The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

beanielou

Fantastic result @Poppy198..

GeorgianaCavendish

The date of your lightbulb moment 
27 Jan 2017 

Debts at their highest
£ 35,923.17

Debt-Free Date
29 Dec 2021 

Your one pearl of wisdom
OK, I have three ... 

Knowledge is power - even though it is terrifying at first, bite the bullet and open your post. Find out exactly what you owe, the interest rates, the charges that are applied, the payment dates, when any promotional rates expire. One you know exactly where you are, you can make a plan to get to where you want to be. 

Don't try to do too much too soon. In my early days, I had really unrealistic targets and set punishing budgets. These were not sustainable and being unable to keep up with these unrealistic targets made me feel really awful. You'll make loads of gains in the early days by just being more aware, try not to run before you can walk. 

Focus on the teaspoon, not the lake! 

This is stolen from @sentientpoet 's Debt Free Diary - it really helped me when I was feeling like I would never get to the end of my journey. 

Starting your debt-free journey can feel like someone has asked you to empty a lake with a teaspoon. Just focus on the teaspoon. You won’t notice the lake going down from one month to the next, but one day you will look up and see there’s just a pond left, then a puddle, and then suddenly nothing but dust. 


Which forum threads helped you

All of the Debt Free Diaries - there is so much support and advice out there, and just knowing I wasn't the only one struggling was so helpful. 
Debt Free Challenges especially @cathybird 's No Spend Day Challenges , @Dobbibill 's 3-6 Month Emergency Fund Challenge and @muppets Pay Off All Your Debt By Xmas threads 

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

My Diary 

Fortune_Smiles

Well done Georgiana - what an achievement!

Fortune x

shell16

Fabulous,  congratulations!! I'm hoping to be where you are by October 2023. I appreciate there will be hiccups along the way though!

JVRMac

The date of your lightbulb moment 

16 Oct 2014

Debts at their highest

Around £25k all credit card debts

Debt-Free Date

3.1.2022

Your one pearl of wisdom

It was on the 16 Oct 14 when I hit my debt crisis point. About a year earlier I found that after 14 years of being a CC tart, all of a sudden I was being declined and no longer able to get cheap deals. I soon found out that I couldn't afford the monthly payments as the minimum payments had trebled with the interest and I started to get behind. After trying to organize my debts myself it finally came to a head when my bank stopped my overdraft. I remember the feeling of pure panic and despair when I reached out to this forum asking for help. It was through the help and advice I got from this group that I was able to finally take control. I contacted Step change and set up a DMP and for the first few years it was really tough going, I reached out again a few years later as I was struggling to manage with the DMP and again was given great advice and I reduced the amount I was paying which gave me that breathing room. Since then I've increased when I could afford to do so. Tomorrow will be my final payment to my DMP and then I will be debt free!!! My pearl of wisdom is don't leave yourself short when paying off your debts, yes it's probably taken a little longer than planned to be debt free, but that little bit extra money made such a difference to me, that it was worthwhile. 2nd pearl of wisdom has got to be this forum, if you are reading this then you already know, but just having this forum and all the people who helped me is just priceless! Thank you and yeah, it's my turn to say I'M DEBT FREE!!!

astrocytic_kitten

The date of your lightbulb moment 
December 2018

Debts at their highest
£23,167

Debt-Free Date
13 February 2021

Your one pearl of wisdom.
Ynab, zero based budgeting, and tracking every penny was transformational for me, forcing me to face up to how much I was actually spending for the first time. Before ynab I had some magical thinking around money and would regularly put food I didn't really need on my credit card towards the end of the month, because I’d spent all my money and food after all is an essential (this food wasn't).

Once I had faced up to what I was actually spending, finding the ways to manage my spending that worked for me was really important. I'd spent a decade setting clothes budgets then ignoring them and spending 10 or 20 times the amount I'd set, but with the non-judgemental support of the forums I was able to realise what was driving that behaviour and find checks and balances that worked for me.

Which forum threads helped you
The Debt Free Diaries threads were so helpful. Before MSE I felt like the only person to get themselves into such a mess despite being outwardly successful, it’s been comforting to realise I’m not alone and has helped me reflect on the underlying reasons of not feeling good enough that were behind my debt. The accountability of keeping a diary and knowing I’d need to report back when tempted to splurge also went a long way to keeping me on track.

And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
Learning to live within my means

shell16

astrocytic_kitten said:

The date of your lightbulb moment 
December 2018

Debts at their highest
£23,167

Debt-Free Date
13 February 2021

Your one pearl of wisdom.
Ynab, zero based budgeting, and tracking every penny was transformational for me, forcing me to face up to how much I was actually spending for the first time. Before ynab I had some magical thinking around money and would regularly put food I didn't really need on my credit card towards the end of the month, because I’d spent all my money and food after all is an essential (this food wasn't).

Once I had faced up to what I was actually spending, finding the ways to manage my spending that worked for me was really important. I'd spent a decade setting clothes budgets then ignoring them and spending 10 or 20 times the amount I'd set, but with the non-judgemental support of the forums I was able to realise what was driving that behaviour and find checks and balances that worked for me.

Which forum threads helped you
The Debt Free Diaries threads were so helpful. Before MSE I felt like the only person to get themselves into such a mess despite being outwardly successful, it’s been comforting to realise I’m not alone and has helped me reflect on the underlying reasons of not feeling good enough that were behind my debt. The accountability of keeping a diary and knowing I’d need to report back when tempted to splurge also went a long way to keeping me on track.

And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
Learning to live within my means

Congratulations!  Your final payment is in sight well done!  Im relatively new into my debt journey but im trying so hard.  These forums are so helpful like you say.  Its definitely kept me accountable and also just joining in with the challenges, learning how to save.

What are you going to do with all this free cash you now have, do you have any plans for savings?

DinkyStars

Lightbulb Moment: November 2014

Debts at Highest: £9000

Debt-Free Date: January 2016 (one year after the DRO)

Pearl of Wisdom: Ask yourself do you really need to buy that and repeat!

I thought I would share my story. I was a long-time lurker on these boards, but I finally joined recently and so far, I have found everyone helpful and welcoming.

I spent the majority of my life in debt, running up debts being unable to pay them, more often than not my parents would bail me out, others time I declared bankruptcy, and back then 20 years ago it was more difficult than it is now, I can still remember walking in court, speaking to a judge and coming out again!

In 2014, I found myself in debt again, run up due to overspending when I was manic, I have Bipolar. This debt was a combination of credit cards, catalogues, and payday loans. I spoke to my therapist who I was seeing in November 2014 and told him I had decided to do a DRO and that I was never going to get into debt again.

With the help of Stepchange, I decided given my limited income a DRO was the best option.

I did a DRO in January 2015 with debts of over £9000. Ok, so this was perhaps the cheating way out rather than pay off my debts and I wasn’t proud going down this route again after previously being bankrupt. I told myself never again and no matter what I was going to ensure at the end of the DRO my credit rating was not going to be ruined ever again. I made a promise to myself that when I became unwell or felt I was becoming unwell I would hand my debit card to my dad for safe keeping, this worked for me. There were a couple of times where I overspent, but I paid these off myself and I didn’t further damage my credit file.

During the time the DRO was on my credit file, I managed to acquire two credit cards with high interest (credit builder cards) but with the help of reading these boards, I used them wisely and I always paid them off in full each month. I also acquired a catalogue which again was always paid in full and whilst I still have the account open, I barely use it. Thanks to Covid and restrictions I managed to also save up.

Once the DRO went off my file in January 2021, I got myself my first 0% purchase credit card, and my bank let me upgrade my basic account to a current account with an overdraft which I have never needed to use. I also have a 0% purchase credit card from my bank as well and they have just approved me a loan and today I purchased my first car, with the help of my dad who contributed towards the cost.

I am no longer living in fear of debt, calls from debt collectors or knocks on the door and I have savings and my own car and a good line of credit which is currently unused apart from the latest loan from my bank which was something I thought long and hard on. I am Miss Sensible now and even ask myself before I buy something do I need that, 90% of the time I don’t!

For those worried and in debt or avoiding answering the phone or looking at post, don't be ask for help there are plenty of organisations out there you can use for free. When I first got into debt whilst still living at home, I lived in fear of the landline ringing (in the days before mobiles) from debt collectors that I took to slightly unplugging the phone line from the socket, so it wouldn't ring in the house but from a distance it looked like it was plugged in, we had one phone in the house and my parents barely used it... This kept debt collectors off my back and I was avoiding the inevitable admitting I was in deep trouble.

LemonLover

Hi all - I just joined today after becoming debt-free last week. (I've been reading a lot of forums and articles since crossing the Rubicon.)

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - September, 2014

b. Debts at their highest - $36,000 US
c. Debt-Free Date - 24 February, 2022
d. Your one pearl of wisdom. - Your friends and family won't always get it - not the anguish, nor the journey, nor the triumph. If you're lucky you'll have a significant other or friend giving you real support. Mostly the journey out of debt is a solitary one...in spite of all the forums and advice, the only one who can do it is YOU.
e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you - This seems like a great site but I only found it yesterday, lol.
f. Which forum threads helped you - Whatever was out there, mostly Reddits and that wort of thing.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the DFW, a link to it - n/a

Well, I've been debt free a few days after being in debt almost all of my adult life. (I'm 45.) It's a great feeling - not something that was joyously overwhelming when I made the last payment, but something that will always be with me and a reason for gratitude. I'd been in debt so long that if felt like another appendage. So there's still some muscle memory to lose.

My story: I took out student loans in college (around $16k - maybe $20k paid back). Around age 23/24 I started using a credit card. Mostly my debts were from travel, so at least I have fantastic memories. But I also used it on other purchases, like insurance, attorney fees, etc. - the kind of things where you think to yourself, "I got this - next month." Then eventually I was using cards for nights out at bars and restaurants.

Around age 38 or so, I realized that the center could no longer hold. I was probably paying $500 monthly on debt payments with very little left over. I remember turning down a friend who invited me to a party, because I couldn't afford to buy a six pack or bottle of wine to bring along.

That's when I made what turned out to be my most important decision: I changed my housing paradigm. I left my 1BR and moved in with a friend, who agreed on a VERY low price for rent. The neighborhood was crummy (though it grew on me), and the apartment was old. But my roommate was hardly ever home, so it was kind of like living alone. It was also closer to my job.

From there, I made aggressive debt payments, finishing off my student loans first (a monthly bill of about $200). Now, I didn't live a totally frugal life. I found money to travel and dine out, but paid those expenses immediately. I was still able to cut my debt down by 2/3 in 2.5 years.

I probably should have finished it off but I got my own place again, then quit my job, then moved to Europe and went back to school. This part I do not recommend, but I felt more in control of what was left of my debt, around $12k. And, in spite of making less money, work stoppages due to COVID, and paying for a (very cheap) master's, I was able to not only save plenty of money in my EF, but also kill off the debt last week. It was down to $6k and I just thought: it's time. That dropped my savings down more than half, BUT it wasn't really "savings" was it?

I'd like to tell you that I feel like a new man, but really I changed 7.5 years ago when I made the decision to slay the dragon, one way or another. Once you commit to a decision, things fall into place. Debt kept me from pursuing dreams and giving my all to relationships. A lot of loved ones questioned my decisions (moving in with a roommate at my age, e.g.) but I put the ego aside and did what I had to do.

You will, too.

Kakiste

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - February 2019

b. Debts at their highest - £49K- A mix of 3 personal loans (with increasingly terrible APR) a guarantor loan (at 49% APR!) 3 credit cards and 2 store cards- all run up by putting a wedding on finance rather than insisting on saving for it and then having my daughter 10 months post wedding meant I was trying to sustain my lifestyle on credit. By the end of my maternity leave I was already in £25k of debt and then the subsequent four years were spent taking out more and more credit trying to pay off the earlier credit. I got myself well and truly dug into a debt hole. 

c. Debt-Free Date - Today! (21st March 2022) about 30 minutes ago

d. Your one pearl of wisdom. - I've a few; 
Firstly, open your post and check your bank statements. I binned mine, unread for five years because I was too scared of seeing it in black and white. But the statement is there whether you look or not and if you know what you're dealing with then it can only get better. 

Secondly- I've very much lived the Martin Lewis; 'Do I need it or do I just want it?' since my lightbulb moment. I've only spent where absolutely necessary, I've asked for clothes/clothes shop vouchers for christmas and my birthday since my lightbulb moment so my total spend on clothing for myself from my wages since February 2019 is less than £100. It's meant I've had a budget for spending on things other than food/petrol/bills etc but this has allowed me to treat my daughter so she hasn't noticed any notable changes in her quality of life- which makes me happy as a parent. 

Thirdly- I've always like the 'How do you eat a whale? A bite at a time' quote. Keep going, you'll get there eventually!

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you - 
f. Which forum threads helped you - I've been reading and will continue to read a bunch of people's debt free diaries for inspiration and companionship and I have built up a nice group of supporters on my own. It's made me feel very supported along the way. 

g. And if you had a debt diary on the DFW, a link to it - It's time to begin..... — MoneySavingExpert Forum