Tuesday, 20 October 2020
A Lannister always pays his debts
“You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you.”
― Dave Ramsey
Tonight I get paid, and I am going to make some serious attempts at paying down my debt. I have this constant fear of the rug being pulled out from under me, as I have been living paycheck to paycheck now for years. I started saving a few months ago, just £50 a month, into an ISA that I don't have access to. I got the statement the other day, and saw I have squirrelled away £250 now. That is minuscule, and by no means any sort of safety net, but it is something at least.
I have two loans and two credit cards. One loan and one credit card have reasonable, manageable balances, the other two do not. It has been a constant source of anxiety for me for many years, and I always try to trace back to when exactly it was that I started losing control. Certainly when I moved into my own place - I was completely unprepared for all the outgoings I would encounter. Bills were a lot higher than I anticipated, for example, my mismanagement of my utility bills meant I was paying astronomical standard variable rates because I hadn't been able to switch my contracts. The biggest issue was when a pipe burst in the bathroom. Of course, it happened as my insurance was transitioning, so the day it happened, I wasn't insured. Not only did I have to have the pipe replaced, the bathroom re-tiled, and the bedroom wall re-plastered, it also destroyed many items in my closet that then needed replacing.
And from there it just spiralled. As of tonight, I am making a stand against my debt. I am sick of it owning me, I am sick of this worry bead in the back of my head always being there. I hate not having any disposable income and no savings.
These are some of the measures I am taking:
- the credit cards are being cut up
- I am deleting the Amazon app, and other similar ones as I impulse buy all the time
- I am selling off some of my record collection
- I am making many sacrifices between now and next pay day so I can make a lump sum £1,000 payment onto one of my credit cards
I am determined to have cleared one of the debts by the end of the year. Maybe this diary will help me in tracking where I am and what I am doing, and keep me honest.
