Saturday, 17 May 2014

Accountable Accounts



Hello peeps! This blog is about my insane misadventures with debt and spending. I am 35 and have had credit card debt since I was 23. Twelve years!!!! The insane thing about it is that I have paid this back and then got into it again!!! I've really been exploring the connection between emotion/personal history/desire/self esteem etc, etc in regards to being in debt and to spending habits and it's been amazing. This blog is to keep myself accountable and to track my progress. 

I've had a love of charity shopping my entire life and finding a bargain has always been almost an obsession (a bargain that was a unique one off!) as well as the environmental side of recycling clothes. I am handy with a sewing machine and alter and make many things so that thriftiness is already there. I love making whatever I can from scratch, firstly to avoid the insanely dangerous chemicals that is added to most modern commercial products (and because I love making things-anything!) and in also in an effort to become more frugal (let's change this to money smart eh?). My spending is purely emotionally driven and I'm blogging to really discover why this is! 

So, to the debt.



1st credit card = $905.03 (paid $94), (£503.95/52.34)
2nd credit card= $3489.96 (paid off $5383.04), (£1943.34/2997.47)
Debt to family = £4000 ($7183.44/0)
Study debt =$17000 (this is not the exact figure as trying to get in touch with the o/s Tax office is hard work!), (£9466.22)

Total debt over 12 years=$33 983 not including interest!!
                                             £18 923

Total debt now =$28 578
                              £15 913

It had gone down immensely until the proverbial emergency hit me in February this year - I had to fly back from the UK to Australia for the death of a close family member. This was the loan from family - I used it to fly back, living money there and back in the UK (as I had to take unpaid leave) and accommodation in some parts of Oz where I did not have family members to stay with and of course food whilst there. The family debt also includes the next step of my visa application. Whilst this means that I didn't spend frivolously to accumulate this debt (which is the case of both of my credit cards- it's a debt (or as Kate Northrup writes, as I too will from now onwards, an Invoice For Blessings Already Received (IFBAR)), I feel way less guilt or shame in having this debt than I do the credit cards. Interesting!



Now to break this down for myself, I am not going to include my study debt at all until my other IFBAR's are paid off in full. Even though it's accumulating interest, it's also a debt that is usually paid off through your salary. I'm no longer working in that country so that won't be happening and I will eventually need to make payments to it, but in order to feel I can achieve anything!! I'm going to keep it on a separate tally and attend to it once the others are dealt with.

The tally now looks something like this:


1st credit card = $905.03 (paid $94), (£503.95/52.34)
2nd credit card= $3489.96 (paid off $5383.04), (£1943.34/2997.47)
Debt to family = £4250 ($7,744.89/0)

Total debt over 12 years = $14050
                                               £ 7709

Total debt now = $12,140
                              £ 6661

I propose to have this total paid off by March next year. The odd thing about my IFBAR is that I'm paying off two different currencies; my salary was way higher when I was earning dollars and I could have (and did!!) pay off the majority off the debt. But pounds are strange, you don't get as many of them, but for some reason they really seem to stretch further! Anyway, card one is the first to tackle - it's at 20.99% and the lovely charts at the bottom of the bill tell you that it will take me something mad like 22 years to pay off if I only pay the minimum payment!!! Then the second card at 12.99% and then debt to the fam at 0% (thanks family!)

Essentially I'll be posting firstly my progress and what it feels like, as well as links to my other blogs about thrifting, refashioning, crafting and other ways to save and make a buck (all the while recycling and helping out the environment!). Being in debt is interesting for me as it's a very, very convenient excuse for me to not start doing all the things I want to do. And I use the word excuse, not reason, very deliberately. It's a very convenient screen to hide behind. By telling myself that I'm focusing on getting this sorted and then getting into more debt (which is my story the past twelve years) instead of recognising the fear of putting myself out there for what it is has conveniently kept me from really getting on with all my creative projects. So this blog will keep me accountable.




Some inspiring blogs to keep me going!!




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