The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Time_to_face_the_music

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

a. The date of your lightbulb moment -10th April 2010. As part of a relationship breakup we informally agreed my ex would pay a joint loan of £374.01 per month; DOH mistake! Through a downturn in employment he was unable to maintain this so as I was jointly liable it fell to me to pay it all. I tried to ‘manage’ it for a year but the additional amount and the inevitable interest spiral and rate jacking made the situation untenable. I called First Direct my ‘loyal’ bank of 20 years who the loan was with and who I had track record of accounts and mortgage with no missed payments to find a consolidation loan – it was declined and for my honesty they then pulled the rug, withdrew my overdraft and visa. I was appalled by this action at the time but actually it’s done me a big favour. So thank you very much, you will never get a penny interest out of me again!

b. Debts at their highest - £59 214 which I have paid back in full plus the £5871 interest that was applied during the DMP totally £65 085. I had 12 creditors. I had read about DMPs etc but always thought it was for other people and my situation was different! Debt is debt and great leveller, I have learnt so much over the past four years. The anonymous debt remedy Stepchange tool gave me confidence to seek help. I will always be grateful for that. I applied on line on the 11th and the agreement was with me on the 12th! Eventually due to unequal treatment from creditors I decided to go self-managed as Stepchange were unable to help with interest reductions. All debts stayed with the original creditors, no DCAs. Acquired four defaults and plenty of Arrangements to Pay on my credit file over the duration of the DMP. It’s a nuisance but not totally restrictive and I have recently remortgaged my home as there was more positive than negative history on the file.

c. Debt-Free Date -26th August 2014. Phew!

d. Your one perl of wisdom.-Daily update on my spreadsheets, to record, measure, plan, reflect, dream and acknowledge achievements. Unwittingly I developed visualisations skills. I’m no whizz with spreadsheets, I don’t use formulas etc, really just used as a way to easily display the information.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you- Martin’s debt problems board that explained the spiral issue and the links to CCCS/Stepchange.

f. Which forum threads helped you – DMP and Paddlers support threads.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4988866
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3284382
Grateful to anyone who contributed on the boards but special thanks to my twin, Ms TTFTM, Eyeopener and Teds who have kept me going with PMs over the past few years. Also thanks to Angel Fermi and the MSE admin for the work put into keeping the threads ticking over. Everyone has something to offer to other readers whether it is practical advice or emotional support - please keep it going.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
No diary but regular contributor to the above threads.


Thank you all and good luck to everyone


HHx

Twin, I couldn't be happier if it was my own DFD and thanks to you, that will come a lot sooner than first predicted! :j

Congratulations from the bottom of my heart :T

TTFTM xx

Ellieseleven

So happy for you HH, ditto what TTFTM said, I couldn't feel happier if it was me xx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Thank you for all the well wishes and good luck to those waiting to cross the finishing line.

HHx

Hopefuljoy

Hello, I have only just seen this and would love a sticker! I'm a teacher and live in a world of reward stickers, even though it's a secondary school!

Lbm was on 2 April 2014. I realised I had developed really back spending and borrowing habits and was in danger of never getting on top of it. As I am a depression prone person I need to maintain an even keel and my debt was helping erode my well being.

Debts at highest, 14000 as a combination of loan and cc and overdraft

Debt free date, 2 June 2014. Instead of blowing redundancy I paid off the debt having been making minimum payments. I had been tempted to keep the debt and splurge the money.

Pearl of wisdom. Read the mental health and debt booklet at the top of this page if it applies. Go on the money management course with cap.org.uk!! I can't recommend it highly enough and it has totally changed the way I look at and organise my money.

Mse threads. Greying Pilgrim has a wonderful thread on the debt free wannabes board. A lovely legend!!

Hopefuljoy

Ps, now going to convert mortgage to repayment and overpay to get it gone by my 58 birthday in 2024! Then I can retire seven years early!

MSE is a great addiction!

sandycheeks

The date of your lightbulb moment
2008 - took ages to get the nerve to see how much I actually owed and always too scared to check bank balance!!!

Debts at their highest
£9K

Debt-Free Date
29/08/2013

Your one pearl of wisdom.
If you see something you really want at that moment DO NOT BUY IT go home and think hard - do you need it, what for and unless it in an absolute life saving essential it is not necessary. Make Ebay/Amazon/Primark/Matalan/Aldi/Lidl your best friends fantastic bargain friends they will save you so much - I promise you that!!! I love the competition forum my gratefully received wins have carried me through Christmas and Birthdays

Which forum threads helped you
NinjaSavingKat was an inspiration!!!

Kimlock

You guys are such an inspiration to me. Well done!

Cinny91

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

I've been yo-yoing with debt for years, I never had a light-bulb moment as I always knew debt wasn't something I really wanted. But I had the patience of a toddler and always wanted everything immediately, and with 0% finance.. why save? But when my debt totaled higher than ever at the start of this year, I knew I had to knuckle down and just grow up.

b. Debts at their highest

£3150.52 in January.

c. Debt-Free Date

6th of September 2014. For good this time!

d. Your one perl of wisdom.

I don't feel fulled qualified to answer this, as I really did wrestle with it for what felt like forever. And always came back with my tail between my legs But! I guess my little nugget of infomation would be to budget every penny, and (as I'm doing now) keep on budgeting after the debt has vanished.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

Not so much MSE guides, but the weekly email did help with little boosts in terms of vouchers and freebies.

f. Which forum threads helped you

On the most part, it was all the lovely ladies on Dinah93's Ultimate Thread Always good to have some chummies on the same wave length as you.

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

The very very very last one is here

Former_MSE_Andrea

Huge congrats Cinny91!

Former_MSE_Andrea

If you're reading this and have been Debt-free for a while please join our "Debt-free No Longer Wannabes - What they did next" discussion to tell us what you've been up to.