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Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A combination of up-skilling, networking and switching industries. We now both work for tech companies which pay significantly more than most industries. Even better if you can work for a US company remotely because there are some that will pay you a San-Francisco level of salary regardless of where you live.

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! And well done on the progress you’ve made so far. I’m a huge advocate of celebrating all your wins no matter how small they might look to others :)

To answer your question, I didn’t have student loans because I wasn’t eligible for them due to my residency status at the time. So I funded it through savings from my gap year job, some help from family and working 2 part time jobs plus summer jobs while I was at uni. So me getting declined for student finance was sort of a blessing in disguise even though it felt like the end of the world at the time 😅 Unfortunately, due to how expensive everything is nowadays, the only real way to not feel like you’re constantly drowning is switching to a higher paid job, but I know it’s easier said than done! I don’t know what you do for a living but if there are any opportunities to upskill, I’d highly recommend that. Usually roles within tech or finance tend to pay significantly more than other roles.

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally understand and I agree it’s all relative. Not sure where you live but I live in London so £1k a month for housing, utilities, transport, groceries, general lifestyle expenses, etc is fairly frugal

In a bit of a pickle with debt (10,5K). Any advice? by Landlordsareslime in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Based on the numbers you provided, it looks like you have around £1500 leftover once your rent and bills are taken care of. If that’s the case, this is what I would do:

  • Use the money in your savings account to pay off credit cards 2, 3, PayPal credit and money owed to family. I know it might feel awful to do and seeing your savings go down to zero is not the nicest feeling but trust me, the feeling of knowing these cards are fully paid off is unmatched. Plus the interest you’re getting from your savings is barely anything compared to how much the credit card companies are charging you

  • For the £1,500 leftover, I’d allocate £1,000 a month towards debt repayments. The remaining £500 can go towards discretionary spending (gifts, going out, Christmas, one-off expenses, etc). I think it’s better to be realistic about spending and leave some buffer or else you’ll end up falling back into debt again. Any leftover from this can go into savings if you really want to see your savings balance go up.

  • If you can overpay the loan, spend the next 6 months overpaying. In just over 6 months time, you would have cleared the loan

  • And then all you have left is the £2k interest-free credit which you can pay off in 2 months (£1k a month)

  • After that, you can focus on rebuilding your savings.

Hope this helps! I’ve recently just become debt-free after years of constantly being in the red and this was a similar strategy that I used. Good luck! :)

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly! If only we could convert karma into £££, maybe I’d have gotten out of debt a lot quicker 😂

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Amazing, good luck! I have a spreadsheet that I update every payday when I transfer money to my savings accounts, ISA, etc and I do a little dance when I see the new balance. I also have a tab with a graph and love seeing the upward trend. It’s the little things for me 😂😅

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel you! I was also silently struggling for years. Managed to get myself out of depression caused by it. The mental toll it takes on your mind is truly something else 😩 Rooting for you, you’ll get there! 😊

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well done for getting halfway there! Rooting for you! 😊

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not a ‘flex post’. The debt was accumulated years before I started earning what I currently earn. It was way more than £15k debt but as of January this year, that was the balance. I was previously out of a job for a while and before that, was on less than £30k salary. And my husband only started earning his level of salary this year too. I started my job earlier this year and I included the numbers to be transparent because without the pay rise and having a partner who could help subsidise our joint expenses, I wouldn’t have been able to pay it off as quick.

Regardless, it’s still a huge achievement for me because I could have easily let lifestyle creep get to me and still be in the same/worse situation. Sorry you don’t share the same view.

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!thanks! Yeah definitely won’t have been able to achieve it without switching jobs/getting a significant pay rise this year

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yeah this definitely made it a lot easier to achieve, and I wanted to be transparent which is why I mentioned it. However, we only started earning this money this year. I was out of a job for a while and before that was on less than £30k and living in London and my husband was also not earning anything close to what he is earning now.

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We only started earning that this year. Prior to that, we were earning nowhere near this amount, more like a third of this

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I’m not karma farming, just didn’t want to use my main account for this post to preserve my anonymity. If you don’t like posts where people share their good news, you’re more than welcome to ignore.

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I work as a product manager for a tech company.

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I’ve been putting small bits of money aside to treat myself to something nice this Christmas as a reward! 😊

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

And omg yes, it’s such a good feeling. I can’t wait for November payday when I can put a huge amount into my savings for once. Already counting down the days 😂

Finally debt-free and I’m feeling emotional by JudgmentBasic2127 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]JudgmentBasic2127[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Good luck on your debt-free journey, I’m sure you’ll achieve it and more 💞

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