The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

do_it_today!

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - November 2006
b. Debts at their highest - £12,280
c. Debt-Free Date - 28th January 2008
d. Your one pearl of wisdom - accept that you wont pay it all off overnight and just keep chipping away at it
my little diary is called debt free and then what ??!?!??!
Good luck!

nomoneytoday

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - 2004

b. Debts at their highest - £21,500

c. Debt-Free Date - 22 December 2007

d. Your one pearl of wisdom: It's harder to pay off a debt than to spend it in the first place :eek:

e. No diary, but paid £500-£900 a month off the loans, got within a whisker in 2006, but then house emergencies added £4000 more, and the last £1000 took "ages" to clear...

Queenie79

I had been avoiding paying of my debts for years, just seeing it as too big a mountain to climb. This was until i got a new job which i made be my turning point.

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - Sept 2006 :A

b. Debts at their highest - £12,000 :mad:
c. Debt-Free Date - 25 April 2008 (nearly there!!) :j

d. Your one pearl of wisdom: If you spend money on clothes, drink and general personal activities - pay by cash, if you use a credit card you won't know how much you are spending! :rolleyes:

e. I kept a spreadsheet tracking all my money and set it up so I could see the impact spending now had on my money in 6 months i.e. the impact that £10 now had in the future. This made me think before i spent! I also kept a positive online diary tracking how much money i was paying off each month, using nice large green ticks to make me feel positive! It may sound anal - but it worked!!

It's not easy paying off your debts at first but it's well worth it. Getting serious and motivated to do something about my debt and sorting it out has changed my life and although at times it seemed hard, my husband provided me with moral support to keep me going. I'm so much happier now than i've ever been and am looking forward to saving!!
I wish everyone else the best of luck!!!:beer:

Engadine

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - September 2002

b. Debts at their highest - £13,500

c. Debt free date - 31 January 2008:j

d. Your one pearl of wisdom - keep going! It is hard going but stick with it and it will get easier. It is also much much harder to pay it off than it ever was to spend it.

e. No diary

Good luck to everyone who is currently on the road to becoming debt free, you can and will do it!

pinkpink_2

A) Light bulb moment december 2007
Debts at there highest £17345
C) Debt free Feb 2008 remotgaged house as it was tiny and even with increase have over £500 per month cash in pocket.

pearl of wisdom cut up those cards. talk to someone who will not judge but hold you up in moments of weakness. and if you stumble start again.

for fisrt time in 3 years have got cash money in bank and in pocket no longer have to pay for basics on those dreaded cards. no more praying they will be accepted.

good luck to everyone on their journey. we'll all hold you up.

xx

hplfoghorn

Lightbulb moment: March 2006
Debts at their heighest: £43,469.92 :eek:

Debt free & proud: 29/01/07 :beer: :j :T

Pearls of wisdom:
1)Pull your head out of the sand NOW!!!!
2)Keep a spreadsheet of everything & check it weekly if not daily.
3)Be loud & Proud of every £ you save yourself

In March 2006, I was sat in my office & my little brother came to tell me he was off to buy his 3rd (yes 3rd) house! I burst into tears that I would never move out of my crappy one bed flat! I felt so releaved to tell someone in the family, even though they are all fab with money (never a lender or borrower be types). I was so scared of telling dad that I asked little bro to do it for me. I was pleasently surprised that I was not seriously told off & disowened as I imagined I'd be (but that is how you feel). form my "confession" moment I stopped grinding my teeth as I had shared the problem. I picked up any extra shift I possibly could at the temping agency I work for (as a permenant employee not just a temp) and ended up working for about 6months without a day off. In Jan 2007 I went back to then bank & showed them I had earnt ( as a temp, so extra money) £6,000 since March & they decided that they would put the rest in the mortgage. I still work at least 2 weekends a month & often more, but I have savings & can treat myself now. I am soooooooooooooooooooo proud of myself & if I really start feeling down, I just look at what I have done for myself & it makes me fell warm & fuzzy.

Well done to Everyone who knows how much they owe 7 is working on it!:T :T :T :T :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j

cantcope

Lightbulb moment - May 06
Debt at highest : £16569
Debt free date: TODAY 25th February 2008
Pearl of wisdom??..Keep a spending diary and make yourself a chart so you can see the debt going down at a glance

Remember everything you learnt when you were in debt and take it with you to protect yourself from getting there again.

Thanks to everyone. I never thought i'd see this day.

kizzykizzywizzy

Well todays the day I am finally debt free:j the last time I was debt free was 1991 :eek:

Lightbulb moment Feb 2007
Debt at Highest £20,000
Debt free 27th March 2008

1. If you are going to be debt free, you have to be dedicated, it gets easier honest!! The odd treat is ok, but you MUST get back on track.
2. Write down everything you spend, so you don't have any nasty surprises.
3. Make do with what you have - clothes etc, you don't really need as much as you think
4. Cook from scratch, freeze meals, plan your meals around what's on offer or in the reduced aisle.
5. Keep coming onto this site for tips & ideas, such as Quidco, free bingo sites etc.
6. Don't give up, it can be hard, but you will get there in the end.

The first £8,000 was paid off by scrimping, my Husband going away to work for weeks on end, months even for higher wages, but seeing no benefit from this as all extra used to pay off debts, no takeaways, used 0% cards to transfer balances from higher cards & at Xmas didn't by anything without thoroughly checking I couldn't get it cheaper somewhere else.
The last £12,000 was luckily paid by cashing in an ISA, that I had been paying nearly £100 a month into, thinking I had to have it as I arranged it when I got my mortgage doh:doh:

Thanks Martin for this wonderful site & thanks to everyone on here that has been so helpful & certainly helped me become debt free a lot sooner than I ever thought possible, thanks for all your encouragement & support:T

Good Luck to all you DFW's - You WILL get there:j

Dumbledore55

Well done everyone - don't forget to add your balance to the total MSEers have paid off their debt this year.

Link here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=637547

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

May 2003

b. Debts at their highest

£7500k :eek:

c. Debt-Free Date

March 2008

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

Never give up. Keep chipping away.

Start a spending diary (in excel or the like) and record every £1 then you have to confess all to the spread sheet.

Try to avoid bargains. In truth I think they slowed me down at the beginning It's quicker if you just spend nothing.

Thank you everyone

I'm off to the savings board.....:D