I feel that justifies my delayed return to posting. Sorry! If you are going to keep a blog, you need to do blog posts, it's not hard Veronica!!! #MUSTTRYHARDER
Where have I been?
Mr Mars and I sold everything and upped and travelled across America. We then finished the trip with a flight to New Zealand where we currently reside in a pokey wee flat. GOD I MISS THE LODGE HOUSE. I often think of it, but this is super cosy so that makes me feel better.
Debt Free
Well, onto the big news. Mr Mars and I used the last of our savings and a tax refund to clear our remaining credit card. Tah-dah! We are Debt Free. We were getting bad at organising the funds/debt back in the UK so had to focus on getting it cleared. Went into our overdraft twice because of it. So annoying...
You would think I would feel this huge sense of relief but I feel nothing. It is weird. I think it is because I have been in debt for as long as I can remember and I was debt free once before and I racked it all up again, so I just don't quite believe it.
I/We have had different scales of debt. I refer to them as my "crazy debt days". University was an overdraft and a small credit card and student loans. I should have saw the signs then, others would go for coffee but bring in their own sandwiches etc as they had a balance. I would try to do it all, buy my lunch, and coffee and go on the nights out. On a students wage. There was no beans on toast in my student days. Only Mastercard.
This continued to employment, where again, I had no balance. I wanted it. I got it. From a coffee and pastry every morning to a £150 jacket. NO was never an option with Mastercard.
I had a job but threat of redundancy was and has always been there. In 2010 people were let go in my team twice within one year and there was redundancies every year since. Every. Year. It was not a nice time, especially when you realise that if you are made redundant, you have zero savings and very large amount of debt (approx 16k). A week or two of no salary and the Veronica Mars house of debt would have came tumbling down like a giant game of Jenga.
I was close to the land of Debt Free in 2011 but thinking I was nearly clear and in control meant I slipped back to my old ways and bought some new clothes and started eating out loads and wracked up another 4k of debt. Just like that. Before I knew it, another 4k of debt. Mr Mars then proposed to me and we started to get our life into order, continue to clear the debt, but pay for a wedding and honeymoon without adding to the debt.
We had been struggling with some accommodation and moved into a lovely house that cost much more each month in rent but it gave us the biggest sense of relief. You should be able to relax in your own home and that is not something we could do in our previous flats. I called it The Lodge House :) The flog and chaos lifted and with an upcoming wedding and honeymoon Mr Mars and I started getting our life into order.
Fast forward to the present day. As we start a new chapter in our life, I have a new financial focus of getting enough savings as a deposit on a home when we return to the UK.
I badly want a home to truly call my own but I am happy to wait until Mr Mars and I have a good solid deposit and a forever home. I've moved enough and I've travelled a lot. I'm coming to the point where I am ready to settle down. My sisters ring tone for me is the Littlest Hobo theme tune....
That's all folks!
xoxo
