There wasn’t a dramatic moment.
No bailiffs at the door. No final demand landing on the mat. No life-changing revelation while staring at a sunset.
It was actually much less exciting than that.
I looked at the numbers.
And the numbers weren’t good.
At the time I was carrying almost £50,000 of debt. Some of it had built up gradually over years. Some of it came from decisions that made sense at the time and looked less sensible in hindsight. Some of it was simply the result of life not going quite as planned.
The exact reasons matter less than the reality.
I owed nearly £50,000.
The bigger problem wasn’t the amount itself. It was the feeling that I’d become stuck.
Every month I would get paid.
Every month money would leave my account.
And despite working hard, despite doing all the things I thought I was supposed to do, I couldn’t see a realistic route to getting ahead.
I wasn’t building towards anything.
I was treading water.
If you’ve ever been in debt, you’ll know that it occupies space in your head. Even when you’re not actively thinking about it, it’s there in the background.
A bill arrives.
It’s there.
Your car needs repairs.
It’s there.
Someone mentions buying a house.
It’s definitely there.
For a long time I did what a lot of people do. I tried not to think about it too much.
The problem with that strategy is that debt doesn’t disappear simply because you stop looking at it.
Eventually I reached the point where I realised that something had to change.
Not next month.
Not next year.
Now.
The uncomfortable truth was that if I carried on doing exactly what I’d always done, I was likely to get exactly what I’d always got.
Progress would be slow.
Home ownership felt distant.
Financial freedom felt even further away.
I needed a different plan.
At the time, I considered a lot of options.
Some sensible.
Some less sensible.
One of those options was moving into a van.
Now, before you imagine beautiful sunsets, mountain lakes and a carefully curated social media lifestyle, let’s be clear about something.
I didn’t move into a van because I thought it would be glamorous.
I moved into a van because I was looking for a way out.
The van wasn’t the destination.
It was a tool.
A way of reducing my expenses dramatically and giving myself a chance to tackle the debt properly.
At the time it felt like a huge decision.
Looking back, it probably was.
But the bigger risk wasn’t moving into a van.
The bigger risk was doing nothing.
This blog exists because of that decision.
It’s not a guide to getting rich.
It’s not financial advice.
It’s simply the story of one person trying to move from nearly £50,000 of debt towards a more secure future.
There will be victories.
There will be mistakes.
There will almost certainly be unexpected expenses and at least one occasion where I convince myself that buying something online was an excellent idea right up until it arrives.
The goal is simple.
Debt.
Van.
Home.
The destination is clear.
The route is still being worked out.
If you’d like to follow along, you’re very welcome.
Just don’t expect a quick journey.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s that worthwhile things rarely happen overnight.
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