I got into £12k worth of debt trying to keep up with the Joneses – I even bought a swish new car to show off on Insta
A WOMAN has revealed how she ended up £12k in debt trying to make her life look Insta-perfect.
Thankfully Sarah Bartlett, 37, managed to curb her crippling spending addiction and paid back the last penny in October last year.
The HR advisor got into trouble by splashing out way more than she earned on her £28k-a-year salary – at one time juggling eight credit cards.
Sarah would treat herself to theatre trips, clothes and designer handbags and iPhones – and even a brand-new car.
But when her mortgage doubled in 2021 she lost track of her finances and found herself struggling to keep up with payments.
Sarah, from Bristol, decided then to take action and started accounting for every penny.
She also went for counselling and now, 23 months later, she is debt-free.
Money makeover
In this exclusive interview, Sarah says: “I still can’t quite believe it if I’m honest – it’s hard to put into words.
“It’s a weight off my shoulders and I’ve now found more pride in talking about the experience and how it can support other people.
“You can get through and I’m proof you can. The last payment was completely surreal.
“I had gone to the bank to do it – it felt weird, the sun was shining, it was a lovely day so I went for a walk and FaceTimed my parents to tell them.
“It was also around the time of my birthday and I had plans to go for dinner with my boyfriend and we toasted to being debt-free – it was really nice.”
Sarah adopted saving measures including zero-based budgeting and cash-stuffing.
And, in an effort to remain debt-free, she has continued these measures.
She said: “I did zero-based budgeting which was about allocating every single penny when I got paid.
“I also did cash-stuffing, where I take out £200 a month and I decide where I want that £200 to go within these different envelopes.
“I still do both of these things to make sure I’m not over-spending.
“Instead of the money going towards debt now, it’s going towards savings.”
Downward spiral
Sarah’s spiral into debt began in 2015 when she treated herself to an £11k car, which she paid for with a 0% interest card.
While paying back that money she became enticed by transfer fees – and would move money from card to card.
And she kept spending so the total debt never got smaller – instead, it got bigger.
Sarah said: “I took the credit card out with a money transfer and £11,000 went into my bank account which then paid for the car.
“I’d pay off that credit card with another and just kept following the 0% deals that I could find.
“It felt like I was paying off the car but I managed to pay stuff off but then I’d buy more stuff so it turned into a cycle and the balance just hovered around £12k.
I presented an ‘Instagrammable image’ that I’d created for this lifestyle and that I had to keep up
Sarah Bartlett
“I’ve always been a person who loves to spend money.
“I presented an ‘Instagrammable image’ that I’d created for this lifestyle and that I had to keep up.
“I wanted to feel part of a group, too.
“I would make the minimum payments every month, but I felt I could buy something now and worry about it tomorrow.”
New habits
Now debt-free, Sarah is working to ensure she doesn’t slip back into old habits.
She said: “January sales was a time where I had to have a chat with myself and reign it back in a bit.
“I went to the shops with some Christmas money and went a bit overboard so I returned some things.
“I think it’s something I’m always going to have to be aware of but the experience I’ve had is helping to ground me a bit more.
“I’ll always be a self-confessed shopaholic but now it’s the shift from ‘buy now pay later’ to actually using money I’ve saved to buy something.
“It makes those things feel more special – I met up in London with two other budgeting content creators in person and we’d all saved up to do that and it was really nice.”
Supporting others
Sarah is also keen to emphasise the support she had throughout her debt-clearing journey.
She added: “As part of the journey I was gifted £500 from someone on TikTok – it was from a will and they didn’t need it so they wanted to support me.
“I wanted to pass that gesture on to someone else eventually and last month I was able to do that.
“Gifting that £500 to another small content creator to help with some of their small debts.
“It felt nicer doing that than when I would buy new clothes.”