The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Robi90

The date of your lightbulb moment

Around summer 2017. I asked my bank to increase my overdraft and the customer advisor warned me about my spending which was always closed to the limit. I just knew I had to change how I managed my finances. I went on a free CAP money course which was so helpful. I

Debts at their highest

About £7000. (Mostly credit card debt but there was also a personal bank loan and an overdraft in there)

Debt-Free Date

29/04/19

Your one pearl of wisdom.

Adopt a strategy/plan for paying off your debt and just be consistent.


Which forum threads helped you
The challenges i.e Pay off all your debt by XMAS 2018/19 and 1 debt vs 100 days.

I also used to lurk on this thread (debt free roll of honour) for motivation :A

beanielou

Robi90 wrote: »

The date of your lightbulb moment

Around summer 2017. I asked my bank to increase my overdraft and the customer advisor warned me about my spending which was always closed to the limit. I just knew I had to change how I managed my finances. I went on a free CAP money course which was so helpful. I

Debts at their highest

About £7000. (Mostly credit card debt but there was also a personal bank loan and an overdraft in there)

Debt-Free Date

29/04/19

Your one pearl of wisdom.

Adopt a strategy/plan for paying off your debt and just be consistent.


Which forum threads helped you
The challenges i.e Pay off all your debt by XMAS 2018/19 and 1 debt vs 100 days.

I also used to lurk on this thread (debt free roll of honour) for motivation :A

WEll done

milann

LBM - 2006 when critically ill in hospital - I was more worried about my debt (nobody knew about it) than being ill

Debt free date - April 2019

Debts at their highest - no idea - I couldn’t look - over £20,000

Pearl of wisdom - don’t set unrealistic goals or compare yourself to others. I aimed to move in the right direction

Which thread helped - debt free Wannabe and diaries. The encouragement on there really keeps you going. I followed Beanies advice and ‘kept plodding’ and ppi template letter - we got £8,000

I was debt free a year ago and had a blip on a 1 off purchase but it’s for keeps this time:money::money::money::T:T

beanielou

milann wrote: »

LBM - 2006 when critically ill in hospital - I was more worried about my debt (nobody knew about it) than being ill

Debts at their highest - no idea - I couldn’t look - over £20,000

Pearl of wisdom - don’t set unrealistic goals or compare yourself to others. I aimed to move in the right direction

Which thread helped - debt free Wannabe and diaries. The encouragement on there really keeps you going. I followed Beanies advice and ‘kept plodding’ and ppi template letter - we got £8,000

I was debt free a year ago and had a blip on a 1 off purchase but it’s for keeps this time:money::money::money::T:T

Hurrah Millan:T:T:T:T:T:A

supersaver1000

Robi90 wrote: »

Your one pearl of wisdom.

Adopt a strategy/plan for paying off your debt and just be consistent.

That's hit the nail on the head for me! It's exhausting sometimes but the only way. Well done everyone!!!

GlendaSugarbean

LBM: I've had a few over the years. 2013 when I realised I was deep into my OD every month and was spending more than I earned. Got a 0% credit card to clear it, but then kept adding bits and pieces on. Jan 2018 we had notice to move from our rented house, were looking at a rent increase of over £200/month for a similar property and no savings. Thanks to help from family and a good hard look at the finances, we were able to buy a house, pay off the CC and start saving.

Debt at its highest was close to
£3000, but bounced around that level for years despite repayments. Windfalls came in but were frittered away .

Paid off: February 2019

Pearl of wisdom: you aren't budgeting if you aren't tracking your spending! YNAB was a lifesaver. Also, Tilly tidying and making small payments to debts really adds up - I was able to repay my CC 3 months earlier than planned.

Threads that helped you: the Ninja Saving Turtles, and lurking on others' diaries. Now I'm saving an EF, the 3-6 month EF challenge.

cherylclarke

Lightbulb moment was September 2014, when our debt was at £40,000 :eek:. My husband and I spent money on our credit cards all the time when we were young and daft and the companies kept putting our limits up. We were ok for a while, but then a new baby and 2 redundancies in a year changed everything, and the party was over.

Debt Free Date: Tuesday 7th May 2019. The weird thing is I thought I would be over the moon, but I am shellshocked and terrified. I have learned a lot of lessons, but I will always have to keep myself in check I think.

Pearl of Wisdom: Ask for help, the sooner the better. Organisations such as Step Change and CAP have heard it all before. And remind yourself that even though you have made mistakes, at least you are doing something about it now.

MSE is a great source of advice and support

mumof3.12kindebt

Light bulb moment October 2017
Debt at highest £16,000
Debt free November 2018

Words of wisdom
We did a no spend challenge. Basically only paying bills (which we cut down to essentiala only so no contract phones or subscriptions) and only buying essentials such as food and clothes that are needed. We also have 3 kids so had some school trips etc to pay for too.

My one peice of advice is remember your why . Why are you doing it ? To help keep focused

debtfreeoneday

Lighbulb moment - August 2008

Debts at their highest - £64,346.53

Debt free - February 2019!

Pearly of wisdom - every single penny makes a difference, cashback sites, loyalty points, using vouchers and logging on here regularly to keep your motivation going.

mumof3.12kindebt

Can I be cheeky and ask if I can have a debt free and proud badge please