The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Fortune_Smiles

greent wrote: »

Yesterday I paid off the last bit of our debt - so we are now debt free - whoop! (all we owe now is the BTL mtge - which is reducing monthly and LTV <60%, so I don't include that) :j :j


a. The date of your lightbulb moment
Probably when I joined in with Pay off all your debt challenges just over 18 months ago - so let's say late 2016

b. Debts at their highest
Hmm - hard to say exactly, as I concentrated on some bits and ran up some 0% whilst getting higher ones down. Probably paid £30k off in that time, maybe £8k of which was 'new' debt in that time

c. Debt-Free Date
29th June 2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Face up to the scary amounts, come up with a plan and timescale of how to repay and read MSE DFW challenges for inspiration

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
N/A - I just used DFW challenges and experience of paying off our mortgage a few years before.

f. Which forum threads helped you
Debt-free Wannabe Challenges, Mortgage Free Wannabe Board

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
Nope - only ever posted in the 'Pay off all your debt by Xmas' challenges
although I do have a MFW diary

Such very good news Greent - very happy to hear it.

Fortune x

bonfire1966

I am officially debt free.
For the past 5 years I have lived in fear of bankruptcy and repossession. I have sort support from this forum and can’t thank the good folk on here enough
My journey started when I left an abusive relationship. I fled with my children into rented housing.
My ex was determined to ruin me and has certainly succeeded with regards to my credit rating.
He refused to help with joint debt or pay the mortgage on a house he was living in.
He took his own life last year and since then I have been able to rebuild mine. I had £18000 of debt and a mortgage with £80000 of arrears. No the mortgage company never repossessed!!!
Following his death they gave me six months to sell. I did and cleared the whole mortgage and the arrears.
I slowly paid off my small debts totally £2000 over the last five years.
I paid token payments to a joint debt of £16000.
I have defaults on 3 debts. One is settled now and shows on credit file as such.
This weekend Barclays have agreed a full and settlement of £5000 on the remaining £16000 bebt I have!! I have sent my cheque off and am over the moon to be debt free.
Now to sort out my credit file. Oh happy days.
Good luck to everyone else.

beanielou

bonfire1966 wrote: »

I am officially debt free.
For the past 5 years I have lived in fear of bankruptcy and repossession. I have sort support from this forum and can’t thank the good folk on here enough
My journey started when I left an abusive relationship. I fled with my children into rented housing.
My ex was determined to ruin me and has certainly succeeded with regards to my credit rating.
He refused to help with joint debt or pay the mortgage on a house he was living in.
He took his own life last year and since then I have been able to rebuild mine. I had £18000 of debt and a mortgage with £80000 of arrears. No the mortgage company never repossessed!!!
Following his death they gave me six months to sell. I did and cleared the whole mortgage and the arrears.
I slowly paid off my small debts totally £2000 over the last five years.
I paid token payments to a joint debt of £16000.
I have defaults on 3 debts. One is settled now and shows on credit file as such.
This weekend Barclays have agreed a full and settlement of £5000 on the remaining £16000 bebt I have!! I have sent my cheque off and am over the moon to be debt free.
Now to sort out my credit file. Oh happy days.
Good luck to everyone else.

So pleased for you :T:T

LexieLou

Lee_Walker wrote: »

I have finally done it! 9 and a half years after starting my DMP at a whopping £30,000 debt, I AM FREE!!

I asked my mother for help for the 100th time and in tears she said she couldn't help me anymore, but recommended a company she had heard of and friends had used.
It feels so good to be able to start rebuilding my life and credit file!

What an amazing Mamma you have....she rocks. Well done you. Enjoy your new life and I hope it is kind to you and all who love you xxx

Kepi

a. The date of your light bulb moment: May 2010, when I realised we were lending and spending more than we were earning. It came to a head when I had to lend money off my elderly Dad to buy groceries. I went to Payplan and entered into a DMP expected to end in 2019.

b. Debts at their highest: £46406.00

c. Debt-Free Date: July 1st 2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom: Don't lose hope, Winston Churchill said "If you're going through Hell, keep going

e: All of MSE

f. Which forum threads helped you: All of MSE, in the beginning I couldn't have done it without Debt-Free Wannabe

This has changed me fundamentally and I will never be the same. I feel it's been a massive lesson to me and my husband. It has changed our view point on many things. It has been especially hard bringing up a child in the environment of saying "I'm sorry but we can't afford that" and " we can't let you buy that £2.99 game until pay day". I also think that my daughter at 11 is more aware of money and finances than many of her peers, not that I think that it's a bad thing.

I have suffered from depression and anxiety the last two years of our DMP with Payplan. I simply had enough of the planning and money management and the stress of living month to month.

I don't think it has sunk in yet. I am always waiting now for the other shoe to drop. I guess having something weighing down on you for eight years it's hard to let it go, even though it is gone.

I am proud of what we have achieved, but I also want to go back in time and talk to my younger self and give her a kick up the backside.

On the plus side, we have no debt just our mortgage. Onwards and upwards. Best wishes to you all x

beanielou

Well done kepi.
Pop over & join us on the MFW board if you want

ANGELWINGS

a) The date of your lightbulb moment
2010 when I had to give up my job and change location
b. Debts at their highest
£100,000
c. Debt-Free Date
June 2010
d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Pay your credit card bill back in one go every month
e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
Other mse stories of success
f. Which forum threads helped you
The weekly mse email with all the money saving tips
g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
No diary

inigma

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
The day after we got married!

b. Debts at their highest
£23,362.04 (holidays, new bathroom, kitchen appliances that broke at the same time, windows that needed replacing, wedding, boiler, store cards and sofas)

c. Debt-Free Date
25/08/2018

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Have a spreadsheet or a piece of paper with all the debts listed on it and update balances after any payments, don't be overwhelmed by the balances.
We could have been debt free but had a 0% APR loan on the sofa's, we smashed those out in the last couple of months, it's when we realised that a debt is still money owed no matter that the APR is, unpaid debt will always be a potential knock on the door by bailiffs.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
Actually it was Dave Ramsey and Martin Lewis who helped me look after my money more. Honestly have a budget and review every direct debit bill and try and make it cheaper, through changing Broadband, Electricity, Mobile and TV provider we have the same products but are £1,450 a year better off.
#Debtisdumb

f. Which forum threads helped you
n/a

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

BADGE PLEASE!

sourcrates

inigma wrote: »

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
The day after we got married!

b. Debts at their highest
£23,362.04 (holidays, new bathroom, kitchen appliances that broke at the same time, windows that needed replacing, wedding, boiler, store cards and sofas)

c. Debt-Free Date
25/08/2018

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Have a spreadsheet or a piece of paper with all the debts listed on it and update balances after any payments, don't be overwhelmed by the balances.
We could have been debt free but had a 0% APR loan on the sofa's, we smashed those out in the last couple of months, it's when we realised that a debt is still money owed no matter that the APR is, unpaid debt will always be a potential knock on the door by bailiffs.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
Actually it was Dave Ramsey and Martin Lewis who helped me look after my money more. Honestly have a budget and review every direct debit bill and try and make it cheaper, through changing Broadband, Electricity, Mobile and TV provider we have the same products but are £1,450 a year better off.
#Debtisdumb

f. Which forum threads helped you
n/a

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

Congratulations, well done !!

zippygeorgeandben

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

1st September 2016 however I didn't know I needed a LBM until the first few posts from MSErs on my sticky, politely asking me to think about whether I really needed that consolidation loan. So actually maybe the LBM happened within the first two pages of my sticky, not sure which MSEr should get the actual credit though!

b. Debts at their highest


£19766.82 (however I will also add that I have paid off my student loans during this time also, which was £3856.72) so you could say the total debt was 23623.54.

c. Debt free date

31st August 2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom

You must ensure that you track your spending EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's like dieting, if you take your eye off the ball and the bigger picture/long term goals, it is so easy to fall back into the cycle which brought you onto MSE in the first place.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

N/A

f. Which forum threads helped you

DFW boards and loans - if anything just for a wake up call and realising that others were starting a journey of discovery and I was already on that road.

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

I didn't have a diary but my sticky at the top of the loan board ended up kind of being my diary. It's just ironic that I wanted to be a DFW but didn't know at the time! (Hence it being on the loan thread, which is pretty funny actually!)