# How overspending by a small amount on a regular basis spiralled into serious debt.



## Janet

On another thread someone asked: 





> How could it possibly take 11 years to pay off that level of debt?


 in response to my post saying 


> About two years of being careless when I was younger led to eleven years of debt (and I'm not talking about having gone wild buying designer gear every week, more like spending an extra fifty quid in the supermarket every few weeks).



Since my answer became somewhat long, I decided to split it into this new topic in order to not let that thread get too off-topic.  Hope that's okay with everyone.

It's actually very easy. And obviously that's something of an oversimplification but it went something like this: starts off with just a few hundred on a credit card (being 'sensible' when I first got a credit card I set the limit at 500 pounds, which was about what I earned per fortnightly paycheck at that time) because you haven't really figured out the whole budgeting thing yet and since everyone is throwing money around like mad you must surely be able to at least go to the supermarket without having to worry about what anything costs. But then you can't pay it off so just make the minimum payments for a while and then the bank ups your limit (they were still allowed to do that at that time) and you think great, pressure is off. But you still can't/don't pay off the balance and over time it creeps up more and more. 

So you think well, I'll get a loan to pay it off ('cos interest is lower and that's what 'sensible' people do but unlike said senisble people you don't chop up the card). So now you're paying a loan with payments that are too high but instead of doing a proper budget and cutting down on expenditure you're finding yourself using the credit card to buy all your groceries. No money left over at all for things like clothes so although you only buy them when absolutely necessary, you end up doing something like going shopping as soon as you get paid just so you can buy a new suit for a job interview and between that and making a loan repayment and making a maybe slightly more than minimum payment on the credit card as well as potentially having cleared any overdraft you might have run up on your current account, there's not a whole lot left over for the rest of the month. So credit card and overdraft come into play again. And then after a year or so of that you decide to consolidate your debts because that's what sensible people do. 

So you get a big loan to cover remaining loan balance, credit card and overdraft and the bank says well why don't we round it up to [nearest thousand] so you have a bit of leeway and a chance to sort yourself out. So you do that, maybe go away for a week to relax but still don't cut up the credit card or cancel the overdraft facility and for a while everything's going according to plan but then you have to move house unexpectedly so there's the cost of deposit, double rent because you have to start paying for the new place before you've finished paying for the old one, hiring a van and buying a fridge because you've moved into an unfurnished place (with second hand furniture donated by a family member). So all of a sudden there's a couple of hundred on the credit card again. But your loan repayments are taking all your spare cash so now that you're also trying to pay off a credit card again you're struggling every month and end up dragging out the card or using the overdraft to pay for a bit here and a bit there. And you feel like you're constantly paying off debt but never getting anywhere.  Don't forget that all the time interest is building up as well.

And then you decide it's all getting too stressful and it would be just better to get a bigger loan and have one payment so you again go to your nice helpful bank and consolidate your debts, again taking the slightly more than you need that's offered because it'll take the pressure off. And this time the loan is to be paid off over three years. And things go well for a while. But then something else happens and because you have no savings and the loan repayments are taking up most of your spare cash (because you still haven't quite gotten the budgeting thing down, although you're trying a bit at least) it's back to using your money as soon as you get paid and then having to use credit card and overdraft (neither of which have been cancelled) to pay for the basics. 

So it was perhaps two years of careless spending, followed by three or four of trying to get out of debt but not really having a clue, still doing silly things and sort of thinking that it wasn't a big deal anyway because sure everyone else you know is in the same boat. And now six years of properly dealing with my debt and getting a handle on finances (but still by no means perfect).

When I finally started to really get a handle on finances it was because I was also in a terrible job situation and badly depressed and decided, many years overdue, to go for counselling. That cost 70 euro per session and I needed to make sure I had the money every week - that was for the first few months, after that I changed to a different job with lower pay and could only go every second week but the key difference was that I knew that and made changes to what I was doing with my money based on what I was earning rather than trying to carry on doing the same things with less money. I had been using an excel spreadsheet to 'manage' my budget since the laser card had been introduced as I had ended up in trouble a few times because of transactions not appearing for a few days and me forgetting about them. But it was a really eye-opnener to sit down and start properly managing my money. My previous model had relied on checking my bank account to make sure there was enough money in it whenver a standing order was due to come out and hoping bills wouldn't be too high to pay when I receive them. Now I actually wrote down what my fixed expenses were, including things like rent, bus ticket, an amount for phone and esb and the 70 a week for counselling. And realised that once I'd done all that plus left a bit for making some payments to debt, I only really had, say fifty euro a week leftover to spend on everything else (food, going out, presents, clothes). Plenty to live on perhaps but if you're eating lunch out every day, you'd have already spent more than that, even if it's just a sandwich, packet of crisps and bottle of water. It took me a while but I finally got to the point where I consolidated for a final time and took out a loan for what was by then a very large amount of money, fixed rate this time and no delusions that I would pay it off earlier than the five year term. I never did cut up the credit card but reduced the limit to a small amount and paid it off in full every month. 

All went well, and I even managed to finance a move to Germany. Unfortunately four thousand euro worth of dental work has left me a year behind with being debt free. My loan was cleared late last year and I expect to have cleared the final debt from the dental work by May. 

And that is how spending a small amount more than you earn every week can spiral into more debt than you would have thought possible. A bit of carelessness, a pinch of stupid behaviour, a touch of depression, (not to mention a fervent desire, regardless of how irrational, that the millennium bug will wipe it all out) and, it must be admitted, a smidge of what can only be called an unjustified sense of entitlement (every else goes out to eat every week so I will too, etc.) and all of a sudden the girl who at fourteen was earning five pounds a week working for the family business and still always had money to loan her elder siblings is the one up to her eyes in debt.


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## spreadsheet

Fair play to you for the honest appraisal of your situation. At least you admit where you went wrong. There are so many others who think it's everyone else's fault but their own.


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## dewdrop

Surely the lenders which allowed such a spiralling level of credit have much responsibility.


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## Janet

Note also my join date for AAM: March 2005 - it was a bit more than a year later than I took out my final loan and had things more or less under control.  Realising that it wasn't weird to want to be in control of my finances helped a lot.  Actually I always knew that wasn't weird, it was just the how of it which eluded me so perhaps it was more realising that some of the things you have to do to get control of your finances aren't weird.  It's okay to not to certain things if you can't afford them etc.

I've also read and still do read a lot of blogs, especially simple living and personal finance blogs, since early 2006.


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## Janet

dewdrop said:


> Surely the lenders which allowed such a spiralling level of credit have much responsibility.



At that rate you could argue that my parents or my school are responsible for not teaching me how to budget properly.  My dad died a couple of years before all this started and he would have been horrified if he had ever known.  Neither a borrower nor a lender be and all that - yet that never made it as far as lessons in how to actually manage things.  On a side note I have to admit I was tremendously impressed when doing Hamlet for the Leaving to realise that my dad had been quoting Shakespeare all those years.

It's good that banks can no longer up the limit on a credit card just because.  But otherwise, well, I'm the one who kept spending the money.  I did need someone to teach me the error of my ways, so to speak, but don't think anyone can really be held responsible for that task.  One of my older sisters often says that if she hadn't met her husband, who's very good with money, then she'd have been the same as me.

And even when I did get some advice I didn't always feel it was relevant to me.  For example, the first few years of my working life I worked for American companies in Dublin (call centre boom victim here  ) and I remember once we were sent around a newsletter type thing with tips on how to manage finances, which included a tip that you should always have six months worth of salary in an emergency fund in case you lose your job.  That just struck me as totally irrelevant and a bit 'American' (oh the innocence of me back then!).  I couldn't imagine ever being out of work, despite growing up amid the multiple redundancies of the late 70's and 80's.  And six month's salary seemed like such a hugely unrealistic amount to need for anything.  Things look different in your early twenties.

And for the lenders, well, they were doing what they are in business to do.  Making money.  And they have made a lot of money out of me.  I've always repaid what I owe on time (or early, in the case of loans that got consolidated into other debt) so, for celtic tiger Ireland at least, I was an ideal customer for them.


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## truthseeker

Janet said:


> It's good that banks can no longer up the limit on a credit card just because.



Yes. I had a credit card with a limit of 500 euro. In a 2 year period the bank increased it to over 5k. I phoned them (this is years ago) and asked them to reduce the limit. They said that I had to instruct them in writing. I was livid that they could go ahead and increase the limit and not even tell me, but to decrease it I had to sit down and write a letter to them. I know sending a letter is not a big deal but it seemed like hassle to write it, find out who to address it to, find out the address to send it to, go to the post office, get a stamp, post it - all for someone in the bank just pushing a button to increase my limit without telling me. Madness. To this day I have a credit card with a limit of over 7k that Ive never bother writing and taking the limit down on. As it happens I clear it each month and dont have an issue with getting into debt on it - but it would be so easy.


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## 3rd Gen

truthseeker said:


> I phoned them (this is years ago) and asked them to reduce the limit. They said that I had to instruct them in writing.



I know the feeling.  Around 2004-2006 my credit card limit was raised from 1500 to 7,000.  I phoned up and requested that it was brought back down to 1500, I was told that i'd have to write in and that if i needed an increase I could be refused in the future.

I found this astonishing that the CSR was trying to persuade me not to reduce the limit.  I did get it back down to 1500 after the letter etc but ended up having to get it bumped up in 2009.

At present the limit is 2300 and every month i am at approx 2000.  I pay about 1000 max off every month but cant seem to get it down. I'd love to get it down to 500-700 - thats the target.


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## Janet

Perhaps you should think about making sure that you have enough money to cover your expenses and then make a smaller payment to your credit card instead of putting all your money on the card and then needing to use your card to pay for things during the month.  Because it's very easy to, for example, got to the supermarket and say to yourself, well I'm using the card anyway so I might as well stock up on x, y, or z that's on special offer.  If you only have twenty euro in your wallet you might be less inclined to spend more of it than absolutely necessary.  

When you get to the situation where you just don't seem to be able to get the balance down, despite making a big payment every month then you really need to change something.  You shouldn't be using your card at all really.

Do you have a savings account that you can easily access the money from?  Perhaps this month you could try making a smaller payment to the card (say, minimum payment plus 100 euro) and transferring the rest of what you'd normally pay off into your savings account.  Then put the card away (cut it up if you can) and if you need money, take it from your savings account.  If you don't need it, then you can use it to make an extra payment onto the card towards the end of the month.  It is a vicious circle to break out of but something has to give.  Making a big payment to the card will give you a good feeling for a few days of the month when the payment hits and you can see your balance going down close to 1,000 instead of 2,000 but if the balance is nearly the same at the end of the month as it was at the beginning it's just fooling yourself that you're getting anywhere.  And that feeling of constantly paying off debt but never getting anywhere is incredibly depressing and, if you're susceptible to that kind of thing, could lead to overspending on things you don't need.


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## Janet

3rd Gen said:


> Around 2004-2006 my credit card limit was raised from 1500 to 7,000.  I phoned up and requested that it was brought back down to 1500, I was told that i'd have to write in and that if i needed an increase I could be refused in the future.



According to this article  it was sometime in mid-2006 that the rule was introduced that they can't increase your limit without your permission.  I remember hearing that line about potential limits being set on increases in the future if I requested my limit to be put down at any stage.  Very annoying.


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## Bronte

That's an excellent post Janet on how people can go wrong, probably should be added into the key post on how one should avoid getting into debt, how it can spiral out of control and the dangers of credit cards.


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## sunnywalk

Hi Janet
your post is excellent janet and so many people would relate to it.. ( love the way its written too 
It was exactly the same way I got into debt esp the bit you said you would get all the special offers cos you were using your card anyway!! 
well done for getting out of it. you can see the honestly and courage in your post. 
You should send your article into journal.ie news website.. It would make a great opinion piece!!


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## Janet

And here's another update just in case anyone is interested. In February last year I was all set to be debt free by about May. I also gave in to my sister's prompting/complaining (that none of her family bothered to visit when her husband's family had done so multiple times) to organise a trip to Australia to see her. I booked a ticket because with debt gone by summer I'd have plenty of time, not to mention an expected bonus at the end of November, to save and pay for my December holiday, wouldn't I?  With the way the bank holidays fell last year, it was the optimal time to do it as just over three weeks holidays would get me just over four weeks off (bank holidays in Germany don't automatically transfer to Mondays, so on years where christmas falls on a weekend, you don't get any time off). 

Then, at the beginning of April my uncle (and godfather) died unexpectedly. Two aunts had died the year before and although I had contemplated going home for the funerals I knew it was just too expensive, difficult to arrange time off work and didn't do it. This uncle was, however, a different case and I didn't care how much it was going to cost, I just wanted to be there. So between flights, a hotel for one night (stayed with friends the other), buses and taxis as well as meals etc., I was close to 700 down. Somewhat upset about the loss as well as the financial setback but determined that a couple more months wasn't going to throw me off stride.

Four days later I got a text that my brother-in-law, who I was very close to, had died unexpectedly. This death hit me very hard. And again, I had short-notice flights, hotels, meals, transport - another 700 or so down. 

If I had had an emergency fund in place, most of that cost could have been covered - Dave Ramsey recommends that the first thing to do when trying to get out of debt is to save 1,000 in an emergency fund. I never quite got the logic behind saving that much when you have debt to pay off but it certainly would have made a difference to me last year.

I had already had a long weekend home booked for the end of April, so a couple of weeks later I was back in Ireland but my planned very limited budget was blown out of the water. There was far more meeting up with family groups, eating out and just general spending than had originally been planned. I just didn't care and it took me  a month or so to get back on track with properly managing my money and getting back to focusing on paying off my debt. I went through a very bad period of depression during 2009 and 2010 and had only really started to come out of it properly when all this happened so I was struggling with that as well.

I spent a lot of time thinking that I should just cancel my trip to Australia but in the end decided not to. It was the first time in sixteen years that I was going to have longer than two weeks off work and getting some sun in winter also seemed like it would be more advantageous than being in debt a while longer would be disadvantageous. To a certain extent, I just didn't care anymore either. I think that is a very real danger when you're in debt: it seems neverending and so you cease to care whether your actions are contributing to the neverending or not. I know that has definitely set me back more than once.

So, debt repayment slowed to crawl (more than minimum payments but not much more) while I prioritised paying for my ticket to Australia. My spending money was mostly provided for by virtue of the bonus I was paid in November, just before I left although I did find Australia far more expensive than expected and used my credit card a few times also. I also managed to catch the worst cold I've had for a long time so although I had a good holiday and it was great to have a bit of sun (especially given how long and miserable our winter was this year), spending the last week snuffling and then another couple of weeks missing work did put a bit of a damper on things. My depression was finally properly lifting though and although this seems to be my year for being sick (that cold, 2 serious bouts of bronchitis, 1 episode of contact dermatitis and 1 not very pleasant week of stomach bug so far), I am feeling positive and focused and have kept going with paying down my debt. 

My hopefully final setback came in March when a close family member asked for help in clearing ESB arrears as they were about to be cut off. Arrears turned out to be over 1,000 and although many would say I'm a fool for doing it, I paid. I don't expect to get the money back, certainly not any time soon, but at least I was able to make sure appointments with MABS were set up and proper budgets put in place etc. It's not the first time I have helped this person and probably won't be the last but I'm hoping this time was a serious enough wake-up call that they'll get their act together and what I have seen since has done nothing to diminish that hope. I'm not by any means advocating that people use credit to help their families out - everyone should really be responsible for their own financial issues - but in this case, I know I will always do anything I can to help. There are a myriad of reasons and a complicated background so although in general I would be among the first to advise people to be extremely careful in helping family out, and especially would always advise against going into debt to do so, it's one of those situations where I'll never take my own advice and more fool me for it.

So, as things stand, more than a year after I expected to be debt-free, I'm still not. For reasons that many will consider ridiculous and unnecessary but mostly I'm writing this not for those who will think that, but for those who do equally ridiculous and unnecessary things. If even one person, seeing it all laid out in black and white, can relate any of this back to their own behaviour and see where they're going wrong, then laying out my own folly for the world to see is worth it. And I think one of the most important things to remember is that life happens, everyone has their own "damage", their own issues to deal with - doing so, even if it means not always doing what you know is the sensible thing, is fine so long as you don't lose sight of the goal and make sure to get back on track as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I have gotten much better at trying to build up savings so that this year, I fairly consistently managed to maintain a small balance at all times. This was wiped out in August when all of my normal annual bills fell due and what has surprised me and shown me how far I have come, is how uncomfortable I felt for the month of August until I was able to make another deposit into my savings account at the end of the month. Although those expenses were expected and the money had been saved to pay for them, not having that 500 euro always sitting there really, really disturbed me. I'm going to hold on to that feeling and remember it every time in the future that it seems like a good idea to dip into savings for something I don't really need (as has happened too often in the past).  

Hopefully, I will be back in another couple of months with a "debt-free, yippee" post rather than another catalogue of misery!


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## stephnyc

Janet - I have no doubt you will be back here debt free! I have followed your story with interest, and you write so well. I know you have inspired many who needed a kick-up the behind. Dont knock yourself for not being there yet, sometimes life throws you a curve ball or two, but the fact that you are still on the right path is amazing! well done


I find myself mulling over how similar 'spending money you dont have' sounds like other addictions.. the denial, the hiding, the effects on other areas of your life. Do you think people can have a spending addiction?


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## Janet

stephnyc said:


> I find myself mulling over how similar 'spending money you dont have' sounds like other addictions.. the denial, the hiding, the effects on other areas of your life. Do you think people can have a spending addiction?



Retail therapy gone wrong basically.  Yes, there is such a thing and I'm sure it has been well documented. I do, however, think there is some difference between the serious issue of compulsive spending (quite well illustrated in the Stephen Fry documentary about his bipolar, actually) and the kind of negativity, including excessive/unaffordable spending, that debt can bring. There's a difference between spending what you don't have to feed your kids and since you're putting it all on a card thinking to hell with it and getting steak instead of fish fingers for example, and spending what you don't have because you only wear designer socks and don't feel like the two hundred pairs you already have are enough. I'm not a psychologist so can't really say at what point you've moved past that point into compulsive behaviour that really requires help.


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## so-crates

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley

I think Janet, the fact that you got yourself back on an even keel after a year with a lot of unanticipated calls on your pocket is a testament to what you have learnt.


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## dub_nerd

Thanks Janet.


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## Curlysue76

Hi Janet

I am looking forward to reading you're post titled 'debt-free, yipee'. I also lent money to someone close a few years ago. Still haven't got it back, i know now i never will. Real problem is i borrowed the money from my son's saving for college account. I know, it wasn't my money to lend. Lesson learnt. I aim to have it paid back by next spring at the latest. My motto now is never a lender or a borrower be. Saying that, i know if a family member came to me for help with a serious problem i probably would help, if i could. It's very hard for me to say no. I once even took money from my credit card to lend to my sister. Stupid i know. I paid cash advance fee and interest just to give her money because i couldn't say no. 

I will be stronger in the future. I hope. 

Good luck Janet. I know it won't take you long to finish paying of your debt. A lot of people can learn from your experience.


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## Janet

Well, the best laid plans and all that. I just got the call that one of my sisters has killed herself. Somewhat in shock (probably why I'm posting here) and also definitely going to have unplanned for expenses this month so any debt free update won't be until next year at this rate.


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## SarahMc

Janet, I am so so sorry (( )) there are no words.  Please mind yourself.


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## RichInSpirit

Sympathy for your loss Janet.

I was reading your opening post before i saw your last post and you are most inspiring.


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## so-crates

My condolences and heartfelt sympathy on your sad loss Janet.


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## Janet

Thank you everybody. 

I'm over the initial shock and just concentrating on the practicalities now. Am doing my best to keep the costs to what I can pay back immediately when I get paid at the end of the month (and since Avant are raising their interest rates I have absolutely no desire to let this become debt that drags on - I am deliberately putting stuff on that card and will clear it in full straightaway while just making minimum payments on the already existing debt for next month). So far I've booked a one-way flight (don't actually know when funeral will be so it was just easier to get one-way and I'll book the return when I know, probably for Saturday) at a cost of 213, car hire for 155, hotel for the night I arrive 49. A very generous friend has offered to let me stay with her in Inchicore so I'll need the car for getting over to Killiney and ferrying who/whatever needs ferrying while I'm there. Assuming another 200 or so for the return flight and petrol and eating costs if I'm careful it shouldn't go too much above 800. I think I'm kind of hoping that saying that out loud, so to speak, will help me to stick to it.


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## so-crates

The shopping list approach, it certainly helps.


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## Curlysue76

Janet.

So so sad to hear your sad news. Take care of yourself and i know this a money advice forum but i'd say please don't stress too much about money now if at all possible. You have enough to deal with now at this terrible time.


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## amtc

I sympathise most of all - 

- but I have 3 credit cards that I got in the good times (one's work, and one's my own)...but for some reason I have one with a 60k credit limit. People often ask me why I keep it but it's my running away money


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## Black Sheep

To Janet
Deepest sympathy on your loss following a long list of unfortunate personal circumstances. It reminds many of us just how close we can be to simular situations without really realizing it.

Amtc: Your comments on the run away made me smile. On the morning I got married many years ago my dad put a little Post Office savings book in my hand. It contained the savings he had made for me since I was a child. While he didn't actually call it "the run away money" I got the message. Over all the years since my OH would not allow me to spend it on things for the house or children. It is regarded as mine to do as I choose with it. It's not Mega bucks but it's the safety net.


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## Bronte

Janet said:


> My hopefully final setback came in March when a close family member asked for help in clearing ESB arrears as they were about to be cut off. Arrears turned out to be over 1,000 and although many would say I'm a fool for doing it, I paid.
> 
> but in this case, I know I will always do anything I can to help.
> 
> it's one of those situations where I'll never take my own advice and more fool me for it.
> 
> If even one person, seeing it all laid out in black and white, can relate any of this back to their own behaviour and see where they're going wrong, then laying out my own folly for the world to see is worth it.


 
I am that one person Janet, I read the thread yesterday and I'm so sorry for what has happened to you. The day before, on Sunday a close family member asked me for money, and I'm well known on here for always saying neither a borrower nor lender be, and I said yes, and they already owe me money. But I'm glad I said yes and your posts have really helped me on this. I won't go into it and my reasons for doing so, despite having agreed with Mr. Bronte that I wouldn't loan any more money. But he agrees with my decision, due to the circumstances. 

All I can say to you is continue with what you are doing, you are undoubedly a very kind person and I hope that sees you through this unbearable time.  I wish there were more I could do for you than posting on an anonomous website.


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## netz

"All I can say to you is continue with what you are doing, you are undoubedly a very kind person and I hope that sees you through this unbearable time.  I wish there were more I could do for you than posting on an anonomous website."

I totally agree with Bronte on this. I am truly sorry for your loss, and wish you strength and courage through this awful time. May your sister rest peacefully in a different realm.


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## Janet

Janet said:


> Assuming another 200 or so for the return flight and petrol and eating costs if I'm careful it shouldn't go too much above 800.



Hahahahaha. Do we have a "you're so funny" emoticon? Obviously not having had a car for the last few years has distorted my memory of how bloody expensive the things are! Just my return flight was nearly 200 and I spent what felt like a fortune on petrol (when on earth did things get to the stage that a _Corsa_ needs 70 quid to fill it up even when it wasn't even three-quarters empty?), not to mention M50 tolls. Okay, I could have driven other ways but the convenience far outweighed every other consideration given the circumstances.  
Final tally on my credit card was a bit more than 750 but I also ended up spending nearly 400 in cash (perhaps half of which could have been avoided, I suppose) and mobile phone top-ups (from my already overdrawn BoI account). However, I decided that clearing my "new" debt immediately would leave me feeling more like I have stood still than anything else and so have changed my mind on how to tackle this.

I got paid early this month, i.e. yesterday so what I've done is to clear my Mastercard (which was what I used to help someone out with their ESB bill earlier this year). I made a slightly more than minimum payment to my visa and the same to the overdrawn BoI account - firstly to just have paid _something_ but mostly also to round the numbers off. Am I the only person who does that? 

Next month I will clear the visa so that I am left with just one debt. And then we'll see. I had been toying with the idea of a week's holiday somewhere cheap but sunny at christmas and am still torn about that. There's no doubt that I really can't afford it, which should be the end of that thinking. And yet I have a feeling that anything that will help me get through this winter would be a good thing (timing of christmas is because of mandatory two-week holiday from work). At the moment, I'm leaning towards debt-free being a better feeling than Malta in December but am not making any decisions. If I end up clearing my debt in November/December/January it would be great. I might decide that waiting until January/February/March doesn't make that much difference though. A lot might even depend on what kind of winter we start having - snowy and bright or grey and drizzly, big difference between the two. And if the dentist's appointment I have in two weeks brings expensive news then all bets will be off anyway.

Sorry to be boring on about this now but it's helping me work things out and keep my focus so I'm just going to go with boring ye all for now. 

And let's focus on the positive - the visa card has gone back in the drawer and won't be coming out again unless there's another emergency. A few years ago I would have kept spending for another few months before coming back to my senses!


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## Janet

Janet said:


> ... the visa card has gone back in the drawer and won't be coming out again unless there's another emergency.



I should know better than to express a thought like that. After all, some people do call their emergency fund their "Murphy" fund. I had just logged on to check that the payment had gone through on the Mastercard and to enjoy the sight of a zero balance and my glasses fell off. Perfect. Is that ironic? Never sure ever since that Alannis Morrisette song.

It's not a very serious break and might be reparable and/or I can search out my old glasses and use them for a while but I was actually at the eye doctor less than two weeks ago and found out that my prescription, after about 20 years, has changed. I was going to wait until the new year to get them (if I've been wearing the wrong ones for a while now another couple of months won't matter) but maybe this is just a sign from the universe to get it sorted now. Le big sigh.


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## casiopea

Janet said:


> On another thread someone asked:  in response to my post saying
> 
> 
> Since my answer became somewhat long, I decided to split it into this new topic in order to not let that thread get too off-topic.  Hope that's okay with everyone.
> 
> It's actually very easy. And obviously that's something of an oversimplification but it went something like this: starts off with just a few hundred on a credit card (being 'sensible' when I first got a credit card I set the limit at 500 pounds, which was about what I earned per fortnightly paycheck at that time) because you haven't really figured out the whole budgeting thing yet and since everyone is throwing money around like mad you must surely be able to at least go to the supermarket without having to worry about what anything costs. But then you can't pay it off so just make the minimum payments for a while and then the bank ups your limit (they were still allowed to do that at that time) and you think great, pressure is off. But you still can't/don't pay off the balance and over time it creeps up more and more.
> 
> So you think well, I'll get a loan to pay it off ('cos interest is lower and that's what 'sensible' people do but unlike said senisble people you don't chop up the card). So now you're paying a loan with payments that are too high but instead of doing a proper budget and cutting down on expenditure you're finding yourself using the credit card to buy all your groceries. No money left over at all for things like clothes so although you only buy them when absolutely necessary, you end up doing something like going shopping as soon as you get paid just so you can buy a new suit for a job interview and between that and making a loan repayment and making a maybe slightly more than minimum payment on the credit card as well as potentially having cleared any overdraft you might have run up on your current account, there's not a whole lot left over for the rest of the month. So credit card and overdraft come into play again. And then after a year or so of that you decide to consolidate your debts because that's what sensible people do.
> 
> So you get a big loan to cover remaining loan balance, credit card and overdraft and the bank says well why don't we round it up to [nearest thousand] so you have a bit of leeway and a chance to sort yourself out. So you do that, maybe go away for a week to relax but still don't cut up the credit card or cancel the overdraft facility and for a while everything's going according to plan but then you have to move house unexpectedly so there's the cost of deposit, double rent because you have to start paying for the new place before you've finished paying for the old one, hiring a van and buying a fridge because you've moved into an unfurnished place (with second hand furniture donated by a family member). So all of a sudden there's a couple of hundred on the credit card again. But your loan repayments are taking all your spare cash so now that you're also trying to pay off a credit card again you're struggling every month and end up dragging out the card or using the overdraft to pay for a bit here and a bit there. And you feel like you're constantly paying off debt but never getting anywhere.  Don't forget that all the time interest is building up as well.
> 
> And then you decide it's all getting too stressful and it would be just better to get a bigger loan and have one payment so you again go to your nice helpful bank and consolidate your debts, again taking the slightly more than you need that's offered because it'll take the pressure off. And this time the loan is to be paid off over three years. And things go well for a while. But then something else happens and because you have no savings and the loan repayments are taking up most of your spare cash (because you still haven't quite gotten the budgeting thing down, although you're trying a bit at least) it's back to using your money as soon as you get paid and then having to use credit card and overdraft (neither of which have been cancelled) to pay for the basics.
> 
> So it was perhaps two years of careless spending, followed by three or four of trying to get out of debt but not really having a clue, still doing silly things and sort of thinking that it wasn't a big deal anyway because sure everyone else you know is in the same boat. And now six years of properly dealing with my debt and getting a handle on finances (but still by no means perfect).
> 
> When I finally started to really get a handle on finances it was because I was also in a terrible job situation and badly depressed and decided, many years overdue, to go for counselling. That cost 70 euro per session and I needed to make sure I had the money every week - that was for the first few months, after that I changed to a different job with lower pay and could only go every second week but the key difference was that I knew that and made changes to what I was doing with my money based on what I was earning rather than trying to carry on doing the same things with less money. I had been using an excel spreadsheet to 'manage' my budget since the laser card had been introduced as I had ended up in trouble a few times because of transactions not appearing for a few days and me forgetting about them. But it was a really eye-opnener to sit down and start properly managing my money. My previous model had relied on checking my bank account to make sure there was enough money in it whenver a standing order was due to come out and hoping bills wouldn't be too high to pay when I receive them. Now I actually wrote down what my fixed expenses were, including things like rent, bus ticket, an amount for phone and esb and the 70 a week for counselling. And realised that once I'd done all that plus left a bit for making some payments to debt, I only really had, say fifty euro a week leftover to spend on everything else (food, going out, presents, clothes). Plenty to live on perhaps but if you're eating lunch out every day, you'd have already spent more than that, even if it's just a sandwich, packet of crisps and bottle of water. It took me a while but I finally got to the point where I consolidated for a final time and took out a loan for what was by then a very large amount of money, fixed rate this time and no delusions that I would pay it off earlier than the five year term. I never did cut up the credit card but reduced the limit to a small amount and paid it off in full every month.
> 
> All went well, and I even managed to finance a move to Germany. Unfortunately four thousand euro worth of dental work has left me a year behind with being debt free. My loan was cleared late last year and I expect to have cleared the final debt from the dental work by May.
> 
> And that is how spending a small amount more than you earn every week can spiral into more debt than you would have thought possible. A bit of carelessness, a pinch of stupid behaviour, a touch of depression, (not to mention a fervent desire, regardless of how irrational, that the millennium bug will wipe it all out) and, it must be admitted, a smidge of what can only be called an unjustified sense of entitlement (every else goes out to eat every week so I will too, etc.) and all of a sudden the girl who at fourteen was earning five pounds a week working for the family business and still always had money to loan her elder siblings is the one up to her eyes in debt.



Hi Janet,
This is a great post about how debt can happen to any of us.  It should be a sticky.
Im very sorry about your sister.
Cas


----------



## so-crates

Janet said:


> Hahahahaha. Do we have a "you're so funny" emoticon?


Maybe the sarcastic rolleyes fits the bill? Looks like this... 


Janet said:


> Sorry to be boring on about this now but it's helping me work things out and keep my focus so I'm just going to go with boring ye all for now.


Work away, it is telly without the sound and pictures and yet still better than some of the offerings that make it to the airwaves! 



Janet said:


> I should know better than to express a thought like that. After all, some people do call their emergency fund their "Murphy" fund. I had just logged on to check that the payment had gone through on the Mastercard and to enjoy the sight of a zero balance and my glasses fell off. Perfect. Is that ironic? Never sure ever since that Alannis Morrisette song.
> 
> It's not a very serious break and might be reparable and/or I can search out my old glasses and use them for a while but I was actually at the eye doctor less than two weeks ago and found out that my prescription, after about 20 years, has changed. I was going to wait until the new year to get them (if I've been wearing the wrong ones for a while now another couple of months won't matter) but maybe this is just a sign from the universe to get it sorted now. Le big sigh.


Ooops but the universe is right, wearing the wrong prescription is straining your eyes, better to change the glasses.


----------



## Bronte

so-crates said:


> Work away, it is telly without the sound and pictures and yet still better than some of the offerings that make it to the airwaves!
> 
> .


 
That's a good way of putting it.  In any case if boring us helps her though it's something positive all the same.  So far though I'm not bored.  I like when people work things through.


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## Janet

Right then, another payday, another few fleeting seconds of feeling "rich" before all the money gets sent off somewhere else again. 

Have just put through the payment to clear my visa. I also made a payment to my mastercard, which will leave it in credit to the tune of 100 euro. I may travel to Frankfurt at the end of the month (costs around 80) so that money is there if I do and if not, will sit there earning me interest. It's a German mastercard and they work slightly differently here and on my particular card interest is charged from the day of spending, regardless of whether you clear the full balance or not at the end of the month. However, since I can earn interest (at ECB less 0.5% I think it is), even if it's just a small amount, it makes more sense to put the money straight onto the card rather than leaving it in my current account where it earns nothing. 

So, that just leaves me with the overdraft on my BoI account, which currently stands at just about 2,500. 

I did get glasses and managed to keep the cost of that to 95 euro so not too bad. I'm definitely not going away anywhere sunny at christmas but have arranged to house-sit for a friend in Frankfurt over New Year's so will get a bit of a quiet break anyway.

At the moment I plan to clear an small amount of the overdraft in December and otherwise try and enjoy the festive season. I already have a long weekend in Dublin booked for the beginning of the month (around my birthday) but almost everything has already been paid for months ago (flights, hotel, 2 x NCH concerts and a friend is treating me to a flotation session) so I'm going to go ahead with that. Main object is actually to go to the Arts and Crafts fair in the RDS - I've been saving change in a sealed pot all year and am taking whatever is in that to buy myself something nice. The bulk of the overdraft would normally then be cleared by the end of January. 

Unfortunately when I went to the dentist a couple of weeks ago for a check-up I found out that I had a huge cavity underneath an already large filling. So was back to the dentist a couple of days ago and he drilled it all out and tidied it up and put in a disinfectant type temporary filling. He wants to leave it now for a month or so and then he will check if the roots are still alive (they certainly hurt like the devil the last couple of days! Never had electric shock-type toothache before). He thought there was a very good chance that I wouldn't need a root canal but it depends on how it reacts/heals over the next few weeks.  At the very least, I'll need a partial crown. Worst case scenario will be a root canal and full crown, I think. I do have a supplementary dental insurance but am only in the third year of it so only get a limited amount paid out. Will have to wait and see what happens in December, how much the estimate is, how much the health insurance will pay, how much the supplementary insurance will pay and then how much I'll have to fork over myself. A few hundred at least, I assume. So it may be the end of February (barring any other emergencies) before I actaully clear the overdraft. 


Bright side: only one debt left.


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## Janet

Just thought I'd pop in with another update in case anyone is interested. November and December were a bit of a struggle when it came to spending if I'm perfectly honest (the same kind of careless little bit here and little bit there spending that got me in trouble in the first place). The struggle wasn't only with spending really and I suppose also not entirely unexpected. 

At any rate, I took the two weeks off at christmas to start doing things like cooking properly, menu planning and that kind of thing and it went fairly well. Except for a two week wobble due to waking up on New Year's Day with a cold, I've been managing okay as regards spending, eating and general living. Currently that means that I'm not much further along than I was at my last post in October. Still have kept from using the credit cards (or at least paying money on to German mastercard before charging something to it) though and have just the overdraft, which stands at 2,400 today. However, during the last while, some new expenses have come up. Actually, some of them are not so much new as just ones I hadn't really been thinking about. 

I did get new glasses - went to a place called Fielmann, which is a bit like SpecSavers so not too expensive - 95 euro (10 euro of that is for an insurance which means the glass are (nearly) free and you just pay for extras like thin plastic instead of heavy glass - good thing is that the insurance also covers normal stuff like breakage and prescription changes of over 0.5 so if my prescription does change the same amount again within a certain amount of time, I won't have to pay for new lenses).

Then I was found by the television licence people. This charge become compulsory for all households ('cos people like me who don't have a television probably do have a PC and so they made it compulsory) at the beginning of 2013 so I knew I'd get a notification to pay at some stage. I did mean to start putting the 17 euro a month aside but never got around to it so that's straight up a bill for something over 210 euro as well as this year's first quarterly payment due.

I avoided a root canal but had my first appointment to get a partial crown fitted yesterday. Prep work all done and will be back in two weeks to get the crown fitted. Cost is estimated at nearly 700, health insurance will pay 170 and I'm hoping my supplemental dental insurance with cover about 450 but have to get the bill and send it in before I know for sure. So I have budgeted 500 in February to cover the bill but should get most of it back.

My shoes badly needed resoling so I got that done, too. "Only" 40 euro but it is all those things that build up. I have various problem with my feet, wear orthotics and bought really good shoes about a year ago and prefer to pay the costs to have them maintained than try and find well-fitting shoes in an ordinary shop that I throw away after a few months. Unfortunately, yesterday the new sole started to come away from the shoe. I called in for them to fix it and he told me that because the insole was worn away, even fixing it wouldn't hold for long. So that's another 32 euro to get new insoles - they'll be leather though, so should hold for a good while and he kept my orthotics to make sure he can find the spot at which the insole needs to be especially reinforced so hopefully that'll be the end of shoe expenses for the next while.

The bill for my choir weekend at the end of February arrived and I paid that 190 as planned. But February's budget has to include the cost of the train ticket there and a small amount of spending, too. 

My annual subscription to choir (140) falls due at this time, too so that has to be paid. I do have nearly 300 euro in my annual expenses account so could cover it immediately but will wait and pay it at the end of January and not transfer anything to my annual expenses account. So I still have a small buffer. 

I started a course to become certified as a translator in September and the second semester starts in February. I had, of course, signed up but wasn't really thinking about the fact that that would mean fees had to be paid again. So, that's another 320 that needs to be paid. I want to do the exam in October so can't put it off and hope to use the qualification to be able to earn some extra income in future so it seems worth it, even if it means delaying debt pay-off slightly. I got a notification today that the money won't be taken from my account until mid-March, though, so what I had planned to go towards that from February's budget will go to overdraft and I'll move it to March's budget instead.

At the end of January I will plan on paying 400 to my overdraft. Actually, 410, just for the psychological boost of seeing a 1 at the start of the number instead of a 2.  I'm trying to comfort myself with the fact that for the first time in years, for a few minutes each month when I get paid, my net worth isn't a negative figure. I picked up the forms from the tax office today to get started on my tax return. Still waiting on a couple of letters from various places for that but want to have it all ready to go as soon as everything arrives. When I get my refund (last year's was around the 600 mark), that will go straight to overdraft. And I'm waiting on a letter from Vodafone to find out how much they owe me after not having been in touch with them for about 10 years in relation to dividends on the shares I got way back when via the eircom debacle. I'm sure that'll be at least a tenner! With the whole Verizon deal to take account of, too, I may even be close to having another 50 to send to overdraft. 

Generally I'm trying to just get myself together again (and although annoyed that I kind of fell apart a bit I am proud of myself for reining myself back in so quickly) and move on. Without all of the "extras" above, some of which were just due to bad organisation/forgetfulness on my part, I would be clearing about half my overdraft when I get paid at the end of this month. But I know I need to have a balance between life and debt (hey, that's practically a pun! ) and am, if not quite happy, at least content enough for now with how things should play out in February. If no further big expenses or unusual circumstances come up I'm currently hoping for debt-free by May. Time will tell.


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## aamusername

I hope 2014 sees you getting rid of the overdraft Janet.

However, regarding the t.v. licence my understanding is that the broadcasting charge is not coming in until 2015.
See here:

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/...-public-service-broadcasting-charge-1.1507400

Citizen's Information (a government website) says explicitly that you do not need a tv licence if you only watch tv on your computer:
"You do not require a television licence to watch television on your computer or mobile phone. "

[broken link removed]


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## Janet

aamusername said:


> However, regarding the t.v. licence my understanding is that the broadcasting charge is not coming in until 2015.


Thanks for that. I live in Germany now, which means different rules.


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## aamusername

Ah I see.  Pity, I was hoping to save you a few bob!


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## dub_nerd

Great to hear things are still moving in the right direction Janet. Keep us posted.


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## Janet

It's intresting to look back on previous posts and see where I intended to be by now in comparison to where I actually am. It has been a tough enough few months. Financially, I haven't been keeping to as strict a budget as I should have, partly because after years of always making plans but never getting around to doing anything, myself and a small group of other Irish women living here have finally started doing things. So I've spent more than anticipated on nights out (no very expensive ones, sometimes nights in where the only expense is a bottle of wine or two for the group, or my contribution to a meal) but on balance it has been worth it. Of course, my Vodafone/Verizon "windfall" has financed quite a lot of that too.   One thing I also spent money on was an ArtCard - costs 54 euro and gives me free entry to almost all of the museums and art galleries in the area. Hope to make lots of use of that in the coming months - if I use it just once a month I'll already have more than broken even.

We've just gotten paid and I've sent off a big chunk of money to my overdraft. When that goes through, it will stand at 1,200. What's left for me to spend for the month isn't a huge amount but I want to use up the rest of what's in the freezer and jars from last year anyway, so won't really be doing huge amounts of shopping except for milk and cheese I don't think. And with a nice four-day weekend for easter to look forward to, brighter weather and only one or two social outings planned, I'm feeling optimistic enough at the moment. I do need to get my bum in gear and get my tax return done - I was missing another couple of pieces of information so need to chase those and get it submitted. If I could get it in and have my refund issued before June it would be great, as I'm heading to Dublin for a very good friend's wedding and would love to also be celebrating being debt-free at the same time.


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## Buddyboy

Rock on Janet!
you should be rightly proud of yourself.


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## ClubMan

Janet said:


> Of course, my Vodafone/Verizon "windfall" has financed quite a lot of that too.


As mentioned elsewhere it's not a windfall - just a restructuring which involved the repayment of some value to shareholders. You are practically no better/worse off than before as far as the Vodafone shareholding goes.

I don't understand why you did not liquidate the Vodafone shareholding sooner than this anyway to defray some of your debts? Having this investment while being in debt doesn't make a lot of sense.


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## Janet

ClubMan said:


> As mentioned elsewhere it's not a windfall - just a restructuring which involved the repayment of some value to shareholders. You are practically no better/worse off than before as far as the Vodafone shareholding goes.
> 
> I don't understand why you did not liquidate the Vodafone shareholding sooner than this anyway to defray some of your debts? Having this investment while being in debt doesn't make a lot of sense.



Sorry, ClubMan, the inverted commas and cheeky grin emoticon were meant to indicate the joke/sarcasm. I'm fully aware that it was no such thing. As for holding on to the investment while being in debt? Well, I don't think my approx. €55 worth of Vodafone shares were really ever going to help the problems.   Don't be so quick to judge people by your own standards - some of us have spent years working to far, far lower ones.


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## Janet

*Debt-free*

Well, it has been a long time coming but today I got paid again and, by dint of transferring just over half my salary over to my Irish bank account, I not only cleared my overdraft, I've left that account 10 euro in the black!

I'd love to report that I'm feeling ecstatic but I'm not really. I don't think any huge sense of relief will kick in until I can make it through another couple of months with no emergencies so that I can manage to build up some savings. 

Having made a big push to just get rid of the last of the debt, instead of spreading it out over another couple of months, I will be on a very tight budget this month. But it's all doable. I'll have about 20 euro per week (but I have plenty of dried foods on hand so just need to get fresh stuff every week) and in a couple of weeks will get my lunch vouchers from work, which should be about 60 euro's worth, so another 10 or 15 per week that I can spend in the supermarket, cafes etc. I have 200 in my annual savings/travel accounts and will need to use some of that for a couple of things that will be happening but that's okay, my annual expenses account is supposed to be used to pay for annual expenses, after all. Otherwise, I can use my credit card if absolutely necessary and pay it off in full, like a normal person, at the end of the month. Want to keep that to an absolute minimum though. No point in ending up chasing my tail again. Now, if I can just persuade myself to get up early tomorrow to do the hoovering, the weekend will really have gotten off to a great start.


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## hippy1975

Well done Janet, fair play to you, you have continued to battle with clear focus on the goal no matter what life threw at you, well done!!!!


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## dub_nerd

+1. What an encouraging story!


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## sunflower3

Great news. Really enjoy your writing. What you have achieved is fantastic. You should be very proud. 
Onwards and upwards, enjoy the summer!


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## Curlysue76

Hi Janet. Love reading all your posts. Hope is all is well with you now and you are still debt free.


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## Janet

Well, it's almost four years later and just in case there's anyone still around who might be interested in an update, I thought I'd pop in here again. Needless to say, my stretching too much to pay off the final bit of debt was a step too far and it took me a few months more than that to actually get there. But honestly, I'd have to go looking for statements and that to figure out why things went pearshaped and I don't think there was any one thing. It was more that it just took a while for me to get settled, I think. At any rate, I eventually did manage to start saving a bit but I was also spending a bit extra because I was doing a translation course. I passed the exam for that in January 2015, which meant that it was really getting to be time for me to start working on implementing some of the bigger life changes I wanted to. I kind of tried to convince myself that not being in debt and actually starting to save a bit would relieve the pressure enough that I'd be able to manage the stress of work for another year or so and save loads. I realised after a few months, however, that that just wasn't happening. I wasn't going into debt but I really wasn't saving as much as I could as I was doing quite a lot of "make me feel better about work being crap" and "paying for this convenience because I have to time/energy to do it myself because of work" spending. I finally decided that for the sake of my mental health, I needed to just cut my losses and in May of 2015, I handed in my notice.

Of course, with my ridiculous notice period of three months from end of quarter, that still meant working until the end of September. And then allowed myself to be talked into staying just one more month to help with the financial year-end stuff. Anyway, by the time the end of October came round I was more than ready to be done with it all. Unfortunately, November ended up being very busy because I was getting stuff sorted with the unemployment office and also having to go back and forth to the tax office as I needed to change status to be able to take on freelance translating work. And I actually got some translation work so that kept me busy, too. The first time I had a chance to kind of relax was just at the end of November, start of December. I spent three full days in bed, mostly sleeping and when not sleeping I was re-reading Harry Potter. I was just not able to anything more than that. Honestly, if a friend hadn't been coming to visit, I probably would have stayed in bed for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, because I quit my job, I didn't get any unemployment benefit for the first three months. I did have savings to cover my expenses though and got a final bonus payout from my old job, too, as well as a big translation job in January so I actually managed all of that really well. My plan was actually to get temp work straightaway and take my time looking for a job I really wanted to do. Unfortunately, I'm apparently way overqualified to be a temp and it is incredible how many companies that seems to scare off. I will never understand that attitude. Whatever about feeling that employing someone who is overqualified and who may get bored is a bad idea for a long-term job, when it's clear from the outset that the job is only for four weeks, why would you really be concerned about someone getting bored? [/endrant]

Once I started getting unemployment money in February, I thought I may actually get to relax a bit for a few months. Just sending off a few applications a week (which I had been doing since I handed in my notice, albeit being quite choosy about what I applied for) and doing a bit of translation and otherwise enjoying life. I was starting to realise how badly overstressed I had been and how long it was actually taking me to recover from years of it. But in March I had an interview for a great job, at the start of April a second interview and then it was all go packing up my life in Dusseldorf to move to Heidelberg,. And I absolutely did not have enough savings for that. I must have been mad really but it was definitely the right decision to make. Did I mention the job was only a 50% (20hrs/wk) position? And only a two-year contract, with no possibility of extension because of some really silly regulations? And at a university, where secretaries are paid quite a bit less than they are in industry and substantially less than I had been making at old employer. About 45% less (actually because of earning so much less and thus paying less tax, it ended up being only about a 35% reduction for the part-time position).

I did get some money from the unemployment office for the move, I used my credit card more than I should have and I borrowed money from my sister. And then moved to working a job that was paying me just under €1,000 per month net. Rent is €590 and by the time other bills were paid, I didn't have a huge amount leftover for food. Definitely none for saving. But with a few small translation jobs on the side almost every month, I somehow managed to just about keep going and at least keep saving enough to cover annual expenses. But my spending was way down. Partly because I just didn't have anything to spend and couldn't risk using a credit card that I had no means of paying off. Partly because I didn't have a large group of people suggesting we go out all the time. But also largely because I had plenty of time to myself and could spend time shopping (for food) and cooking. That was June 2016 up to March 2017. From April 2017 my hours increased to 75% (30hrs/week) and suddenly things were much easier. Now earning 1,350 net per month, I could easily pay for everything and have enough to save, not only for annual expenses but also to start investing a little bit. And any money coming in from translating could now go straight to paying the remainder of debt from my move. Which I finally managed to do in November. Not only that but I also managed to finally put aside enough to cover the tax bill I'm expecting for tax on my freelance income (return for 2016 was submitted at end 2017 so letter should arrive any day now). While I did try to do this consistently at the time, it just wasn't always possible. Big relief to have caught up on that and I'm now being very careful about always immediately transferring a portion of any freelance income as soon as I receive it.

As my contract was only a two-year contract, I had to start looking around for a new job. Permanent contracts for admin staff at universities are a bit like gold dust these days. I have absolutely loved the job I'm doing and am really sorry to leave it but I had to to the practical thing in the end. An opportunity for a permanent position came up at the end of the summer and although it was earlier than I wanted to start looking I decided to go for it. So for the last four months I have been working 50% at the job I moved here for and 50% at the new job. Starting next week, I'll be moving full-time to the new job. Which I don't like as much as what I moved here for but don't hate as much as my old job. And at least I now have a permanent contract at the uni, so if things become unbearable, I can realistically have a good chance of moving somewhere else. As it turns out, my boss is not going to try for another term at her job and will be leaving at the end of August. So everything may change then anyway, as the new person coming in may decide they want to bring their own secretary with them. I reckon I can hold on until then anyway. I will say, however, that I'm definitely not loving working full-time again and if I can possibly manage to reduce back down to 75% again, I will do so immediately. To make sure I don't get used to the money (now up to €1,750 net per month, a full 70% of what I used to earn net at old job), I'm going to start diverting the extra money to savings from March and will continue to live very well on a 75% wage. And of course I'm still translating on the side as well. That takes up on average 6-10 hours a month but does involve some months of nothing and other months of every day after work and all weekend, too. I need to achieve a better balance with that this year but it is great to have more than one income stream.

For those who like numbers, here is where I currently stand after years of stress and debt:

BoI: 54.00 (I still have an overdraft facility of €3,000 on my BoI current account and would like to have that much in this account and then cancel the overdraft facility. Not the sensible course of action but a bit of a security/"blankie" mental block for me, I think. The sensible thing to do would be to close this not-free account entirely!)
Commerzbank savings a/c: 500.00
ING-DiBa ETF savings plan: 517.81 (50 goes to this plan every month, 1.75 of which is the purchase fee)
ING-DiBa savings account for annual expenses: 600.00
ING-DiBa savings account for travel/holidays: 200.00
ING-DiBa savings account for tax bill/freelance business expenses: 7,400 (more than enough to cover tax bill for 2016 and 2017, and the start of savings to replace laptop, which is five years old and may not last much longer.)

I'm also still contributing 50/month to my private pension. I may increase this a small amount again but with my lower wages, this is almost enough to be taking full advantage of the tax breaks which are the only reason to have this type of pension (a Riesterrente). I haven't checked the numbers for a month or two but I think I had just about reached €44,000 of retirement savings in total last time I checked. Not great for someone who is now 43 (how the hell did that happen!?!) but not the worst either.

And that's that. It has been a long road. And I'm not so far along yet that I don't have an almost constant feeling of dread that everything's going to go to pot again but every month it doesn't, I feel a little bit better. This year will hopefully be the year that finances just tick along nicely with no big surprises and I turn my attention to losing weight and getting fit. If you think my debt story has been a roller-coaster, it is nothing compared to my weight story. But given that this is askabout*money*, I'll spare you that one. 

Greetings to everyone here. I don't get to spend much time around here these days but this website has been such a help to me over the years, I'm really glad it's still going strong.


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## RichInSpirit

Janet there's an author lost in you. You should write a book about your experiences !


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## dub_nerd

Delighted things are still on the straight and narrow, Janet. Hope you are giving yourself a big pat on the back for persevering. As someone who has recently been tackling the weight loss things in similar incremental steps, one problem at a time, let me tell you it's very doable too. All the best.


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## Buddyboy

RichInSpirit said:


> Janet there's an author lost in you. You should write a book about your experiences !


Yeah, a "Self Help" book with a catchy title.  Those are the ones that make the big money!
Along the lines of "I quit my highly stressful job and have a better life". You can too.

Well done, and thanks for the update.


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