The Debt Free Roll Of Honour
Comments
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Well done Ellie. What an inspiration you are. I am like you were. I read the DF roll of honour all the time hoping I will be able to post here one day, as you are now. Congratulations.
DIA xIf you have built castles in the air, your work should not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Solicitor/survey savings 300/1700
Emergency fund 0/1000
Buffer fund 0/2000 -
Congratulations Ellie, I was looking out for your post on here. Well done.“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
Wiliam Morris0 -
Hi all
Light bulb moment
November 2009
Debt at highest
£42500
Debt free
1st March 2017
Just like to say big,big thank you too stepchange for all their work to getting me debt free, getting the credit card companies to freeze interest,,,and big thank you of course goes to this site,not a big poster, more of a browser,but thanks anyway0 -
Light bulb moment
March 2006
Debt at highest
£6,000
Debt free
April 2008
One pearl of wisdom
Check your finances regularly and set up a budget using a spreadsheet where you can see and reduce / eliminate non essential spends.
My debt was not huge, but it was enough for me to do something about it before it got well out of hand.Saved Nitty Gritty £7440.75 [149%] / £5000-[Sep] £58.44:starmod: for the 'Save 12k in 2017' #157
2017 Womble #35 £3463.27 Sept NSDs 4/15:staradminCCCChl 9/12 months:DSept PPChl#002 Pts 710 -
In August 2014 whilst on holiday I could not draw cash . I later found that two DD repayments to two credit cards had bounced before that i always paid. I put that right as soon as I could. In September I realised I could not be sure of any more 0% balance transfers to help survival and I had found that valuation of a property I rented out would not leave enough to clear the mortgage and unsecured debts. if I sold it income would reduce and I would be left with debts i could not repay. Things looked pretty bleak. I contacted StepChange and DebtHelpPlan. I prepared budgets and submitted them . My unsecured debts were £49,000 including personal loans and overdrafts. A shock! Repayment was impossible in my lifetime and I was concerned I would leave debts as an inheritance to my children. Debt Resolution(?) or Settlement companies required a monthly payment and the first would pay off debts in 5 years with no fee, the second in 3 years with a 15% fee. Both would destroy my credit rating but as the aim was to be debt free and not borrow again then a credit rating would be of no value. I reasoned that somebody must fund Stepchange and I guessed it must be the banks. also they did not guarantee the result. I chose DHP because they said their agreements had legal backing. Someone suggested the Stepchange was paid a fee by the creditors. My lightbulb moment would be October 9th 2014 when I decided i had to do this as the risks to my own wellbeing and financial status outweighed the risk of doing it. On one day I transferred all income to one account and cancelled all Direct Debits for repayment to credit cards and loans and set up DD payments for essentials from another account but stopped using the one with a large overdraft. That bank reinstated direct debits to itself and charged penalty fees. The first small personal loan settled first at about 33% and others followed. some appointed Debt Collectors or sold the debts on .I sent any letters or referred phone calls to DHP. They were tough and I followed suit . When I sold the rented house in March 2016 I was able to pay a lump sum into the DHP account and by June 2016 I was debt free. I retained two credit cards, always pay them off and neither want nor need credit from anyone. I am now over 75 and so I could do this. I would not recommend what i have done to younger people people but anyone as desperate as I was who can say I will never get into debt again. Go for it.
DHP were very good , not least in their confidence,
My one pearl of wisdom is recognise that you're not dealing with individuals, the Money Machine must lend to you to make more money.
That is its weakness, yours is to be fool enough to borrow .
MSE helped by outlining the different approaches to dealing with
debt and the wannabe forum was helpful to show I was not alone though I saw negative postings about DHP that discouraged me from any DFW debt diary.0 -
Light bulb moment
March 2014
Debt at highest
£12,000 (Divorce Loan)
Debt free
March 2017
One pearl of wisdom
Give yourself a break! Rome wasn't built in a day and you will go up and down as life dictates. But have a goal and a focus and use a tool!! I used YNAB and it's the best thing I ever did to get free! It focused my mind and let me see exactly where I was spending money! I also started to budget for yearly or adhoc payments and it makes it so much easier to make a payment when the money has been built up over the year, rather than having to find it a particular month.
Thank you to everyone in MSE since 2006 who have guided, advised and inspired me!2024 Challenges- Grocery Budget (January £0/£300)
- Decluttering (Underway!)
- Frugal Living (January £0/£500
- 24 in 2024 (0/24)
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a. The date of your lightbulb moment
I would say I've had multiple, as my debts have gone up and down over the last ten years - but I've never zero'd my balances, so I think the previous ones were false alarms. But this one was September 2016, and I think the light is actually on this time!
b. Debts at their highest
A few years ago now, £7k on credit cards
c. Debt-Free Date
28 March 2017
d. Your one pearl of wisdom
Understand why you are where you are. What did you spend the money on that you didn't have; and why.
e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
MSE energy club is a good one, but any time I've needed to spend a penny (not as in the old saying!), I've consulted MSE guides and news first
f. Which forum threads helped you
DFW, not posted a huge amount but have taken strength from others in my position - we're British and don't talk about debt, so even though I'm sure I know people with debt, I don't know it! I made the final push this year on "pay off all your debt by Christmas" - a thank you to muppets for hosting! I also enjoy Old Style, following a couple of top tips a week on there saves a few quid here and there, and now I've paid off the CC a month early
g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
Nope, only signed up here to post this yearDebt free as of 28/03/2017 (just don't ask about the mortgage :rotfl:)
Lover of sewing and biscuits, hater of traffic jams and credit cards
3-6 Month Emergency Fund Challenge #78 £0/£5,6700 -
Light bulb moment
March 2016 - realised the only way out if debt was to dispose if the only asset I had that could help, my house!
Debt at highest
£40,000+ on credit cards and loans (excluding a £50k second charge on my house that was the initial deposit for the house).
Debt free
March 2017
One pearl of wisdom
dont fool yourself about being in control!!! Plus everything said by everyone in this forum.
It was only shear good luck that I had a way out of debt!!
Regards
Mailman0 -
I can't quite believe that I'm writing this. It has seemed so far away for so long.
Light bulb moment : August 2009 , I was in a dire situation and had no assets. The only option I had was to enter a DMP with Step Change, this started in October 2009.
Debt at highest : £21,750 on credit cards, store cards and an unsecured loan.
Debt free date : 20th March 2017
Pearl of wisdom : Debt is not the end of the world, but you need to face up to it and the sooner you can do that the better. Use a free debt charity like Step Change and never feel ashamed of your situation. You are not the first and you won't be the last. Use the advise on this forum it's invaluable.
Good luck to anyone still on their Debt fee journey.March 2017 - Debt Free- cleared £21,750
On a mission to repair my credit rating & own my own home0 -
Light bulb moment - January 2010
Highest debt level - £10,000
Free at last 2017
Wisdom to share - Debt Relief Orders is a good place to start it worked for me, just remember it will be hard or near impossible to get any sort of credit for 6 years and in a good way it helps you to plan & budget the income you have. (and I did not have much after my hours of work were cut) Over this period I should note I did not even attempt to get credit however I did think of joining the credit union - I have just got my first credit card in 6 years with a £200 limit to build up my credit score and for emergencies I spent £14.00 on it and cleared the balance in full on the first statement and it felt good lol
MSE help - I did most of the ground work for my DRO myself, before I joined MSE and completed it with the National Debt Line - MSE helped by joining the energy club to save money on bills, the weekly email to find savings if needed and the credit club for the free credit score/report (Thanks MSE)
Now me and my partner are a little better off than we ever have been even though I was diagnosed with a life long illness just 2 years ago, I am now self employed working just a little every week cleaning windows and my partner works full time and very hard.
Savings - £1500:beer:
Bills - all paid on time and some even in credit:T (keep your bills as low as poss)
Small bus trip holiday paid for in August :j
And one night sleep over in Sheffield this week to see Russell Howard:rotfl:
You can be debt free it just takes time!!!0
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