Closure

It's just over six months' now since I paid off my final debt, so have posted an update on The Motley Fool UK's 'Dealing with Debt' board which is where for many years I posted regular monthly updates on my progress.

http://boards.fool.co.uk/debt-free-six-months-on-12647781.aspx

I kind of feel that it brings something of a closure to the 'being in debt' part of my life, so I am going to retire this very brief blog - or rather put it 'in treasury' in case I ever get the urge to resurrect it with a different slant.

Many thanks to anybody who has ever popped in to have a read.

Best wishes to all,

Gostevie

Interest

I’ve just checked the balance of my Cash ISA and seen that I have been credited with £26.37 interest. It’s rather nice to be receiving interest after all those years of paying it.

It’s strange that all the while I was paying off debt and lurking on the TMF investment boards I was pretty sure that once I’d got a few thousand pounds saved I’d be straight in and buying shares. Now, however, I am quite happy just to keep my savings in cash, not least because I feel that the stock market is overheated and heading for a fall, probably sometime after the US presidential elections. I realise that goes against the ‘strategic ignorance’ ethos preached by the HYPers but for now I just feel more comfortable with cash, even if it is being eroded away in real terms by inflation.

Best wishes,

Gostevie

Almost Five Months On

Not surprisingly, being out of debt for a short time hasn’t changed my life in any major way – same bedsit, same job, same daily routine, still no holidays yet – but it has made a difference in smaller ways.

For example, when I was dealing with debt, if I had half an hour to wait for a train I’d mope about looking at my watch every two minutes. Nowadays if there’s a coffee shop at the station I don’t feel guilty about sitting down comfortably with a cup of tea. Equally, I no longer feel guilty about occasionally not taking a packed lunch into work, buying something from one of the many sandwich bars near to the office instead, although I hasten to add it isn’t something I intend to make a habit of.

As my debt free day approached, I was warned by a few people who had been there and done it that I was likely to feel a bit deflated once the initial relief  at being debt free had worn off, and they were right. Juggling the debts around, looking out for the best deals on loans and credit cards, playing around with my spreadsheets and writing the monthly updates were a big part of my life for a very long time, so not having them there anymore did leave something of a gap. I think I'm almost over that stage now however, and can definitely say that watching the savings creep up more than compensates!

Looking ahead, I’m still grappling with the dilemma of how much of my new-found disposable income I should be saving in order to make up for lost time, and how much of it I should be spending in order to… make up for lost time. Can I have my lost time back please? I think at the moment I am erring towards the former, which is no doubt the result of all those years of dealing with debt. Old habits do die hard but I must make an effort to tackle that and get a better balance next year. Still, there are far worse dilemmas to have.

Good luck to all,

Gostevie

First Post

Hi,

My first ever post to my new blog.

A bit of background.

Way back in 1996 at the age of 33, for reasons that I won't go into here I changed jobs from a reasonably well paying one to a poorly paying one that did however offer the promise of fairly quick pay rises until it would become a very well paying one.

I therefore didn't mind using credit cards to help me meet my month to month expenses, knowing I'd be able to pay them back when those pay rises started to arrive. Sadly those pay rises never did arrive and those credit card debts just got bigger and bigger.

By the time I changed jobs again to another reasonably paying one I was well on the slippery slope, and at their peak in December 2005 those debts - by now owed to several credit cards and a couple of loans as well - topped £47,000.

Starting in November 2001 I used to post fairly regular updates about my battle to get free from debt to The Motley Fool UK's "Dealing with Debt" board: http://boards.fool.co.uk/dealing-with-debt-50079.aspx .

Having finally paid off my final debt in March 2012 ( http://boards.fool.co.uk/gostevie-update-debt-free-at-last-12513183.aspx ) I find I miss writing those updates, but since I am now in credit they would be "off topic" there and, quite rightly, get pulled by the TMF moderators.

That's why I have started this blog instead. It's mostly here so that I can keep a record of my post-debt endeavours to build up some sort of wealth, but if anybody else wants to read it and comment on it, then fantastic.

I'm not sure at this stage how frequently I'll post, or even what form those posts will take, but every blog has to start somewhere, and that somewhere is here.

If anybody apart from me has read this far, many thanks, and if you happen to be in debt yourself I'd thoroughly recommend having a look at the TMF Dealing with Debt board that I've linked to above. There are a lot of good Fools there who can offer practical advice, encouragement, and the occasional kick in the rear when it's required.

Good luck to all,

Gostevie