My spending was out of control until I made easy change everyone can do – it helped me pay off £9k debt on £9k salary

Scottish Sun

21 hours ago

DEBT CHANGE My spending was out of control until I made easy change everyone can do – it helped me pay off £9k debt on £9k salary
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OPENING her credit card statements Jo Beevers feels sick.
She knew she had a problem with impulsive spending but she had never faced up to it, until now.
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Jo Beevers, 46, got her spending under control with an easy trick anyone can do
The 46-year-old, who lives near Chester, had always been in debt and was stuck in a constant cycle of doing 0% balance transfers.
But going from a full-time job as an medical conditions and injury rehabilitation manager in a gym earning £30,000 to a working as a registrar 16 hours a week earning £9,000, Jo had no option but to stop hiding from it all and gain control.
Jo said: 'I had £9,099.82 of credit card and overdraft debt and when I looked at where that money had been going, I felt ashamed.
'My spending was reckless because the money didn't feel real and I treated shopping like a hobby even though I was skint.'
In 2018 Jo's "you only live once" outlook on money saw her buy a Volkswagen Up! for £9,000 while her husband, who works in IT, was away.
And after a boozy lunch popped into Boots and spent £300 on perfumes she didn't need.
Amazon parcels turned up every day and she even had a monthly delivery of two bottles of champagne from its Subscribe and Save service.
Jo said: "It was ridiculous. If I had to hand over £80 in cash for two bottles of champagne every month I wouldn't have done it.
'But because it all went on the credit card, I didn't think about it. I knew I was bad but I could always justify my spending."
Done with feeling guilty, stressed and worried about her mounting debt Jo stuffed her credit cards in a drawer and was ruthless in cancelling everything that was non-essential.
I racked up £15k debt - here's how I paid it off as a single mum
Then, she made one major change, at the beginning of every month she physically took out the remaining money after bills and groceries.
Jo created a tracker and, in the beginning, divided the cash into different envelopes but it wasn't as easy as she thought and became overwhelmed.
Jo said: 'I made loads of mistakes in the first three months by thinking the money could go further than it did.
'I created too many envelopes and the money couldn't stretch as far as I wanted it to.'
Giving up temporarily, Jo worked through the overwhelm of emotions and prioritised where her money should be going and got herself back on track.
She said: "Holding the money changed how I thought about it, it made it feel real.
'I had sections for debt, achievable savings goals and for non-essential spending.
"Once I'd figured it out it was easy. It's so visual, it works for my mind.'
Determined to pay off her debt and to keep on track, Jo created fun trackers to gamify her savings and to keep her motivated.
She shared her journey on social media as @Cashbudgetbee and her trackers caught the eye of her followers.
Stumbling on another way of topping up her part-time income, Jo began selling them on Etsy which has made £2,000 in the last 12 months.
Jo said: 'I never thought it possible to find a way of making some extra money from my own debt clearing journey.
'But it made me feel normal to know that there were other people out there just like me.'
Staying motivated was hard that's why she made the videos to share with her followers.
When Jo hit a milestone, she popped into M&S and bought some champagne to treat herself, but a £22 one instead of a £40 bottle.
But it can be a slippery slope, and the entrepreneurial mum, had to reign herself in.
She said: 'It starts with one thing and then you're going back into old habits. And you go, 'Oh no I'm not debt free yet.''
Eighteen months on and Jo made her final payment on her credit card and if that wasn't enough, she also went into Christmas 2024 with money saved.
She said: 'Being debt free is amazing, I'm the happiest I've ever been. Having money to spend at Christmas, rather than relying on credit cards was a great feeling.'
But while she's riding high on clearing her debts, Jo doesn't feel like she can relax her new routine.
She said: 'It really does worry me that I'll slip back as I've got 30 years-worth of spending habits to break.
'I've noticed some of my old shopping habits are sneaking back in. On Valentine's Day I didn't put anything in the budget as we hadn't planned anything.
'Then the day before I was online and putting all sorts in my basket, thankfully I was able to recognise what I was doing and stopped. All I can do is to keep trying.'
Jo is giving herself new challenges to keep the momentum going and recently created an e-book sharing her own journey which she's already made £180 from.