My debt free story

davidjwest

Great post David - I'm in the same position you were a few years ago and I've decided to start writing a blog to describe the "journey" to debt-freedom. Hopefully it will be as inspiring as your story, when I reach my goal!

Percy1983

Great story and glad to see it can be sustained, its can be very easy to go back to your old habits and run it all up again.

It made me smile with your phone call to mint as I have just recently cancelled my card with them and they did the same with offers etc and I hit them with a simple but effective line "I don't need you anymore"

Much like you I have never missed a payment etc. The biggest thing I actually watch is interest paid every month, that motivates me more than total amount and hopefully this month will lead to one last shuffle and everything will be 0% which will be a great feeling for me.

Another thing I am happy about is it has taught me things about budgeting and generally thinking about spending and essentially transformed me from a spender to a saver.

I will be there soon and many more will there with me, its such may be a long journey but we all learn from it.

Margaret_Douglas

Hello David
I came across your story whilst desperately looking for any way out of my own debt. Your story is just what I needed to read, it has given me the boast I needed to just keep on, keeping on. Unlike you, I have other committments that keep distracting me from sticking to my 'budget plan' (Kids). But I'm going to stop using that as my excuse and dig my heals in deeper, because it is them that will benefit the most, when I am debt free.
Thank you so much for your story!

Marg.

ms_london

Hi David

As others have mentioned, don't feel like you are gloating - you have done really well, and posts like this are motivating to the many others who are struggling and see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Well done xx

roberts516

Hi David,
Was feeling abit low but then read your message.Ive just started on my long debt free journey but I am determined to be debt free .You are right it is a living hell but since Ive have decided to take control I can now at least eat,sleep and basically function. Ive managed to nearly clear my overdraft £95 left to pay and determined to clear that tomorrow.Cleared my bank loan arrears and they are being helpfull, I also cleared my Halifax cc arrears. And that is just in the last month. So feel im getting there even if I have to live of beans for a month !It is all thanks to this site and all the helpful people. So three of my debts are back on tract. I only have MBNA to tackle and get them to reduce their ridicules interest rates, they charging £150 pm interest alone. So Im going to bombard them with letters and phone calls and see how they like it !! ha ha Thanks again David I can now see myself debt free and feel more positive

dancingwedger

I love your story and hope one day in the future i'll be able to write my own. Congratulations and all the very best.

'namiles', I am really looking forward to treating myself to a small shopping spree, not one of those I shouldn't really be buying this dress for £40, convincing myself that if I whack it on the credit card it equates to £10 a month for 4 months. - this is exactly what I (did) do, i can't believe it, hilarious!

fssjt

I to wanted to say I found your story uplifting.

brokemedic

I just wanted to say Thank you for sharing your story and I didn't think it was gloating at all. Personally I enjoy reading these stories as it spurs me on. I also haven't told anyone about my debt and my efforts to pay it off so sometimes it can get lonely especially when people around me continue to spend in the manner that I used to. That's when I find coming onto this virtual community an absolute godsend and incredibly motivating as well. So Thank-you once again and I hope you are enjoying that debt-free feeling.:T:T

brenda10

David,
That is brilliant. 5 years ago I became ill and could not work any longer through stress and had to leave my £32,000 year job. My husband was a manual worker earning just over £12,000 a year and life was hell. We had debts of 60,000 on a mortgage and the life insurance would not cover my husband after aged 65 years. That was 5 years ago and he is now 58yrs old. I never recovered and life has been hard but I enjoy the challenge of shopping and haggling. I enjoy Tescos marmalade at 28p and Lidls brown loaf at 58p. I haggle for house insurance, car insurance etc and have managed to scrimp and save and now have £22,000 saved and the mortgage at Christmas 2010 will be £41,500. I have tried to overpay £100 each month. I have my savings in the highest interest easy access accounts. The reason I have got started was MARTINS MONEYTIPS suggestions for cash back websites, savings accounts and so much more. I could not start to thank Martin as he has saved us from loosing our home. I put in a wood burning stove and as we have turf here in Ireland we worked the turf and that is such a cheap fuel. I only boil one cup of water when making tea, there is no wasting and we have survived. I am hoping my husband and I both live to have our debts paid off by his 60th Birthday April 2012. I have managed to get started and cut the costs. I will never go back to being wasteful and not checking prices etc. I recently needed 4 tyres for our 12 year old car and got 4 german second hand ones fitted for the all in price of £60, they are used on the German police cars for a certain amount of miles and then changed. The cheapest tyres I could have got new were £32 each. I am proud of my achievements and my husband works hard and there is LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL and hopefully we will come out the other side stronger people.
Martins money Tips has changed my life and allowed us to survive and not SINK.
Thanks for all the wonderful stories on this site because they are truly inspirational and encourage you to keep on going and most of all thank you Martin!
CassieXxX:money::T

Billy-no-Money

Survivor_of_debt: just wanted to say thanks for your inspiration - I've a long way to go and sometimes it feels never-ending but thanks to my obsessive spreadsheets and charts I can look back at where I've been and forward to where I'm going. I've done all the shuffling of debt to minimise interest rates, paid off the smaller debts like my overdraft, now it's just a long grind - and often I'll sit looking at spreadsheets somehow expecting the numbers to change by themselves!

I can't wait to log on here and say I've paid it all off - I'll get there in the end.