11 years a slave - end of my journey from £103,500 in debt

Thank you everyone for your kind words . This whole forum has been an inspiration for me.

I think 'tenacity...willpower...determination' were pretty key, and although my route wouldn't suit everyone it was what I felt I had to do, no excuses, no free passes, purely for the sake of my own sense of closure.

It hasn't really sunk in yet, and I suspect it won't fully until a couple of months have passed and I can see my bank balance beginning to build. The hard work is not over yet though - I am still very conscious of my own expensive tastes and I'll have to keep up the hard self-discipline to avoid slipping into bad habits - even if it is with my money and not someone else's. Then again, a bit of hard discipline can be a good thing :eek:

As for what's next, hmmmmm. There are a couple of big, life-changing things that I want to save for, and on top of that I will be hopefully thinking about a mortgage in the next year or so, so I'm just going to roll straight into the next part of the routine. YNAB will still be my best friend, and now that I am in clear air I feel more determined than ever to do it all properly this time.

I am also acutely aware that I am not totally home and dry - I am at break even point, and very conscious that life can change in an instant, so the next step will be to keep on the current monthly plan for a bit and build an emergency pot as quickly as possible. I am aiming for £5K by the end of April, and £10K by the end of July, which is achievable if I commit to it. I am also extremely fortunate that my latest job involves some travel to some awesome places, which does help mitigate any sudden urge to splurge.

The last nine months of the DMP were the worst as the end was so near and my impatience was so great! The next four months will be the same until I've hit that 5K cushion, but then I'll breathe a bit easier and will probably relax my budget a little. And I'll definitely try to hang around here more to offer any help I can to others who are facing that lake, and holding that teaspoon.