The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

uncreative

Just noticed this thread and wanted to share my story.

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

On and off but the disasterous mortgage application and discussion with a broker in December 2014 showed the full gravity of our situation.

b. Debts at their highest

£38,000 - eek!

c. Debt-Free Date

17 January 2015

d. Your one pearl of wisdom

Learn how to budget PROPERLY. i.e. start with what you have got and work it out from there, month by month. Take each month as it comes. Learn the difference between WANT and NEED. its all a balancing act - if you need to spend, for example, another £12 on trousers for school uniforms then it has to come out of somewhere else, like turn down a brand for one weeks shopping or skip a night out. Dont just add to your debt because its very easy to justify most of the purchases you make.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

I really embraced the old school board - We did a cupboard and freezer stock count and it lasted us almost 2 weeks - we saved about £100 from that alone.

f. Which forum threads helped you

Too many to count - Old School, DFW, YNAB, Bank and budgeting

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

No diary personally but got a lot of inspiration, and still do checking in on others.


The single biggest turnaround in our lives, and something that has made us stronger as a couple is that you have to work together on the finances, it is a part of your marriage or partnership like any other. Feeling in control of the finances is a brilliant feeling and has definitely tangibly improved our relationship and overall happiness.

The_Only_Girl

I am so happy and proud to declare my family and I DEBT FREE as of 27/07/2015! :j:j:j

Light bulb moment - 2009

Debts at their highest - we started feeling helpless and sleepless in 2009 when our debt was about £30,000. We asked Payplan to help us with our journey and with some interests incurred, we paid a total amount of £49046.24

Pearls of wisdom

1. Budget, budget, budget. Give every penny a name. "If you don't tell your money where tong you will look up wondering where it went." (Quoted from Dave Ramsey). Stick to the budget and track your spending,

2. Live within your means. Prioritise, scrutinise and improvise if budget says no to a particular spending.

3. Surround yourself with people who will encourage, motivate and inspire you. It's better to be strange and financially free than to be cool and broke. "Iron sharpens iron."

4. Never stop learning.

12_month_challenge

Hi The only girl and congratulations to you. :beer:

I am so pleased for you and love to read stories like yours.

I am just starting out on my long journey but reading posts like yours proves that is possible and achievable.

It gives me an incentive to keep going

Did you snowball your debts?

Very well done to you and enjoy your debt freedom

The_Only_Girl

12_month_challenge wrote: »

Hi The only girl and congratulations to you. :beer:

I am so pleased for you and love to read stories like yours.

I am just starting out on my long journey but reading posts like yours proves that is possible and achievable.

It gives me an incentive to keep going

Did you snowball your debts?

Very well done to you and enjoy your debt freedom

Hello and thank you, 12mc. I felt the same when I discovered the forums here on MSE. Reading other forumites' success stories gave us encouragement that debt freedom is achievable. My hubby and I didn't know about MSE, the forum, Budgetting. snowballing and resources on finances eg Dave Ramsey etc. until the last 4 or 5 months of our journey. We took the DMP route with Payplan and without sounding ungrateful to them because they have been great to us, we wish we had discovered all of the above when we had our light bulb moment. We probably could have done it much faster and without much damage to our credit history. Having said that, I believe it probably happened for a reason and albeit slowly, we did make it to the finish line for which we are eternally grateful. Now here's to the next leg of the journey, which is to remain debt free and pay off the mortgage early.

12_month_challenge

Thank you the only girl

It seems impossible when you start out but I am constantly reading other peoples successes to spur me on.

I've had ups and downs but am so determined to do it.

I keep looking at your signature and thinking WOW

Very well done to you

xxxJOJOxxx

Lightbulb moment: June 2014

Debt at highest: £4500

Debt-Free Date: 5th September 2015

Pearl of wisdom: Never give up, no matter how impossible or how hard things seam. Keep chipping away and your get there. Reducing and changing habits really does make a difference!


Whoo Hoo! Ive finally done it!

The_Only_Girl

xxxJOJOxxx wrote: »

Lightbulb moment: June 2014

Debt at highest: £4500

Debt-Free Date: 5th September 2015

Pearl of wisdom: Never give up, no matter how impossible or how hard things seam. Keep chipping away and your get there. Reducing and changing habits really does make a difference!


Whoo Hoo! Ive finally done it!

Congratulations on being debt-free JoJo. That's a massive achievement. Here's to staying debt-free! :T:T:T

fredtheguava

I'm finally joining the roll of honour!

My lightbulb moment came in January 2012. I had been tackling bits and bobs over the years before that, after getting into debt while on a year abroad for university in 2004.

My debts at their highest were around £10,000. But I had a terrible habit of clearing all the CC debt and immediately filling one or both back up. Literally immediately! I suspect I have paid around double that in 'debt' in the last ten years.

My debt free date was 28/08/2015 when I paid off the extras I had been sneaking onto the grocery card over the summer holiday.

My pearl of wisdom is to give yourself pocket money! There will always be something you want for no other reason than you want it, or an invitation to go for coffee. I have a set amount that I get out in cash each payday, and keep each week's in a mini expanding file until the appropriate week. I realised quickly that sometimes bigger expenses come up, like needing work clothes or a train ticket, so I also have a standing order to a separate account that can cover these.

My MSE links were mostly other people's Debt Free Diaries! I stole ideas, cheered inside when others had a breakthrough, and knew that there was an end in sight no matter how hopeless it felt sometimes!

My debt free diary was updated very rarely, and for a short period... But I was regularly reading MSE even when I wasn't posting.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3753599

I AM DEBT FREE!!!!

12_month_challenge

Congratulations Fred and very well done to you.

Enjoy your freedom :beer:

kerryallc71

debt free date today!!

lightbulb moment - may 2010

highest amount in debt - £46,742.00 :eek:

debt free date - final payment to stepchange - 10-09-15 :rotfl::beer::D:)

pearl of wisdom

make sure you budget for everything , everything , prepare for the unexpected , don't spend what you have not got - if you cannot afford it don't get it , wait for things to be reduced in price , never pay top price and use discount codes if they are available , think long and hard about everything and good-luck , its gonna be difficult but you can do it .. xx :A:T