The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

beanielou

So we reach 101. :j :j :j

fermi

beanielou wrote: »

So we reach 101. :j :j :j

And still counting for 2015.

fermi

And an update to the 1st post of this thread.

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Update Monday 14 December 2015. We've beaten last year's record of 92!
And we've reached 101!! Huge Congratulations to all!!!

We started this Debt Free Roll of Honour back in 2006 and since then there have been some fabulously inspiring stories, which you'll see if you read below.

Read the most recent debt-free announcements: click the double arrow above to head to the last page of the discussion

Debt-free so far in 2015: 101!!

Rachiedabbler70, Playing with Fire, katy_ann, lexbubbles, diamonds, andy1886, stiltoncheese, looby1975, shofer, Karb, kittypimms, Growurown, Want_to_be_free, crazy_cat_lady, David123456, FinallyGettingFree, malnuman, ShirePiskie, black cat, boring1, kremmen, BlueEyedGirl, antonia86, ice_babe, Apple Crumble, LittleDutchgirl, natsplatnat, her_welshness, dads_albums, supersavor, KONG, HomeAlone, kerryallc71, fredtheguava, xxxJOJOxxx, The Only Girl, uncreative, NeverAgain2, Penny Bridge, boot13t, lemanie, gree0115, cakeforbrains, hydrangea, Cynical Monkey, tripled, ShopaholicNumber1, Lwsi, CrazyKitten, Nargleblast, kirstle99, Polly Wolly Doodle, SMGee, D3P0, MissShoes, kb_soma, Chimping, StrawberryJam132, maria3104, happycrafter, bassitt74, Ratison, GingerFurball, Tammy2, NewlyFrugalMumof3, cottage_retreatist, boucho11, *zippy*, MNM2903, allydowd, joee, Zabki, 7roland8, naughtymonkey, babyplum, NorthernMonkey1, Time to face the music, melwright, Daerve, johnboyinsole, Ali-OK, thewalrussaid, kika, Skinnylatte, fevlo, Seanymph, Smedley, poohbear59, happybunny86, spot3, xxlouisexx56 , Idollic, hannah2010, MrWillyWonka, Getmeoutofdebt, powellypowelly, AlexLK, Laconic, cluckyhen, rising from the ashes, KirstyO

Blinky2010s

Yay!!! I'm debt-free before Christmas!!!

a) The date of your your lightbulb moment - 16th April 2015
b) Debts at their highest - on April 16th 2015 a massive £40,500!! C
c) Debt-free date - Today!! 16th December 2015!!!
d) Your one pearl of wisdom Pay off the higher interest balances first & transfer as much as you can to 0% cards
e) Links to the MSE guides that helped you the Demotivator Tool and Mortgage Overpayment Calculator, these were massively incentivizing for me
f) Which forum threads helped you generally i found all the forum threads helpful, and am a long time lurker / reader of debt free wannabe posts! I particularly used the snowball calculator as a motivator to rid myself of the debt

mrshughes86

I was debt free in August 2015 but forgot to come back to the forum to post!

a. Lightbulb moment was in July 2010. I stopped burying my head in the sand and just paying the minimum on each card, worked out what we owed and what I could afford to repay. We moved in with the in-laws for a few months and sorted out a DMP with CCCS (now stepchange).
b. Debts were £61k at their highest
c. Debt-Free Date - 1st August 2015. 2 years quicker than our original planned date!
d. Perl of wisdom - Don't despair, things will get better. I sometimes felt low when I thought about how long it was going to take to repay our debts, but we kept our heads down and the time soon flew by.
e. Guides that helped me were the debt guide - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan,
reclaiming council tax - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-change, reclamining PPI - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance
Due to council tax and ppi refunds I was able to pay a couple of lump sums off our debts.
f. Forum threads - too many to list! I used ones to boost my income and earn any extra money I could, I saved on all insurances, couponed like crazy and religiously used cashback sites to save anywhere I could. All 'extra' money and savings went to reducing the debt sooner.
g. No debt free diary.

We've just been offered a mortgage to buy the house we currently rent - I never thought we would be in this position when I started to address our debts 5 years ago!

Thank you Money Saving Expert! I couldn't have done it without you!

DML1954

Changed debt to 0% credit card and will have paid my last payment at the end of this month after 36 months. Also paying off mortgage. Debt free totally.

danant

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - 2007 when I stopped burying my head in the sand and realised I was borrowing from 1 card to make the minimum payment on another!

b. Debts at their highest - £30K in early/mid 2008:eek:

c. Debt-Free Date - December 15

d. Your one perl of wisdom. - Was to borrow another £5k:mad: on top of my existing £25K debt and get myself licensed as a Taxi Driver and buy my own cab. Since then I've worked my main job plus taxied almost every firiday & Saturday night until between 3 & 5am

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

f. Which forum threads helped you - many many threads and pages have helped me though this from extreme couponing to reclaiming bank charges and PPI myself, including serving court papers on HSBC!


It's been a long hard struggle with highs and lows. I created a spreadsheet with all my debts/overdrafts etc on and the interest rate I was paying along with the amount of £££ interest I was paying each month, and the expiry date of the 0% transfer offers. I did as many balance transfers as possible and concentrated all extra money on the card with the highest rate of interest.


Working 2 jobs, especially the late night hours takes it's toll on your life and I decided it was important to play hard if I was going to work hard, so during the last 8 years I've still had a couple of amazing experiences, including a month round Australia, raising over £5k for charity whilst climbing Kilimanjaro and taking up cycling - road and off road.
I'm now saving hard for a deposit for my first own home, having already saved quite a bit whilst paying off the last few debts (I know it's against the debt free mantra) and will now be able to increase my deposit fund by over £500 p/month!!!


It's a long hard struggle but trust me, if I can do it anyone can do it - and the feeling when you get to where I am now is AMAZING!!! :beer:

nonnynonny

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - January 2010, strangely when cahoot scrapped their flexible loan, I knew then I need to sort it

b. Debts at their highest - £36k Mid 2010

c. Debt-Free Date - 22nd December 2015 - What a Christmas present

d. Your one pearl of wisdom. - Pay off things first that you cant get access to again, its way too tempting, and I did it many times, to just withdraw from an overdraft again or just use that card. Pay off things you cant get back first, loans e.t.c to learn the discipline needed.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you, its been almost 6 years now

f. Which forum threads helped you - Lots have helped, claim back uniform costs, childcare details, but the DMP support thread was the most valuable back at the start, it gave me the courage and inspiration to do it.

From me its quite simple to other people considering a DMP, just do it, I actually had zero calls from creditors, the odd letter but nothing from any debt collection agencies, it became eventually just a bill I had to pay.

Start off small so it is manageable, but increase the monthly payment up to the highest you can go when you see the date in your sights.

Best thing I ever did to clear debt, I now know that every penny I earn of my good salary goes in my pocket (other than mortgage, but will have to live with that for a while, think everyone does!)

A great Christmas I will now have, budgeted already for a massive shop and some take-away's e.t.c, but all out of my own pocket.

Closing final 3 accounts with now zero balances over the holiday.

Hope everyone has a good Christmas, as me and my family will now!

Squarehead76

Lightbulb moment: early 2010

Debts at their highest: £24000 across various cards

Debt free date: 16th December 2015

Pearl of wisdom: Don't be afraid of consolidating into one loan, it worked for me. I kept telling myself "I know that's affordable each month, so I have no excuse to use credit cards". Also, if your company offer a sharesave scheme, get into it. Finally, don't be afraid to save a little money away without telling your other half!

Forums that helped me: Not many specific ones, but checking into all of the DFW threads whilst the family and I were all huddled around one light bulb gave me strength to carry on, knowing I wasn't alone.

My wife and I were both saving a little without telling each other. When my sharesave scheme paid out £3.5k I told my wife is like to keep it and settle our loan in mid 2016 when the balance was low enough. She then admitted to having £2k saved on the quiet, I admitted to having £1k saved and we realised we could settle immediately.... Happy days!

Good luck to all still getting through it, keep going, it's worth it in the end.

Pepperoni

My lightbulb moment... hmmm, probably being on maternity leave and worrying about money for most of it!

The highest I recall is this year, £10,700, although I think it has been higher at certain points!

Debt free from 18th Dec 2015.

Keep going - and get YNAB!

Debt free wannabe, particularly the debt free by Xmas thread(s) inspired me the most.