Debt is priority number one when it comes to my expenditure. At the moment I could not justify going on holiday or even going out for a meal. The simple fact is because there is so much debt to pay back, it would be silly to spend money on unnecessary things. Spending money unwisely is what has led to this situation so it would be hypocritical to be gallivanting off on holiday or getting mashed down at the local pub.

Being Strict

It is hard but it is teaching me a valuable lesson. The lesson being you don’t spend what you haven’t got. The same thought should hold true once the debt is all paid off. Managing money is something that has to be done and so it does mean not doing the things you would like to do. Instead I will look forward to a holiday only when I am debt free and only when I have saved up for it because there is no sense getting into more debt after escaping the very thing that stopped you doing things in the first place.

Deal with it

Being this strict can seem like a pretty boring existence. In my opinion not really – there are still friends and family to see, work takes up a lot of time and then there is also this blog. However the fact that I am doing all that is possible to repay the debt means I should be debt free sooner, and once debt free can start to save up for all the things I can’t do at the moment.

It is a little like your life is on hold but it has to be to make the fastest progress towards paying all that you owe back. However the sooner you are debt free the sooner you will be able to start working towards the things you want to do.

Look forward to being Debt Free

Living this way means you start to appreciate what it will mean to be debt free. It should also help you stay on track once debt free and avoid making the same financial mistakes all over again. In really simple terms this could boil down to if you can’t afford it you can’t get it. This is in contrast to the old way of thinking which was, if I can’t afford it I can get it on credit.

There is still a huge mountain to climb but with every payment the amount owed gets smaller. Soon it will be gone and only then can things start to move again.