Another year and another year with no debt. It has now been 5 years for me with incurring long term debt. I have credit cards and use them a lot but I always pay them off in full every month. The reason I use them is to continue to build a credit history in a new country (England).

In 2010, I was $65,000 in the hole and had a credit score of 375. When I moved out of the USA, my debt was gone and my credit score was 710. Sadly, none of that mattered in Europe. It is an entirely different system so what I did in America meant nothing.

So I set out new goals that I wanted to fully reach in three years. Why three years? With that time frame, for credit purposes, I could obtain high risk credit cards and I did – four of them in fact. And I use them frequently.

I also started implementing procedures I used in America. Like never using loose change or $1 bills. In England, there is no such thing as a £1 note. They are coins. So the only money in my wallet are £5 and a £10 notes and once in a blue moon a £20 note. At the end of the day, any loose change I have acquired goes into a sack for deposit into my savings account. I usually bring it to the bank twice a year. Last month I brought it in and deposited £492.37 into savings.

This year with Covid-19 I wasn’t sure if I would meet my yearly goals. But I came closer than I thought I would. I was furloughed from my job for six weeks, but I received 100% of my paycheck for that whole time. Amazingly, during those six weeks, I even got a £1.10 ($1.50) pay raise, plus the stimulus check of $1,200 from America.

Since my first year living here (2016) I have tried to save £11,000. I was successful for the first three years, but fell short this year £427.45. The reason for trying to save is we hope to buy a house boat very soon. In fact, we were hoping to do it in 2020 but Covid changed our plans.

We will live on it part time until I entirely retire in the next year or two, then move aboard full time and cruise the canals of England.

If this seems like I’m bragging, I’m not. I wrote this to share with you that you can get out of debt with a plan and determination. I’ve never worked at a high paying job, nor I have I inherited money, or received life insurance from the death of a loved one. One paycheck at a time… one day at a time.

It can be done. If you are in debt there are two ways to get out of it. Increase income or decrease expenses. I had my success by decreasing expenses. At first, it was pure will power that made it work, now it is just part of my everyday life and what I thought I’d miss ended up being just frivolous spending trying to find happiness with material things.

Anyway, Happy New Year… filled with peace and prosperity