Women being cock-a-hoop
Friday 30th May, 2008 - £8,920.19 in debt…
Look at that up there! That amount of debt! Under the £9,000 mark – WOO! I am literally cock-a –hoop. Yes, literally.
And I’m so proud of myself too. When my tax rebate arrived in my bank account yesterday, my first thought wasn’t “shoes!” or “Milkybars!” or anything deranged at all – it was “Now I can pay that amount off my Barclaycard – I can’t wait!” and I did it straight away.
This is a huge turnaround for me - a couple of months ago, I’d have gone out shopping with that money, but my attitude to money has completely changed and I’ll tell you why.
Originally I thought that writing this blog would be a good way to get tips and ideas about paying off my debt. And that’s exactly what has happened – thanks very much for all the help, by the way – but it’s had another, unexpected benefit…
Because I’m keeping track of my debt and writing about it, I’m constantly thinking about money. And I mean constantly: thinking about how I can save a couple of quid on a cinema ticket, how I can make a couple of quid on Ebay, and how I can roll around in piles of cash once I’ve paid my cards off because every penny I make will be MINE and I can goddamn do what I want with it. So there.
Yes, the rumours are true: paying off even a little bit of your debt is one of the best feelings in the world. Getting rid of my NatWest card was just the start of it, and making that payment today felt just as good as poking a Barclaycard staff member in the eye with a stick.
So, I’m one month into my debt-paying-off experiment and my debt has decreased by a grand total of £579.26. I’m not saying this is going to happen every month, but it’s a good start as far as I’m concerned. Please leave your messages of awed congratulations and worship below.
Olivia Buck Needs Debt Help - Day 29
Whoop wtg Olivia, it feels real good doesn’t it
You’re right on the nail with it feels like ‘poking a (insert credit company here) member of staff in the eye’!!!
Let me share with you my little story of joy for the day.
Today hubby rang each of the 3 remaining cc companies to close the accounts, now that we’ve finally been bled dry for every last penny of interest. I recently paid off the last dribs of interest, adding the next months est interest on top to be sure they couldnt turn round and say ‘Oh but you still owe us £1.25 or whatever.
Anyway he did the talking I did the jumpin for joy, witholding the overwhelming urge to scream down the phone, ‘I wanna quit the gym’!!, (you’ll have to be a friends fan to get that one)!
He did his ‘So I cant use it anymore!’ thing everytime he was questioned as to why he wished to close his account. Oh if only those cards had been in my name, I’d have told them exactly why.
Anyway the upshot is that those 3 companies owe us back a total of about £3 between them, again the urge to yell down the phone ‘And we’re charging you interest on that.’
Finally we can say that we are officially cc freeeeeeeeee and believe me its the best feeling
Glad things are starting to turn around for you Olivia, keep up the great work.
Hi Olivia,
According to statistics published today, your debt is now under the national average household debt. Something to be pleased about:
http://www.creditaction.org.uk/debt-statistics.html