The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

hollibobs_2

Mahoosive congratulations :j

Xx

GreenSaints

[FONT=&quot]a. The date of your lightbulb moment[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]November 2010 – can’t remember the exact date, but I remember crying on the phone to my bank because I had been charged £250 of overdraft fees that month! When they didn’t help me by spreading it out over the following months, I vowed they would never get any fees from me again. And they didn’t *in the air fist pump*[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
b. Debts at their highest[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Couldn’t say exactly – but must have been over £40k. My debts at January 2011 were [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
c. Debt-Free Date[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]25 July 2014 (TODAY!)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
d. Your one perl of wisdom.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Don’t deny yourself everything – it’s a marathon, not a sprint! I still went on holiday aboard, but I did it on a budget (like New York – flights and somewhere to stay for £500 for 11 days!) but you appreciate what you want to spend money on. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I did get some money back from CPP and I used the letter template for that.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
f. Which forum threads helped you[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The 1% challenge run by Miss Uni-Debt, really helped. Cutting down my debt into 1% chunks made it seem easier to tackle.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
g. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I was pretty rubbish at updating my diaries, but here are the links:[/FONT]
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/62624169#Comment_62624169
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/47744599#Comment_47744599

sallyjo_2

Lightbulb moment 2005
Debt at highest about £29k
Debt free date last payday!
Pearl of wisdom - get help, mine was from the CCCS, now stepchange and this forum helped big time. Then change yourself. Acknowledge your role in getting in trouble but don't beat yourself up because you were lured there! Learn to mistrust the banks and credit cards industry. Always respond to creditors in writing never in person or on the phone, keep excellent records, go for full and final discounted settlements whenever you can and keep your eye focused on the day you're free. Also pay yourself first and save. The 52 week savings plan works for me and pays for Christmas. Week 1 save £1, Week 2 save £2 .... You save over £1200 in a year
Thank you all x

Upsidedown_Bear

Congratulations LittleMissKitty, GreenSaints and sallyjo:T:T

sallyjo - don't forget to change your signature as you are now debt free not almost debt free :beer:

gothrockchic1

Congratulatiosn to everyone who became debt free this week :j

tracylou

My debt seems nothing compared to the amounts here, but at the time (1981) it was a lot. We were a young couple with two small children, living from payday to payday, struggling to make ends meet and no savings. With Christmas coming, we decided to get a credit card and before we knew it we had spent £850 of the £1000 limit. I was so shocked I got the scissors and cut the card in bits.
Needless to say, we were now worse off as we had this bill to pay every month. We could only manage the minimum amount most of the time and it took us over three years to finally clear the debt. I swore then that I would never again put myself in that position, and I haven't.
So debt-free since 1984. My children (now in their 30's) are also debt-free as they've heeded my warnings about the pitfalls of having a credit card. I know how quickly debts can mount up and get out of control, especially nowadays with so many credit cards so easily available.

Congratulations to everyone on here, I know it's been hard but well done.

moohound

Congrats to all the newly free, it is a great feeling, enjoy

Karen777

well done to all of you - really inspiring and can't wait to join you!

FlacosFloozie

I made my final credit card payment today and am now debt free!

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
November 2011. I started my diary in December but my LBM came the month before when, having accepted a job with a paycut, working out that we could manage I got a letter from HMRC telling me I owed them too

b. Debts at their highest
Over £17000. I'd already sold a car and payed off 3k when my diary started.

c. Debt-Free Date
31.07.2014

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Allow yourself to live a little. I'd tried and failed before because I took an all or nothing approach... and each time I fell off the wagon I did it in style. Taking it slow and steady and allowing a few treats along the way made it workable.
On, and meal plan. That has stopped me wasting so much money.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
Oddly enough, possibly the savings and mortgage guides helped most as they gave me something positive to aim for.

f. Which forum threads helped you
The old style grocery challenge was a massive help in those first few months. On DFW the Completely Crazy Clothes Challenge and the Extra Payment a Week challenge have been fantastic.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
I do, its not very exciting I'm afraid but here it is
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3681281

A really big thanks to Martin and all the users of this site. I couldn't have done it without you guys :T

Ellieseleven

Well done to you all, such an inspiration and popping on here helps keep me on track.

Good luck to each and everyone of you

Ellie xx