The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

We are so happy to be celebrating your debt-freeness with you cottage_retreatist.

Huge congratulations from everyone at MSE Towers!!

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

We are so happy to be celebrating your debt-freeness with you cottage_retreatist.

Huge congratulations from everyone at MSE Towers!!

thank you!!!! :beer::beer::beer::beer:

:money:

:jWooohoooo :j


I am now debt free and it's a great feeling.


LBM July 2012


£8,910


DFD 26 May 2015


'Be proud of small steps, they will get you where you want to be'


What Small Debt Free Wannabe thing have you done today thread - brilliantly supportive place


Now need to try and save £5k for savings fund and £6.5k for caravan, so we can caravan our family all over the beautiful west country.


Am really proud of myself and now will continue with the thrifty attitude and be much more thoughtful with our money.


:beer:

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

It would've been late 2012/early 2013.

b. Debts at their highest

£6,000, give or take a few quid, consisting of an overlimit credit card I was at serious risk of defaulting, a student account with a maxed out £2,000 overdraft and a current account that was regularly at or in excess of its overdraft limit. That won't seem much to some people who've had much harder journeys than me, but that represented a huge figure to someone who was just out of uni and struggling to get more than part time work, and still represents almost a third of my salary now. It's depressing thinking what I could do with £6,000. Never mind the interest I've paid on top of that!

c. Debt-Free Date

June 11th 2015.

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

The biggest change I had was the revelation that my overdraft limit was not my zero balance, when my account was at £0 was my zero balance. That might sound trite and daft but it was a huge psychological change. It came around roughly at the same time I stopped smoking - suddenly I had far more disposable income and I noticed that instead of basically putting my debit card into an ATM or card machine in the week before payday and keeping my fingers crossed that my card wouldn't decline, instead my account wasn't even going overdrawn! And the change in mindset was massive, the old me would have just looked at that £500 as frivolous spending money. Now, I get nervous when my current account balance dips below £200!

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

Probably http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/pay-off-debts. Putting the theory into practice is the tricky bit!

f. Which forum threads helped you

Pay off all your debt by Christmas 2014 and the 2015 version. Once I was in a well paying job, it really helped me to focus and almost compete to pay off my debt as quickly as possible. In March last year I had the opportunity to consolidate my existing debt into a personal loan which cut the interest rate on my debts by over half and I posted a thread asking for advice. While a lot of people advised against it (advice I ignored!), I was grateful for the tales of caution that people posted.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it

Didn't commit to doing that.

I' am very pleased to announce that I am at long last......

DEBT FREE:j

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

About two years ago. I was 39 at the time and wanted to plan a special big 4-oh for close friends and family. No problem there as I had been saving for it for a year, but in amongst my planning notes was another note I had made about 10 years ago with rough calculations for having purchased my first home and worked out then that it would take me until I was 40 to do it!! I then realised that I had gotten waaaay off track and actually into more debt in the meantime. The brown stuff just got real and it was time to get serious.

b. Debts at their highest

£5,000 originally, but with cowboy DMan companies adding their fees it spiralled out of control and within 6 months of 7 different debts being passed round to a new company each month it grew to £15,000. If the CAB put a stop on one company, they simply sold it on to another. Months of hell!

c. Debt-Free Date

April 28th 2015 and a fully clear credit record the day after. Had one DMan company left chasing me but I took great pleasure in writing to them to point out that what they were chasing me for was settled back in 2009 and was in fact now statute barred since then.

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

-Don't get into a panic, it won't solve anything (but you are allowed a really good cry, that helps release the stress).

-Do get into action. Start little and often, but START. Take it one day at a time and one issue at a time. Unless the need it more urgent.

-Its always better to self-restrict than have others impose those restrictions on you. Tighten your belt till you feel like you're wearing a corset then loosen it one notch. It's survivable and totally worth it when you get to the other end. Those who care about you will understand and those who don't were probably expensive.

-start getting into the habit of always asking for a receipt. Treat your finances like you would if you had an expenses account at work and had to account for all your spending. Print off your statement at the end of the month and tick the receipts against entries. You'll find loads of stuff you've missed as well as ways to make savings. You'll also see what you're really spending your money on and can decide if it should be budgeted for or cut.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

Anything that will apply to your situation works. I'd start with the budget planner and copies of your bank, credit card and loan statements first. You can lie to your creditors but not to yourself once you see those figures. You can't tackle the mountain till you can see what it is exactly you're up against.

f. Which forum threads helped you

In the beginning it was the ones covering the debt chasers and how to understand what your rights were and what letters to write. Knowing I wasn't the only one in the same boat helped a lot.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it

Didn't have one.