The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

beanielou

the-mrs said:

DEBT FREE DAY!!!

It's taken 6 years and 4 months but I have paid every penny of the £26,835 back. I have learnt so much in that time and have come out of the other side a stronger, more sensible person.

Well done. 

Dizzycap

CONGRATULATIONS!

AWESOME

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

kimwp

the-mrs said:

DEBT FREE DAY!!!

It's taken 6 years and 4 months but I have paid every penny of the £26,835 back. I have learnt so much in that time and have come out of the other side a stronger, more sensible person.

Congratulations!!!!!

designingalife

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

Jan 2018

b. Debts at their highest

30k

c. Debt-Free Date

April 2025

d. Your one perl of wisdom.

Keep going and focus on the end goal there will be bumps in the road but don’t stop.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

f. Which forum threads helped you

Debt Free diaries 

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

I did but not updated since 2021

Dizzycap

@ designingalife - CONGRATULATIONS! 

Chocolatefund

Introduction and date of lightbulb moment

I started down the rabbit hole of personal finance around September 2023.  I was away for work and my older co workers were taking a lot about pensions and retirement.  That peaked my interest and I started to do my own research into my own pension.  I came to the realisation that I wouldn’t be able to get my main work pension till 68.  (I thought at the time it was 67, but later found out its actually 68)

This then lead me to a ‘heck no’ moment and decided to do a boat load of financial research into how I could retire earlier.  I watched a bunch of Utube videos and realised that there is a whole world of personal finance out there.  Was instantly hooked, and realised that I’ve never had a proper emergency fund, nor did I really plan for big expenses.  I saw some of the bad money habits my family were doing and decided I didn’t want to be like that.  Thus the financial journey begins!

Debts at their highest

Around Feb 2024 I had just finished some big house renovations as I had bought a doer-upper.  I had two loans to do this.  One was £8k 0% interest kitchen finance, and the other was a personal loan of £20k at 5.2% (It started at £24k with the interest tacked on).  I was watching some financial podcasts and then at some point, I had another ‘heck no’ moment and decided I didn’t want nearly £400 worth of payments coming out of my pocket for the next five years.  This was my true lightbulb moment as I worked out that I could actually be debt free before my 40th birthday.  Then that money could go to some actual wealth building.

Debt free date

Thanks to a work bonus, I smashed out the smaller £8k loan by August 2024 and then decided to start a debt free diary for the bigger loan.  My debt free date is 1st August 2025.

Your one pearl of wisdom

When it comes to the desire to be debt free…

You’ve got to want it…I mean REALLY want it.  You’ve got to want to be debt free more than anything else.  You’ve got to want it MORE than the holidays.  You’ve got to want it MORE than whatever’s pilling up in your Amazon basket.  You’ve got to want it MORE than whatever extravagant social outing that your friends and family are plotting.  Which brings me on to my next point,

The biggest barrier to paying down debt?  OTHER PEOPLE.

For example, last year I went away overseas for work.  Some of my co workers were going out every evening for food and drink, instead of staying to eat at the canteen for free.  When they asked me to join them, I politely said no thank you and explained that I needed to save for house renovations.  They understood and after a couple of asks, they stopped asking me.  Found out later that one of them had spent over £800 in two weeks just on cocktails and food out.  Ouch.  You’ve got to be prepared to say ‘No thank you’.  FOMO will keep you broke and stop giving a sh** about what other people think.

Whenever I got the urge to impulse spend I told myself  “NOPE. I’d rather be debt free.”  It really is a mindset.

The biggest mover of the needle was extra income.  There‘s only so much you can cut back, there’s actually no limit for how much you can earn.  Take all the extra shifts/overtime/second job you can.  Sell stuff.  Grab the bank switching incentives.  Throw it all and the kitchen sink at the debt.  Remember it’s only temporary.

Which forum threads helped you

The debt free dairies are where I spent most of my time here.  I also picked up a couple of very helpful tips and challenges on this website.

And if you had a dairy

My debt free diary https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6547320/busting-this-debt-before-40/p1. Keeping a diary was very insightful.  I re read my dairy and saw that my monthly amount to throw at the debt was going up.  There more time went on the more momentum was building up.

Tools which helped me for debt busting

I kept three spreadsheets using G00gle sheets.  One for current monthly outgoings, one for debt payoff calculations, and one for a ‘future debt free budget’. The last one is more for future inspiration as it shows me where my money could be going if I didn’t have debt payments.

Two of them I didn’t touch much, but the ‘debt payoff spreadsheet’ was the most important one and the one which I was tweaking almost every day.  Every time I got extra money I would go in and alter the numbers to see how much I could throw at the debt every month to try and bring my debt free date forward.  It’s very motivating and a little addictive to play with the numbers.

I kept a notebook and pen spending dairy to track every penny and added up the totals for an end of month review.  I also had a calendar on my fridge to write down spends, but more importantly to mark down ‘No Spend Days’. This was vital to getting rid off all impulse spending, to challenge myself to how many no spend days in a row I could achieve.

I printed a ‘Game of Loans’ colouring chart which was a great help to see the visual progress of paying down the debt.  Theres a few debt payoff colouring charts on the internet that are super fun and helpful.

Future Plans

The rest of 2025 will consist of starting to slowly build up my SIPP and ISA, getting my 3 months of emergency fund up and finishing up some house projects.

In 2026 I shall be joining the save £12k in 2026 thread to boost up my S&S ISA.  It will be the year of some proper investing boosting and I can’t wait to start! 

Final thoughts

My financial journey began, not because I was struggling with payments, or hit rock bottom, but rather because I wanted to get better with money, and I could see how much better it would be if I didn’t have debt payments.  I’ve learnt so much about myself and personal finance in the progress and I’m looking forward to taking this new knowledge with me for the rest of my life.

You can do it!

:-)

Dizzycap

@ Chocolatefund - AWESOME & Welcome to the Debt Free Club!  I wish you all the best with continuing on your money saving & management journey. I love jiggling numbers to find the best options for everything whilst keeing my eye on financial news as this can often make tricker decisions about how to divide savings and where to put them according to your circumstances, goals along with your reasons and not forgetting age, easier 

londoner2019

Chocolatefund said:

Your one pearl of wisdom

When it comes to the desire to be debt free…

You’ve got to want it…I mean REALLY want it.  You’ve got to want to be debt free more than anything else.  You’ve got to want it MORE than the holidays.  You’ve got to want it MORE than whatever’s pilling up in your Amazon basket.  You’ve got to want it MORE than whatever extravagant social outing that your friends and family are plotting.  Which brings me on to my next point,

The biggest barrier to paying down debt?  OTHER PEOPLE.

For example, last year I went away overseas for work.  Some of my co workers were going out every evening for food and drink, instead of staying to eat at the canteen for free.  When they asked me to join them, I politely said no thank you and explained that I needed to save for house renovations.  They understood and after a couple of asks, they stopped asking me.  Found out later that one of them had spent over £800 in two weeks just on cocktails and food out.  Ouch.  You’ve got to be prepared to say ‘No thank you’.  FOMO will keep you broke and stop giving a sh** about what other people think.

Whenever I got the urge to impulse spend I told myself  “NOPE. I’d rather be debt free.”  It really is a mindset.

This. This is such good advice.

MissPennySave

I cannot believe I am finally able to write this down in black and white, but I AM DEBT FREE!!!

After over 20 years of having an extremely unhealthy relationship with money that wasn’t mine, a self-destructive mentality, and repeatedly burying my head in the sand, I pulled myself up and decided it was time to tackle the situation I’d gotten myself into.

For me, it’s not just been a journey of becoming debt free, it’s been a journey of self discovery, better coping mechanisms, and finding a peace I didn’t know I could have. There were huge ups and downs along the way, of course, but it’s all led me to now and being debt free!!

The date of your lightbulb moment:

My lightbulb moment was the day I set up my Debt Free Diary on 14 November 2022. I’d buried my head for far longer than I care to admit, and I vividly remember waking up and thinking, “This cannot go on.” I knew I needed to finally get on top of my debt and take back control of my finances.

Debts at their highest:

My debts at their highest were £46,626.96 — a crazy high amount!

Debt-Free Date:

I became debt free on 24 October 2025.

Your pearl of wisdom:

Sit with it and believe in yourself. I had to really understand the gravity of where I was and shift my mindset and ultimately recognise the difference between real money and credit facilitated money. They are two very different things!

And budget is key!!! This time, I set a realistic budget that I knew I could stick with and evolve over time. In the past, any feeble attempts I’d made (and failed at) were because I’d set unrealistic budgets that I could never achieve, which only led me right back to the beginning.

Becoming debt free is a marathon, not a sprint, and once I accepted that, my journey really began.

Which forum threads helped you:

I found the Clear Your Debt by Xmas threads immensely helpful. It helped me break down the debt into manageable chunks while giving me the boost I needed to keep going. The small wins often end up being the big wins!

The link to my DFD is in my signature if anyone wants a read — it’s a long one though!!

Thank you for all the support I’ve received on here. I am forever grateful to those who took the time to cheer me on and offer advice, I couldn’t have got here without you.

MPS x 

kimwp

MissPennySave said:

I cannot believe I am finally able to write this down in black and white, but I AM DEBT FREE!!!

After over 20 years of having an extremely unhealthy relationship with money that wasn’t mine, a self-destructive mentality, and repeatedly burying my head in the sand, I pulled myself up and decided it was time to tackle the situation I’d gotten myself into.

For me, it’s not just been a journey of becoming debt free, it’s been a journey of self discovery, better coping mechanisms, and finding a peace I didn’t know I could have. There were huge ups and downs along the way, of course, but it’s all led me to now and being debt free!!

The date of your lightbulb moment:

My lightbulb moment was the day I set up my Debt Free Diary on 14 November 2022. I’d buried my head for far longer than I care to admit, and I vividly remember waking up and thinking, “This cannot go on.” I knew I needed to finally get on top of my debt and take back control of my finances.

Debts at their highest:

My debts at their highest were £46,626.96 — a crazy high amount!

Debt-Free Date:

I became debt free on 24 October 2025.

Your pearl of wisdom:

Sit with it and believe in yourself. I had to really understand the gravity of where I was and shift my mindset and ultimately recognise the difference between real money and credit facilitated money. They are two very different things!

And budget is key!!! This time, I set a realistic budget that I knew I could stick with and evolve over time. In the past, any feeble attempts I’d made (and failed at) were because I’d set unrealistic budgets that I could never achieve, which only led me right back to the beginning.

Becoming debt free is a marathon, not a sprint, and once I accepted that, my journey really began.

Which forum threads helped you:

I found the Clear Your Debt by Xmas threads immensely helpful. It helped me break down the debt into manageable chunks while giving me the boost I needed to keep going. The small wins often end up being the big wins!

The link to my DFD is in my signature if anyone wants a read — it’s a long one though!!

Thank you for all the support I’ve received on here. I am forever grateful to those who took the time to cheer me on and offer advice, I couldn’t have got here without you.

MPS x 

That's absolutely brilliant @misspennysave, congratulations on being debt free, a fantastic achievement!