Debt-Free Wannabee Book Suggestions

James240

i think MS_Londons example of how she got herself out of debt is a must for a case study as she has inspired sooooo many people on this board including myself

ozzyfan_2

I agree James, ms_london's posts inspired me too when I first found my way here along with everybody who has successfully become debt free since. So I'd love to see lots of success stories in the book to inspire others & agree wholeheartedly with the case studies & SOA ideas mentioned already & all the other ideas too.

This thread by funkymonkey (thanks funky!) is one of my favourites, so many ideas on there so I thought I would give it a mention

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=222414

So excited about the book, what a brilliant idea & so pleased to think that so many people will benefit from it :j

southernscouser

James240 wrote:

i think MS_Londons example of how she got herself out of debt is a must for a case study as she has inspired sooooo many people on this board including myself

Maybe she'd do a little update from Oz? :think:

Like a '1 year since being debt free memoir' or something!

themaccas

I think finding a 'community' like this forum or close friend to confide in is essential. Trying to clear a debt is like running a marathon, you may have to do a bit of training adjusting to a new budget, start to live within your means, then you start to pay it back - full of enthusiasm and fired up. But you need to keep working at it, it's a long tough journey, plenty of stop/starts along the way but on this forum there are plenty cheering and supporting you on. Sooner or later you hit the wall when you feel it's never going to end and temptations to stop and spend and go back to your old ways are all around, however you just need to keep focused to the end the prize of being debt free is what we are all aspiring to achieve.

jessicamb

I would definitely recommend the importance of a spending diary.

Snaggles

Ooh, ooh, please include some of the jaw-dropping suggestions from the 'Extreme Money Saving' thread - my very VERY favourite was:

'Change your phone number to a premium rate 0891 number.

When the DCAs call, you'll get cashback!' :rotfl:

(posted originally by freeclimber)

lazy&indebt

In my opinion (just my opinion) I don't think that a 'seeing the funny side' of it but be the best idea....I know it's important not to get yourselves swamped with it all and being constantly derpessed but if you make too much light of the situation, it sends out an impression that it's not really a big deal to owe that much - I think a sense of camaraderie is more important.

I would also suggest doing something on the extremely detailed excel spreadsheets (not necessarily an EXCEL record of your finances if you don't own a PC) and all the different sections. I have about 5 tabs on mine all filled with all sorts of information and a line graph

jessicamb

What about something like the 'top ten ways to quickly cut back'.

Like the ones we always zone in on in an SOA (well I do anyway)

Switch Sky to Freeview
Meal Planning to cut food bills
Sell all your worldy goods on ebay

that sort of thing...

Maybe a poll to determine the most moneysaving??

jessicamb

I'm on a roll now...

What about different sections for different things - like the original book had three different sections, maybe one for people just wanting to cut back on their expenditure, one for smaller debt payoffs and a section for those with relatively large debts where you would cover bankruptcy etc.

Snaggles

I like that idea jessicamb - when you first start out it's all so daunting, and finding a few quick and easy ways to cut back helps to get you into the right mindset straight away, which makes you feel like you are wrestling back your control over your finances and starting to make progress.