The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Fire_Fox

The Date of your Lightbulb Moment
Early December 2008 I realised that I wasn't the broke student I saw myself as: I have plenty of income but every penny that came in went out again. I'd save up a few hundred pounds and then order loads from Amazon or book a fitness weekend.

Debts at their Highest
£7200 comprising about £3900 of (disputed) service charges, £2500 of tuition fees and an £800 student overdraft. This had all accrued in just two years. :eek:

Debt-Free Date
1 May 2009. I haven't saved the full amount in my signature myself - I withdrew £2500 in interest from a savings account my parents hold for when I graduate and have taken on a £3400 student loan. However, I have put away £4k out of my income this academic year. :T

Your One Pearl of Wisdom
Divide and track your outgoings under survival essentials (rent/ mortgage, council tax, utilities, basic food) and luxuries (mobile phone/ internet, socialising, toiletries). Be strict - a car is only essential if you live in the middle of nowhere; wine and takeaways are entertainment not food!

Link to Debt Diary on DFW
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1359737

KayAitch_2

The Date of your Lightbulb Moment
Mid 2005, when I realised that at the current rate of paying off debt I would still be doing it in 2015.
I calculated that the debt repayments were equivalent to a 25% pay cut!

Debts at their Highest
~£16k, including personal loan, student loan, credit card and big overdraft.

Debt-Free Date
1st May 2009, although the bulk was cleared on 1st Feb 09.

Your One Pearl of Wisdom
Figure out what you can spend per week after all the Direct Debits and Standing Orders come out. Take 25% off that figure - that's your weekly limit.
Then keep a diary of every time you spend on cards or withdraw cash (don't count change - think of money as spent the second you withdraw it).
If you go over the limit for any reason take that off next week's limit.

Oh, and every time you clear one thing take the full amount that was going on it and add it to clearing the next.

prada_man

im a newbie DFW & reading these posts is very inspirational :A

well done to everyone :T

ive managed to reduce my huge debt burden by £350 already in my 1st week

hopefully i can join u guys in a few years as debt free

nannydiddy

Hi All,
Although I never offically became a DFW member, I followed these threads closely and I found the stories to be inspirational and the advice invaluable! Thank you all so much and good luck to all of you. Stick with it!

The Date of your Lightbulb Moment
On joining this site in 2006 I actually took notice of my credit card statment and realised that I had to do something about it. Also, discovering that making minimum payments would mean that I would still be paying it off way into retirement and probably even further!


Debts at their Highest:
£8985 - mostly un-nessessary luxuries.

Debt-Free Date
May 2009

Your One Pearl of Wisdom: Budget Budget Budget! Think before you spend and any spare or saved cash goes towards paying off your debt. Every bit really does help! I must have spend days of my life counting out coins from our coin jar in the last couple of years!!! And, don't give up - keep site of your goal and you'll get there sooner than you think.

Thank you all !

xx

[Deleted User]

The Date of your Lightbulb Moment
October 2008. We suddenly realised we had no idea what money we had coming in or going out and we had so many CCs, store cards and ODs that we had forgot what we owed. We weren't having fun, couldn't buy clothes or go out and I was depressed without realising it. We moved in with family who helped us get back on our feet until we could afford to rent somewhere nice and it allowed us to sort out heads and our finances out!

Debts at their Highest
£9200 - 2 overdrafts, 2 credit cards, 6 store cards

Debt-Free Date
June 2009

Your One Pearl of Wisdom
Keep a spending diary, budget at least 2 months in advance everything you have coming in and out of your account down to the last penny! Have a set amount for food shopping for example and take it out in cash only, leave your bank card at home when you think you might be tempted, only spend what you have.
Saving for something makes buying the item much more rewarding and sometimes you will change your mind by the time you come to buy it!
Becoming debt-free is the best feeling in the world, congratulations to all who have achieved it and good luck, keep at it to those who are getting there - it is soooo worth it!

40somethingmum

purpleposting4 wrote: »

The Date of your Lightbulb Moment
October 2008. We suddenly realised we had no idea what money we had coming in or going out and we had so many CCs, store cards and ODs that we had forgot what we owed. We weren't having fun, couldn't buy clothes or go out and I was depressed without realising it. We moved in with family who helped us get back on our feet until we could afford to rent somewhere nice and it allowed us to sort out heads and our finances out!

Debts at their Highest
£9200 - 2 overdrafts, 2 credit cards, 6 store cards

Debt-Free Date
June 2009

Your One Pearl of Wisdom
Keep a spending diary, budget at least 2 months in advance everything you have coming in and out of your account down to the last penny! Have a set amount for food shopping for example and take it out in cash only, leave your bank card at home when you think you might be tempted, only spend what you have.
Saving for something makes buying the item much more rewarding and sometimes you will change your mind by the time you come to buy it!
Becoming debt-free is the best feeling in the world, congratulations to all who have achieved it and good luck, keep at it to those who are getting there - it is soooo worth it!

Congratulations and well done on becoming debt free.

40SM

sinnoc00

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
October 2008 with debts of £5692
b. Debts at their highest
Around £12,000 back in 2005
c. Debt-Free Date
01/06/2009
d. Your one perl of wisdom.
The main one, which nearly everyone here has mentioned, is working out what you actually NEED to spend as opposed to what you'd LIKE to spend each month and put any money left over after paying out what you NEED to spend into paying off your debts. I found the snowball calculator very useful too.
e. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it
No debt diary from me, but I'd just like to say a huge thankyou to everyone on this wonderful site! Thanks!

skint_spice

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
October 2006 with cc debts of £11900 and loan at £3186 (never counted the loan amongst the debt so the total seems much higher!) Total of £15086
b. Debts at their highest
Around £16,000 back in 2005
c. Debt-Free Date
Today - 26/06/09
d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Just keep going! Don't worry about what everyone else is doing and don't try to keep up with the Jones', it's amazing when I started saying I couldn't really afford nights out how many of my friends said they were much the same and we realised that a night in can be just as much fun but a lot cheaper. I had a spreadsheet with all outgoings worked out month by month and any extra went to the debt, ebay is your friend and an extra fiver here and there shouldn't be sniffed at as it all adds up. and quidco was a godsend!
e. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it
It's only for the past year or so and consists mainly of me moaning - oops! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1049029

boredofbeingathome

Woohoo, well done Skinty:j:T:T

At last:D At last, savour the moment.:D

savvy

WAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAY today is the day of my last payment :j:j:j I have been a lurker on the DFW board ever since I joined here in Feb 04 and have found the threads to be really hard to read sometimes, but at the same time really motivating too, especially SouthernScouser's as he had a big mountain to climb compared to me and never really let it get to him :A

Lightbulb moment -End of 2003 when I too realised how much longer it takes to pay off debt than to accumulate it, and how long I'd be paying out for and what age I'd be - scary days!!

Highest debt - £12,000 got it down to £10,000 at one point and it just bubbled around between that for ages (and £12,000 Student Loan which has been halved and is being paid off while I'm in teaching).

Debt free date - 30th June 2009 :j:j:j:j TODAY!!!

Pearl of wisdom - Keep scouring this site! Use What's the Cost website! Keep fighting! Every step is another step closer to the finish line, and if you take one step back, don't beat yourself up, just look forward and work harder

Sorry no diary but a SHORT story here!