The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

determined_new_ms · 25 June 2013 at 11:24PM

Candy0107 wrote: »

Hi all,

Well, I am finally able to post on this thread (there was a time I never thought this would happen :rotfl:)

Light bulb moment - March 2006

Debts at highest - around £23,000

DFD - 25th June 2013 (date stepchange pay the creditors)

Pearl of wisdom - there are a couple...
Check your banking daily

Make a payment a day (even if it is 50p)

Drop a brand in beauty products

I used to have basic beauty days (economy shower gel, shampoo and deodorant)

Cut down on the number of nights out you have.....yes you may only spent £20 a week, but that is £80 at the end of the month

There is no shame in getting help with your debts

Set up a spreadsheet or a list of your bills and tick them off as they go from your account

Believe in yourself that you can pay off the debts

A massive thank you to everyone on the dfw board who have listened to my rants and answered any questions I may have had

Now to treat myself then start saving

Take care all
Candy x

Absolutely amazing Candy :T:T enjoy you've earned it x

yellowcrocus · 28 June 2013 at 9:52AM

LBM: August 2009

Total Debt: 30443.90

Debt Free Date: Today!!!

Pearl of Wisdom...just stick at it. It often feels like your DF day will never come but it does come around quicker than you think. Give yourself a goal to work towards and keep plodding on...you'll get there!:T

antonic · 1 July 2013 at 11:07AM

LBM Moment : August 2005 when I realised my minimum credit card payments where more than I could pay AND pay my other bills

Debts at their highest : £24000.00 (approx)

Debt Free Date : Last payment made 3rd June 2013, but not claiming till today, 1st July 2013 as I have today received written confirmation from 2 of my 3 Credit Card creditors of NIL balances, I am assuming my CC is NIL and my (former) overdraft is also NIL.

Pearl of Wisdom : If you have a vice like smoking or drinking try to give it up as you will save LOTS of money - about 20 months ago I went AF - the £80/month I saved made a lot of difference to me !. (and my budget !).

MSE Guides : - All of them !

Forum Threads : this one : http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4437925 DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9 ( and Part 8 before this one)

The giving - up alcohol thread here as well : http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4409761

Thanks for everyone`s support over the last 20 months I have really appreciated it !.

Deep_In_Debt · 1 July 2013 at 7:28PM

Lightbulb moment: January 2008
Debt at highest: 31k
Debt free date: Today!!!

Pearl of wisdom: There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Ride the storm to start with - my first year was a bit of a roller coaster with doorstep visits, letters and constant phone calls. I learnt to deal with these after a while with the help from here. I hadn't received a phone call from a creditor since October 2008 so ignoring them and paying what you can afford, does work eventually. I also managed my budget well enough that I could put a little bit aside each month even if it was just £10.00 until I had enough to pay off smaller debts along the way. Although the amount I owed didn't seem to go down, it was satisfying one less creditor each time.

I'm now £600 a month better off. I've been really unhappy in my job for the last couple of years and hate the long commute and the expense but stuck at it as the money was good and enabled me to clear my debts within 5 years rather than the 9 years originally predicted.

EDIT: So I'm going to be looking for a job locally now and can afford to take a drop in salary now and have a bit of a life!

What's even better that I received a letter today saying that I had overpaid one of my creditors by £273 and to call them to arrange how I want the payment. Lovely knowing a former creditor now owes me money!

sparky0107 · 2 July 2013 at 10:55AM

Lightbulb moment: December 2009, although I did fall off the wagon due to cut backs in work and dropping to single shift working, which threw the budget out of the window

Debts at highest: £18000, credit card debt managed to scrape this down to £9492.02 up to July 2011, when luckily work picked up

Debt-Free Date: 20th January 2012

Pearl of wisdom: Joined SPC in it's second year, got some great tips off people regarding, snowballing, which told me in July 2011, I would be debt free in 36 months (July 2014). Also quidco has been a god send along with consumerpulse & some of the survey sites. Also the advice to check your bank accounts every day, I've not paid a single bank charge since joining the MSE site, so Thank You Martin for setting it up. Also a great big Thank You to everyone who contributes to this site with their wisdom and help, I couldn't have done it without you.

Luck enough for me, work started booming & I've done 12 hour days 7 days a week for the last 6 months (had about 21 days off in that time) so the overtime has helped me to pay off all my debt, I've also booked a week in New York for the end of February, paid cash! Where I'm going to tell my lovely wife that we are debt free.

So once again. Thank You one and all for the help & support.

I know I've posted before, I'm hoping badger will see this and award me a badge for my signature

fermi · 5 July 2013 at 10:07AM

As odd as it may seem, it's now my turn to post on this.

While the bulk of my debt was taken care of in 2006 via a BR, I was left with a fair bit of arrears on student loans that I could not re-defer and remained payable in full immediately. (As opposed to the deferrable remainder)

Until they were cleared I couldn't really regard myself as "debt free" in sense of DFW and this thread. I have been gradually whittling them down since.

However, as of Tues 02/06/2013 they are finally cleared. :j

So.......

Date of LBM: Approx June 2006.

Debts at their highest: Somewhere around £45K

Debt free date: 02/06/2013

Pearl of wisdom: No debt problems are unsolvable. It might not be easy or quick, but there's always a route.

(borrowed that one, but it is the truest thing I have ever seen posted here)

Forum threads that helped: Too many to count, but the people on BR board and DFW as a whole helped more than any individual thread.

Anything else? Don't ever give up believing you can be debt free.

So that is it. That is me done.

Hopelessly_Hopeful · 5 July 2013 at 10:15AM

fermi wrote: »

As odd as it may seem, it's now my turn to post on this.

While the bulk of my debt was taken care of in 2006 via a BR, I was left with a fair bit of arrears on student loans that I could not re-defer and remained payable in full immediately. (As opposed to the deferrable remainder)

Until they were cleared I couldn't really regard myself as "debt free" in sense of DFW and this thread. I have been gradually whittling them down since.

However, as of Tues 02/06/2013 they are finally cleared. :j

So.......

Date of LBM: Approx June 2006.

Debts at their highest: Somewhere around £45K

Debt free date: 02/06/2013

Pearl of wisdom: No debt problems are unsolvable. It might not be easy or quick, but there's always a route.

(borrowed that one, but it is the truest thing I have ever seen posted here)

Forum threads that helped: Too many to count, but the people on BR board and DFW as a whole helped more than any individual thread.

Anything else? Don't ever give up believing you can be debt free.

So that is it. That is me done.

Very well done Fermi. So pleased for you. An extra special thanks to you for your support and input on the boards too.

What's the pan for your DF future?

Warm wishes

HHx

Find_The_Real · 5 July 2013 at 11:06AM

Well done Femi on becoming DF. You have been an inspiration and a source of help to everyone on the board, which we all thank you for. Best wishes on your DF future.

Well done to everyone else as well that has recently become DF and good luck to you all.

wannabee_in_credit · 5 July 2013 at 1:13PM

Massive congratulations to you Fermi.

eyeopener2 · 5 July 2013 at 3:12PM

Awww, Fermi that's ace. Nice one. We would be a poorer place without your wisdom and matter of factedness.

The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

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