The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

rocketman80

Blimey, I'm posting on the Debt Free Roll of Honour. I'm staggered! (I forgot to do this, but I'm happy lol!)

Date of my lightbulb moment: Dec 2007

Debts at their highest: £30,000

Debt-Free Date: 10 March 2010.

My one pearl of wisdom: Hmmmmmm only one? I have more lol.

When buying something (especially impulsively) always ask yourself 3 questions, do i want it? do I need it? can I afford it?

Always try and help someone less fortunate than yourself, even through forums like this.

and

Never ever give up. No matter how hard it seems sometimes, keep your chin up and keep plodding on, it does get easier.

gothrockchic1

rocketman80 wrote: »

Blimey, I'm posting on the Debt Free Roll of Honour. I'm staggered! (I forgot to do this, but I'm happy lol!)

Date of my lightbulb moment: Dec 2007

Debts at their highest: £30,000

Debt-Free Date: 10 March 2010.

My one pearl of wisdom: Hmmmmmm only one? I have more lol.

When buying something (especially impulsively) always ask yourself 3 questions, do i want it? do I need it? can I afford it?

Always try and help someone less fortunate than yourself, even through forums like this.

and

Never ever give up. No matter how hard it seems sometimes, keep your chin up and keep plodding on, it does get easier.

Well Done :T:T:T

I agree with all of your advice, its hard to change habits but it does improve!

sunny-2009

I too am joining the Debt free roll of honour and I cant believe this day has come. I made my last payment of £188 to virgin on wednesday and it has left my bank account today. I cant really pinpoint dates etc but I paid a loan from 2006-2009 (5,000) then had a lightbulb moment in November when I owed nearly £3,000 on 2 credit cards. I got married in May so I knew I wanted to start married life with a clean slate.

During the time of having the debt I saved and bought a car outright, its old but its all mine! and paid my share of the wedding, I am proud of myself that I managed not to miss any payments but I will admit it was hard at times towards the end of each month when money was running low, So I will say to everyone to keep going because it is worth it in the end especially to see the balance reducing, no matter how big or little you are paying towards the debt, its all a step in the right direction of freedom. xx

greenfingers10

Hi All

Just wanted to do a quick post and get myself on the roll of honour. Payplan called yesterday to confirm the balances of my 10 creditors after my final payment at beginning of month. It was wonderful to listen to... Barclaycard CC - balance £0, Capital One CC - balance £0 .......
I can't quite take it all in yet, but I wanted to share the huge sense of relief now that it's over, and say to folks who have yet to arrive at their debt free day to KEEP GOING! You will get there. Just keep slogging away and before you know it you too will have the joy of knowing you are debt free at last.

Light bulb moment: May 2007

Debts at highest: £22k (10 creditors)

Debt Free Date: July 2011

Pearl of Wisdom: I could think of lots of things, but if I have to choose one - when you set up a Debt Management Plan, make sure the budget you have given yourself to live on for the term of that plan is realistic. It's scary realising you have no more cards to fall back on, that you have got to manage on whatever amount you've agreed. So remember to allow yourself a few treats otherwise you will not stick to your budget. And just slog away at it - every month I did the spreadsheet and reminded myself that the DMP was my choice - so try not to think about the money going out - just think about how good it would feel when I got to the end.

Will carry on with the DFW skills I learnt on this forum, and will stick around to help out if I can.

gothrockchic1

Hi GreenFingers, well done on being Debt free:T

superwoman247

Hello:T
I should probably have done this 8 months ago when i became debt free but, hey better late than never. I have only just found this thread:

a. The date of my lightbulb moment- 27th January 2010

b. Debts at their highest- £40 000

c. Debt-Free Date- December 17th 2010

d. My pearl of wisdom- Budget -Goals -budget. It takes time to get it right but like a tight rope walker keep rebalancing until you get it right.

Set goals for yourself. They may look impossible but never give up. Keep readjusting your route. As long as you have a written down map, you will get to your destination. Remember if you aim at nothing you will hit all the time!

We lived on rice and beans for a year and my trolley in morrisons would be full of nothing but stuff in yellow packaging(value). I cooked from scratch etc. I wish I had ket a diary of it:)

debtaghh

superwoman247 wrote: »

Hello:T
I should probably have done this 8 months ago when i became debt free but, hey better late than never. I have only just found this thread:

a. The date of my lightbulb moment- 27th January 2010

b. Debts at their highest- £40 000

c. Debt-Free Date- December 17th 2010

d. My pearl of wisdom- Budget -Goals -budget. It takes time to get it right but like a tight rope walker keep rebalancing until you get it right.

Set goals for yourself. They may look impossible but never give up. Keep readjusting your route. As long as you have a written down map, you will get to your destination. Remember if you aim at nothing you will hit all the time!

We lived on rice and beans for a year and my trolley in morrisons would be full of nothing but stuff in yellow packaging(value). I cooked from scratch etc. I wish I had ket a diary of it:)

Wow, well done, I am just wondering how you managed to clear so much debt so quickly? I would love to do the same.

gothrockchic1

superwoman247 wrote: »

Hello:T
I should probably have done this 8 months ago when i became debt free but, hey better late than never. I have only just found this thread:

a. The date of my lightbulb moment- 27th January 2010

b. Debts at their highest- £40 000

c. Debt-Free Date- December 17th 2010

d. My pearl of wisdom- Budget -Goals -budget. It takes time to get it right but like a tight rope walker keep rebalancing until you get it right.

Set goals for yourself. They may look impossible but never give up. Keep readjusting your route. As long as you have a written down map, you will get to your destination. Remember if you aim at nothing you will hit all the time!

We lived on rice and beans for a year and my trolley in morrisons would be full of nothing but stuff in yellow packaging(value). I cooked from scratch etc. I wish I had ket a diary of it:)

Congratulations :T:T:T:T

superwoman247

debtaghh wrote: »

Wow, well done, I am just wondering how you managed to clear so much debt so quickly? I would love to do the same.

Thank you very much. I am a radiographer so I did lots of overtime, and so did my husband in his job.

I also sold anything I could get my hands on, kids toys, clothes, unused appliances. We also had a very strict budget. Rice and bean chilli became a favourite in our house! I would buy a big bag of dried kidney beans at the asian shop for a pound, cook them all in my large slow cooker and some weeks we had them 3 times (still a favourite:) )

We also had a car we had bought brand new 3 years prior- we sold it and knocked of a sizeable chunk (£4500).

Carry on with the determination, its not easy but well worth the pain.:)

superwoman247

greenfingers10 wrote: »

Hi All

Just wanted to do a quick post and get myself on the roll of honour. Payplan called yesterday to confirm the balances of my 10 creditors after my final payment at beginning of month. It was wonderful to listen to... Barclaycard CC - balance £0, Capital One CC - balance £0 .......
I can't quite take it all in yet, but I wanted to share the huge sense of relief now that it's over, and say to folks who have yet to arrive at their debt free day to KEEP GOING! You will get there. Just keep slogging away and before you know it you too will have the joy of knowing you are debt free at last.

Light bulb moment: May 2007

Debts at highest: £22k (10 creditors)

Debt Free Date: July 2011

Pearl of Wisdom: I could think of lots of things, but if I have to choose one - when you set up a Debt Management Plan, make sure the budget you have given yourself to live on for the term of that plan is realistic. It's scary realising you have no more cards to fall back on, that you have got to manage on whatever amount you've agreed. So remember to allow yourself a few treats otherwise you will not stick to your budget. And just slog away at it - every month I did the spreadsheet and reminded myself that the DMP was my choice - so try not to think about the money going out - just think about how good it would feel when I got to the end.

Will carry on with the DFW skills I learnt on this forum, and will stick around to help out if I can.

Well done to you too:beer: