How overspending by a small amount on a regular basis spiralled into serious debt.
- Thread starter Janet
- Start date
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. 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.
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.
sunflower3
Registered User
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- 6
Great news. Really enjoy your writing. What you have achieved is fantastic. You should be very proud.
Onwards and upwards, enjoy the summer!
Onwards and upwards, enjoy the summer!
Curlysue76
Registered User
- Messages
- 20
Hi Janet. Love reading all your posts. Hope is all is well with you now and you are still debt free.
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 askaboutmoney, 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.
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 askaboutmoney, 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.
Last edited:
RichInSpirit
Registered User
- Messages
- 1,185
Janet there's an author lost in you. You should write a book about your experiences !
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.
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.