How to get out of debt fast
I have talked about my debt so so much over the past few weeks. I wrote for the I Weekend paper on Saturday 21st April talking about how I got into £15.5k of debt and the simple steps I have taken since then to reduce it by nearly £10k. The reaction has been incredible. I shared the article on Instagram and it is my most popular post EVER (even more than my selfies with Mary Berry, Fearne Cotton or Rachel Riley!!).
And the traffic to my website!! I’ve thousands of new visits and page views. Tons more people reading incredibly useful content to help them beat their debt demons.
I have had so many messages of support. The best messages are from the people who say I have inspired them to look at their own debt to add it up and come up with a plan to pay it back. It really is the best feeling in the world to help someone to face up to a problem and to change their lives by sorting it out. I love my job. I say this most days.
My Updated Debt Story
So, my debt story. I am now even more determined to pay it off ASAP. I am so excited to declare to the world that I am debt free, for the first time ever, since the age of credit worthiness will I be free of credit card debt.
As at the beginning of April I had £6,250 outstanding of the debt, as per the article in I Weekend. I am finding it quite hard recently to cut back on spending. This was the crux of how I repaid so much last year. I really cut back on life spending. There were two no spend months last year that saved £600. We had a frugal Christmas, not going anywhere and tried to save wherever possible on Christmas presents. The takeaways stopped, or should I say reduced from three a week to two a month and the home cooking with fresh Aldi ingredients went up a notch.
A Challenging few months for spending
But the past couple of months have been more of a challenge to reduce the debt. £4,500 was needed for deposits on new cars as the old one was dying of 80k miles and overuse! This money would have otherwise gone into the debt repayment but instead helped to buy a car. And then we needed to renew insurance on the house and two cars, this cost £700 (all paid upfront to avoid the horrid insurance tax on monthly payment plans). Dylan has been invited to his third football tour of the season to Germany, another £250. The extra expenses have all added up resulting in smaller amounts going into the debt. But none of this spending resulted in the debt increasing.
April is better
But this month I have a relatively clear month of big expenses, plus a good month for business turnover so I have been able to pay an extra £1,300 off the debt. I have now JUST broken through the £5k barrier and my outstanding debt sits at £4,956. BOOM.
This means that in 12 months I have paid off £10,500!!!!! I am so grateful to my business for proving to be such a success that I can pay off such a chunk of money. The gratitude of course extends to all my favourite clients who continue to work with me on a regular basis. Companies like PensionBee, Octopus Energy and Aldi are amazing. I love their products, their morals and beliefs as brands. To write about them, to try out their products and tell you about them is such an honour. All products that help you to REALLY save money and feel more financially secure.
I am so proud and you can do this too
I am so proud of my debt reduction achievement in the past 12 months. And you can do it too. £15k of debt did feel like a mountain, but you just keep chipping away and pay off big and small amount whenever possible.
Below are some of my older debt update posts so you can read and gleam more tips of how to reduce your debt as quickly as possible.
If you are in debt, don’t despair. Read through my posts and my story and follow some of the things I did. Get selling on eBay (I made £90 this week!), do those mystery shops, have those no spend months. This will create more money to allow extra debt repayment. You CAN do it.
March 2018 Update – Light at the end of the Tunnel
Dec 2017 Update – Thoughts and Feelings
September 2017 Update – A set back
May 2017 – Making Progress
April 2017 – The original confession of a Personal Finance Blogger
5 Responses
Such a wonderfully motivating story! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lynn,
What a confidence inspiring post, for anyone wishing to get out of debt.
You have demonstrated that with some focus and hard work it is possible to pay off huge amounts of debt.
Keep it up, not much left to go!
Thank you Leon, it has been tough at times, but now I am at this point with much less left to repay it feels really good
Hi, this is amazing! This is something I really want to do; pay off £18k ASAP, and I’d love to do it in year. I’m a girl on a mission after sitting down last week and working eveything out, then setting up a separate and anonymous blog (when I succeed I shall reveal my true identity lol). You must be so proud of yourself and how far you’ve come, it’s truly amazing and so inspirational. Well done and thank you for giving so much encouragement and hope to the rest of us.
Thank you so much for your kind words. You can do it focus on paying off that debt.