The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

stewby

Hi there.

Sent off my last cheque to the credit card on boxing day, 26/12/15 so classing this as my debt free date.
:j

Light Bulb Moment:
The day I joined this website on 14/09/13. To be honest, the people on here actually gave me my LBM.
My Dad has always been financially awesome so I decided to try and pay my mortgage off early (just like he did). Joined this forum for advice and they (very sensibly) told me to pay off my debts first.
:embarasse

Debts at their highest:
My credit card debt was: £3412.67 at its highest. Have paid off a bit more than that as I bounced around a bit and also ran out of my 0% deal on the credit card.


Debt Free Date:
26/12/15. Classing this as my debt free date. Hooray.
:j

One Pearl of Wisdom:
Take inspiration from those around you, both in real life and on here.
:happyhear

Threads which helped you:
The Ninja Saving threads were amazing. Really good at helping to keep you on track. They were originally run by Ninja Saving Kat but are now run by a brilliant group of people.
Hoping to stay on there as I battle my mortgage.

LotsToDo

Lightbulb moment......becoming a single parent.
Debt at it's highest.......approximately £8,000 plus
Debt free..........June 2015
Words of Wisdom.........

Budget for everything from shopping to car tax, to TV licence to hair cuts, to uniforms, to absolutely everthing. Plan, plan, plan. Highly recommend Dave Ramsey.

Ellieseleven

Well done to you all! You are my inspiration and keep me working towards my own DFD...which isn't that far away now;)

Ellie xx

Aphidgirl

Date of lightbulb moment:

I had a partial LBM in January 2013 when I hit my lowest point financially. I had around 8 creditors, was on a low wage and couldn't even pay my utility bills or council tax. I discovered a fee-charging debt management company who took on all my debts and I stopped using credit cards and getting further into debt.

My proper LBM was in January 2014 when I realized I should be making overpayments to the creditors myself. I tackled the debts smallest to largest and started paying off some of the smaller balances completely. I also left the DMP and went self-managed. I started cutting my costs and doing a monthly budget, throwing all extra money at the debts.

Debts at highest: Around £9700 in April 2013.

Debt-free date: 29/12/15

One pearl of wisdom:

Keep logging into MSE and read the Debt Free Wannabe forums for inspiration. Join some of the challenges for mutual support and to help you stay motivated. Also check out Dave Ramsey on YouTube and his debt-free screams.

I also gave myself an entertainment budget each month to stop myself feeling too deprived of a social life.

Forum threads that helped:

Pay Off All Your Debt by Xmas
The NSD monthly challenges

No diary but reading others was great inspiration.

Can't wait for my debt-free badge!

Alpedro_2

Date of lightbulb moment

I would say around 7 years ago when my luck with credit ran out could not longer afford minimum payments then it hit me I was living in a bubble and a lifestyle I could not maintain I tried to ignore it,but the letters came I hid it from my family I defaulted on everything then went on to a dmp

Reality kicked in a few years ago when I knew that I had to clear this house prices are going up and I want a mortgage.

Debts at highest- around 24 k and nothing to show for it

Debt free date - today

words of wisdom

Do not give up hope,live within your means and remember there is no such thing as a bad experience,this experience has made me wiser and a better person I appreciate the value of money now and I do not have 1 penny of debt it feels amazing,I have settled all accounts and with the help from everyone is this forum a few years back it felt like it would never be a reality

Here is to 2016

neuromancer

Hi,

Thought I'd get myself included for the stats!

What I am now completely free of, for the first time in 15 years, is unplanned, unwanted debt - the kind that sneaks up on you when you're not in control of what comes in and what goes out. (I got my first credit card in 2001 and I'd been in the red one way or another since then.)

I'm not technically 100% debt-free as I bought a new car on finance earlier this year. But, that was fully planned and costed, and I knew I could afford it without problems. Hopefully that's still enough to count me as debt-free in 2015, because I feel fantastic about it!

The obligatory points:

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
November 2011 - I'd tried a few times before then, but that was my 'right, I'm sorting this out' moment.

b. Debts at their highest
£24,000 plus whatever was on my student loan at the time (another £5,500 or so - also gone now!)

c. Debt-Free Date
15th December 2015

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Get your head around your situation. Don't ignore the bank statements and payslips - write them all down every month. I spent a few hours on Google Docs and I made a spreadsheet that tells me where I am now, what my progress has been I have been since my LBM and my predicted position in the future. It really helped as a 'light at the end of the tunnel', because I could see that if I carry on as planned, the figure in 6 or 12 months' time would be much better than it is now, which made me really want to keep going.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
I used the ones about bank accounts, credit cards etc to make sure I got the best deals. (Why not when it doesn't cost me anything?) For very little effort, I got a nice PPI payout; free money every month for having my current account; a great savings rate; and cashback on every credit card transaction (which I pay off in full to boost my credit rate). Little nuggets of advice everywhere!

f. Which forum threads helped you
No specific ones, but I read a lot on the bank accounts, loans, DFW and credit card forums. I must say, the users on this site are incredibly patient and helpful considering how regularly the same subjects come up time and time again. :T

And finally - thank you all for inspiring me to sort it out! Now to help Mrs N so we can get ourselves set for our future. :beer:

beckle_82

Lightbulb moment......turning 30, moving to London and realising if I was ever going to own property I had to clear my debts and get some savings.

Debt at it's highest.......£13,000 (2,500 credit card, 5,000 loan, 8,000 car loan, 1,500 store credit)
Debt free..........Today!
Words of Wisdom.........

Keep a spreadsheet of all your monthly outgoings, transfer your credit card to one with a 0% interest rate then only use it for emergencies and have a clear out. I sold a lot of unwanted stuff on ebay then put all the proceeds towards clearing the debt. I also do competitions in the evening whilst watching TV and anything I win is sold (or put in my Christmas gift box) and put towards paying off my debts.

black_taxi_2

well done to all those starting 2016 debt free

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

date of my lightbulb moment.

September 2006

Unsecured (non mortgage) Debt at its highest

£8,500 ish

debt free date:

December 2010

Perl of Wisdom
Face up to the debt it is the only way

I used the 0% credit card guides

nannygladys

Hi
LBM about a week before I registered on here after hearing about Martin from somebody at work.

Debt highest not counting mortgage was £8000 car loan, £2010 overdraft and £3000 credit cards, so £13010 in total.

Debt free debt was March 2015

Pearl of wisdom, I checked my bank account everyday, kept a spending diary, meal planned (that I hated, and was no good at it but I kept trying) and came on MSE every night to keep me focused

Also became mortgage free earlier this year, so when I retired in July I found I could manage on just the state pension, and live a bit as well.
Nannyg