 May 2013 at 16:08

Student debt, and being incredibley screwed over by a fairly dangerous Ex got me into a large debt, but I paid it off reasonably quickly (lucky enough to have a well paying job) whilst still enjoying life, then got saddled with a house

.

Deleted member 77746 · 2 May 2013 at 16:15

I love it when DD's finish!

Deleted member 77746 · 2 May 2013 at 16:16

Sliver said:
Well done OP.

I have about £2500 left from an original £12000 debt. I see the light at the end of the tunnel now and have promised myself to first save and then pay for what I want from now on.

Wise man saves first.

Bennie-Mac · 2 May 2013 at 16:18

CREATIVE!11 said:
I want to ask some of you guys, be honest too.

How did you accrue some of the debts you've got? How heck you spend so much. A few contributors to this question would be appreciated as I'm curious.

My debt was caused by the arse falling out of the building services industry when the credit crunch happened. Quite a lot of companies that owed me money went bankrupt and the ones that didnt simply couldnt pay me what I was owed when they were meant to. Meant I just wasn't getting a livable wage and ended up in arrears for which I still have around £5k outstanding.

What isnt helping is the building services industry has still not fully recovered here in Northern Ireland to the extent that it has on the mainland, so I am still facing a similar situation to some degree, but thankfully its nowhere near as bad.

Pestilence · 2 May 2013 at 16:18

CREATIVE!11 said:
I want to ask some of you guys, be honest too.

How did you accrue some of the debts you've got? How heck you spend so much. A few contributors to this question would be appreciated as I'm curious.

Gaining qualifications after moving out of home -- starting with non-specialised cruddy jobs after Uni while the other half did post-grad (teaching).

Necessity after that demanded a car (loans), credit cards to make ends meet occasionally, more loans when the overdraft got into trouble and bills went up with no pay rises in sight. We didn't want to dig into the money we had on standby (spent a few thousand of it) as that was for a house deposit.

Then, due to circumstances we had to get our house purchase out of the way. That led to further loans for basic improvements/maintenance/emergencies (which constantly makes me yearn for the days of renting again!

).

We kept afloat after amassing it, though, began consolidating and using balance transfers etc. It's taken us about 6 years, and a complete wastage of our 20s, but now we're both in relatively decent professional positions, keeping in the black every month and chucking what we can at the debts (alongside saving a couple of hundred) each month.

Once those debts are gone, we'll have more money lying about than we'll know what to do with -- and can finally have a respectable holiday abroad and enjoy ourselves after saving for a short while, then focus on building up a deposit for a better home in a better area.