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This is part of a series of interviews with people who are either working to improve their financial situation or who have already reached their goals. This week’s interview is with Laura, who writes No More Spending, the diary of a reformed spendaholic.

Could you tell us something about yourself?
I’m in my early forties, married with three children. I work as an Area Manager for a large European Leisure/Retail firm in the UK

In what way have you turned your financial life around? (Or what are you working on changing?)
Since 2003 I’ve been paying down a personal debt mountain of over £45k. I stopped spending cold turkey. I used to live my life on credit cards, but paid them off last year and now never use them. I now keep a spending diary, do a budget every month, live frugally and snowball and snowflake as much as I can off my remaining debt.

Can you give a little bit of background on your story? What were things like for you pre-change?
Before 2003 I was a spendaholic. Simple as that. Shopping was like my escape from daily life. As my salary increased, so did my shopping.

How much progress have you made?
I’ve paid off £28,614 as of September. I still have over £16k to go but hope to be debt free by December 2009.

How do you feel about your financial situation right now? (Or how did you feel after reaching your goal?)
Very positive, as I know I’m in full control of my money now.

What was the catalyst that caused you to take action?
Reading the book ‘Save Karyn’. It’s quite corny really but I was sitting in a hotel room in NY surrounded by shopping bags and started to read the book. I had originally bought it to read on the flight home, but opened it for a quick look and read it all overnight. It really hit home with me. In the morning I returned all the stuff I had bought. When I got home to England I started educating myself about debt repayment.

Did you have any setbacks? If so, how did you deal with them?
No major setbacks really, just the odd bad day. I’ve never really deviated from my goal of paying it all off.

What has been the hardest part of the process?
Learning to have patience!

The easiest?
Making it fun. Finding ways to make extra money has been fun. I visited the Money Saving Expert forums in the UK a lot. On there are loads of ideas to save money.

How long has it taken?
So far 3 years and 7 months

What will be your next step?
Building up my pension and paying off my mortgage.

What’s the best financial advice you’ve received?
Not really financial but connected: Forgive yourself.

What inspiration could you give to someone in a similar situation?
There will be ups and downs, but it’s never too late to improve your financial situation.

Would you like to share your story? If you would like to be interviewed via email for a future article, please email me at c o m m e n t s @bluntmoney.com (without the spaces) to let me know you’re interested.

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