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
This is a very slow blog. Come on Gostevie we went more!
ReplyDeleteAt least you are now free from any financial burden, Gostevie! I used to have the same dilemma. Fortunately, I was able to get back on my feet and pay my debts on time. I had a fantastic assistance from this loan company. They gave me payment options and didn’t even ask for collateral. Keep it up, and think of other ways you can increase your income. The more money you save up now, the more vacations you will have when you retire.
ReplyDeleteJesse Baars