The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

rictus123

Mrscmr...i am on page 4 of your diary...of 190. You got rid of £581k of debt? That is truely insperational and inspiring to me...I must of had £15k at peak....its now down to £8k loans/cards and £5k car...so £13k still to go. Will be coming down quicker soon as cards/smallest loan will be gone as of end of July and car is getting handed back(half of payments made as of October)...so will be down to £6k ish by October, hopefully below £5k end of year with ISA filled aswel....Did you post up an SOA at any point? Id love to see it as it would give me a greater idea of how much you managed to change things/save/up your income to eliminate such massive debts. Truely a great DFW forummer

tesuhoha

I've never really put my name on here because I didn't think I deserved tobe on the roll of honour. I've done everything dishonourably but I've just thought hell we did pay off our debts eventually.

I came on here in 2006 desperately wanting to move because of living in a bad area in spite of being £17,000 in debt. I came on here and was absolutely slated, called a muppet, you name it. We disregarded all the advice and moved anyway, took the debt with us. Took 3 years to pay the debt off and living in a decrepit house in a good area. Was not happy but all spare money was used for debt payments. Did everything against the book, had no emergency fund so got to the last month when only one more payment was required before becoming debt free disaster struck. My husband was laid off from work. With him being self employed we had no income at all. Ended up having to write a credit card cheque to cover the mortgage! Plunged us back into debt. Fortunately this state of affairs did not last long as he found another job but he got laid off again after six weeks. Then he found another job and since then has been laid off four times in total.

Fast forward another 2 years and we are in a much better position financially, overpaying the mortgage and can just about afford to start work on the house. We got there in the end.

Lightbulb moment: Walking through WH Smith in 2005 and picking up the Money Diet
Debts at highest: around £30,000
Debt Free Date: May 2010
Pearl of Wisdom: You wouldn't want to listen to any advice from me

mrsplinter

Great to see this thread is still going and congratulations to everyone who has posted. I joined it nearly 2.5 years ago and thought I would have a look at my original post. It took me over four years to pay off my debts which were nearly £17k at their highest. As of next month I should have close to £17k in savings. Can't believe the contrast in how long it took to pay off debt and how quickly I was able to build up savings.

beverleyhills

[/QUOTE]Lightbulb moment: Walking through WH Smith in 2005 and picking up the Money Diet
Debts at highest: around £30,000
Debt Free Date: May 2010
Pearl of Wisdom: You wouldn't want to listen to any advice from me[/QUOTE]

Congratulations on your achievement. I followed you through your early days of debt busting. What you did suited you, although it was very hard work.

gothrockchic1

tesuhoha wrote: »

I've never really put my name on here because I didn't think I deserved tobe on the roll of honour. I've done everything dishonourably but I've just thought hell we did pay off our debts eventually.

I came on here in 2006 desperately wanting to move because of living in a bad area in spite of being £17,000 in debt. I came on here and was absolutely slated, called a muppet, you name it. We disregarded all the advice and moved anyway, took the debt with us. Took 3 years to pay the debt off and living in a decrepit house in a good area. Was not happy but all spare money was used for debt payments. Did everything against the book, had no emergency fund so got to the last month when only one more payment was required before becoming debt free disaster struck. My husband was laid off from work. With him being self employed we had no income at all. Ended up having to write a credit card cheque to cover the mortgage! Plunged us back into debt. Fortunately this state of affairs did not last long as he found another job but he got laid off again after six weeks. Then he found another job and since then has been laid off four times in total.

Fast forward another 2 years and we are in a much better position financially, overpaying the mortgage and can just about afford to start work on the house. We got there in the end.

Lightbulb moment: Walking through WH Smith in 2005 and picking up the Money Diet
Debts at highest: around £30,000
Debt Free Date: May 2010
Pearl of Wisdom: You wouldn't want to listen to any advice from me

Congratulations :T:T:T

Just because you didnt follow the advice doesnt mean you dont deserve to be on here! You did what was right for you and often that is the best way. And you did it!

gothrockchic1

mrsplinter wrote: »

Great to see this thread is still going and congratulations to everyone who has posted. I joined it nearly 2.5 years ago and thought I would have a look at my original post. It took me over four years to pay off my debts which were nearly £17k at their highest. As of next month I should have close to £17k in savings. Can't believe the contrast in how long it took to pay off debt and how quickly I was able to build up savings.

I find those who have been in debt learn from their mistakes and become the best savers, Congratulations on becoming Debt Free and Happy Saving :T:T:T

luxor4t

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Welcome to the Debt-Free Roll of Honour. This is for Debt-Free Wannabees who are no longer Wannabees.

Please report

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
b. Debts at their highest
c. Debt-Free Date
d. Your one perl of wisdom.
e. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it

Light bulb moment: shortly after discovering MSE in June 2007. My job was in danger, I'd just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis & I was dreading the thought of trying to keep 2 kids in Uni simultaneously.

At the highest: car loan, credit card, 3 loans rolled up into 1, 2 'interest-free credit' loans, TV licence/car/house/contents insurances on DD ... plus the idea that this was 'normal' .

DFD: 27th May 2011 (last payment on rolled up loans) Would have been quicker but I was unable to work for 7 months and the DH had a heart attack.

Shared wisdom: Used some savings to kill off the smallest debt (the rates were fairly similar) and then we snowballed. We still paid the same amount but threw it at the debts more efficiently.

We also changed the way we spend: cashback sites, deal spotting, planning ahead, making do, using things up, doing without etc all helped. DH now buys the car, house & contents insurance annually rather than by direct debit, uses a cashback site & pays with a CC that gives us loyalty points. The CC is cleared monthly.

I'm still amazed at how much money is thrown away on the floor (see sig!). The toiletry challenge has helped me greatly, I've still got a year's worth of shower gel and probably two year's worth of body butter to use up as I couldn't accept that something is NOT a bargain if you've already got 6

I love MSE :blushing:

gothrockchic1

luxor4t wrote: »

Light bulb moment: shortly after discovering MSE in June 2007. My job was in danger, I'd just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis & I was dreading the thought of trying to keep 2 kids in Uni simultaneously.

At the highest: car loan, credit card, 3 loans rolled up into 1, 2 'interest-free credit' loans, TV licence/car/house/contents insurances on DD ... plus the idea that this was 'normal' .

DFD: 27th May 2011 (last payment on rolled up loans) Would have been quicker but I was unable to work for 7 months and the DH had a heart attack.

Shared wisdom: Used some savings to kill off the smallest debt (the rates were fairly similar) and then we snowballed. We still paid the same amount but threw it at the debts more efficiently.

We also changed the way we spend: cashback sites, deal spotting, planning ahead, making do, using things up, doing without etc all helped. DH now buys the car, house & contents insurance annually rather than by direct debit, uses a cashback site & pays with a CC that gives us loyalty points. The CC is cleared monthly.

I'm still amazed at how much money is thrown away on the floor (see sig!). The toiletry challenge has helped me greatly, I've still got a year's worth of shower gel and probably two year's worth of body butter to use up as I couldn't accept that something is NOT a bargain if you've already got 6

I love MSE :blushing:

Congratulations :T:T:T

empy

Good evening all, well at last I can post on the roll of honour after taking the scenic route to get here:o. So here are my stats:

Date of lightbulb moment: when I joined MSE- I think it was either 2005 0r 2007!

Debt at highest: I think it was about £16,500 but may have been as high as £21,00

Debt Free Date: today 30th May 2011- the month of my 30th Birthday, what a fab start to my 30's:beer:

Pearls of Wisdom: Never lose sight of your goal- I've taken the scenic route and slipped up along the way many times, but I got there and saved £1000's in interest.


The feeling is just great, now I want to start saving and become addicted to it, lol.

Good luck to everyone continuing on their journey to becoming debt free. x

empy:)

mummum2

empy wrote: »

Good evening all, well at last I can post on the roll of honour after taking the scenic route to get here:o. So here are my stats:

Date of lightbulb moment: when I joined MSE- I think it was either 2005 0r 2007!

Debt at highest: I think it was about £16,500 but may have been as high as £21,00

Debt Free Date: today 30th May 2011- the month of my 30th Birthday, what a fab start to my 30's:beer:

Pearls of Wisdom: Never lose sight of your goal- I've taken the scenic route and slipped up along the way many times, but I got there and saved £1000's in interest.


The feeling is just great, now I want to start saving and become addicted to it, lol.

Good luck to everyone continuing on their journey to becoming debt free. x

empy:)

Congrats! that's fantastic new! :T:beer: