How I Paid Off £34,000 in Consumer Debt: My Debt-Free Journey and Repayment Plan

11 days ago

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In this blog, A Financielle community member (that wishes to remain anonymous) shares her personal story of her journey to debt freedom.

What’s your relationship with money been like over the past few years and how did you find yourself in consumer debt?

I’ve been building up consumer debt for a few years; I take responsibility and say it happened because of a combination of no financial literacy and poor decision making. But it was also made much, much worse by poor mental health and being stuck in survival mode for many years. I discovered the Financielle app a few years ago but I hadn’t been properly following the Financielle playbook until just a few months ago.

Can you remember the moment or trigger that made you say enough was enough?

I used to think I was ‘good with money’ because I had a few thousand pounds in savings. Looking back, I really had no idea how I should manage savings or what it meant to actually stick to a budget. In 2018 I quit my job and started a Master’s degree and quickly realised that I didn’t have enough to support myself for the length of my course. To fill in the gaps I opened my first credit card and took out a bank loan. My mental health struggles also started around this time, and I began to rely on credit for everyday expenses. I had about £8,000 in debt before I got another full-time job.

How do you plan to pay off your debt and do you have a debt free date?

Since late 2024 I have been using the snowball method to repay my debts. When I started tracking everything I had 2 credit cards, 2 bank loans, 2 ‘loans’ from friends/family, and a £200 overdraft which I was paying fees on every single day. The total was just over £34,600, which was (and still is) much more than my yearly salary. Now I have 1 bank loan, 1 credit card (which I haven’t spent on in over a year) and 1 agreement with a family member to pay back money lent in monthly installments.

If I’ve done my maths right (and there’s a very high chance I haven’t!) I should be debt-free in December 2027 or sooner. Either way, I have promised myself that I will not acquire any new debt. No. Matter What!

What is keeping you motivated on your journey?

FREEDOM. I pay about £900 a month towards my debts; I find it really frustrating that all of that money could’ve been going towards more worthwhile things, like a house deposit. I can’t go back and change my financial past, but I can move forward knowing that I will be able to save money incredibly quickly when I have an excess of hundreds of pounds a month.

What’s been the hardest habit to change?

The impulse to ‘deal with it later’. This manifested in lots of ways, from putting ‘one more thing’ on a credit card or abandoning my budget part-way through the month because I felt guilty about a purchase. I know now that I don’t need to be ‘perfect’ every month, but I do need to be proactive and not bury my head in the sand.

What part of the Financielle platform has helped you?

Goal and debt repayment trackers, and the podcast!! I listen to the podcast whenever I can feel myself slipping back into old habits, like agreeing to events or holidays I can’t afford. Seeing how much progress I’ve already made on my goals in the app is helpful as it is so easy to forget how far I’ve already come.

What advice could you give to other people wanting to start their debt free journey?

Start now. Take the first step and try to keep moving forward even when it gets hard. The progress becomes addictive. If you feel like giving up, ask for help. I made progress much more quickly once I told a few trusted people about my situation. They suggested things I never would have thought of and are gracious when I say no to things because ‘that’s not in my budget!’. Also, be kind to yourself. I know I have made some financial mistakes, but beating myself up now isn’t going to help me. Instead, I think about the progress I have made, promise myself I’m never going back, and remember my ‘Debt Free Budget’ – my plan for my income when it’s not tied up in debt repayments.