The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

sparky0107

AlyBaly wrote: »

girlatplay Well done what an achievement , it shows it can be done. CONGRATULATIONS

sparky0107 What a great story




What a great way to break the news !

Congratulations x


I will be posting in here soon, just waiting on the final discharge letter although everything is paid off . Don't want to jinx it so not posting in here until it is official !

Hopefully you'll get your letter soon, look forward to seeing you on here

Hovel_lady wrote: »

Congratulations :T
Have a fab holiday

Thank You, she has no idea that everything I have earned this year has cleared our debt, I've booked the champagne bar in Times square to tell her the news

LondonGirl252

Sparky - your post just brought tears to my eyes. Well done and what an amazing way to break the news. Enjoy every minute of your holiday

rigpig

Congrats to all of you.

I've been debt free for around 6 months now and I can't begin to tell you what a difference it has made, I live on a comfortable budget, bought a newer car for cash, have money set aside for a house extension and have a savings account with money in it that is actually paying ME some interest every month (a true novelty!)

For those that have yet to get there just keep plugging away, it seems like a long slog sometimes but the end result is more than worth it.

Good luck!

Kerfuffle

Hi Sparky1070,

Congratulations on your debt-freeness. I know you've been working very hard lately and I'm pleased to see it's paid off for you, you deserve this happiness.

Your DW is in for a lovely surprise, sshhh, your secret is safe with me.

Hugs to you both.

:T :j

sparky0107

LondonGirl252 wrote: »

Sparky - your post just brought tears to my eyes. Well done and what an amazing way to break the news. Enjoy every minute of your holiday

Kerfuffle wrote: »

Hi Sparky1070,

Congratulations on your debt-freeness. I know you've been working very hard lately and I'm pleased to see it's paid off for you, you deserve this happiness.

Your DW is in for a lovely surprise, sshhh, your secret is safe with me.

Hugs to you both.

:T :j

Thanks London Girl & Kerfuffle
It's really great to be able to say I'm debt free & the plus side will be the look on my DW's face when I tell her that a major weight has been lifted off our shoulders and that we're now working for us & not to pay someone else back

gothrockchic1

sparky0107 wrote: »

Lightbulb moment: December 2009, although I did fall off the wagon due to cut backs in work and dropping to single shift working, which threw the budget out of the window

Debts at highest: £18000, credit card debt managed to scrape this down to £9492.02 up to July 2011, when luckily work picked up

Debt-Free Date: 20th January 2012

Pearl of wisdom: Joined SPC in it's second year, got some great tips off people regarding, snowballing, which told me in July 2011, I would be debt free in 36 months (July 2014). Also quidco has been a god send along with consumerpulse & some of the survey sites. Also the advice to check your bank accounts every day, I've not paid a single bank charge since joining the MSE site, so Thank You Martin for setting it up. Also a great big Thank You to everyone who contributes to this site with their wisdom and help, I couldn't have done it without you.

Luck enough for me, work started booming & I've done 12 hour days 7 days a week for the last 6 months (had about 21 days off in that time) so the overtime has helped me to pay off all my debt, I've also booked a week in New York for the end of February, paid cash! Where I'm going to tell my lovely wife that we are debt free.

So once again. Thank You one and all for the help & support.

Well done enjoy New York it is amazing x

Clare_B_4

I'm not particularly active here but I wanted to share my story.

a. The date of your lightbulb moment: October 2007
b. Debts at their highest: £28,000
c. Debt-Free Date: February 2012
d. Your one pearl of wisdom: CCCS. I can't praise them enough!

I couldn't even tell you how I managed to get into so much debt; I have nothing at all to show for it. I'm single, no children, no mortgage and I have a reasonably well paid job. For some reason, I kept taking out credit cards and loans and it's the old story - the interest started spiralling out of control and eventually I was £28,000 in debt, avoiding picking up the phone, dreading the post arriving and hiding it all from my family. I was shifting money from one card to another to try and pay things off, and then buying more stuff on credit as I had no cash. I was also taking out bigger and bigger loans as I was struggling to keep up with repayments.

I was considering an IVA and came to this site to find out more about them, and read about CCCS. I called them, not at all convinced they'd be able to help me, but they talked me through setting a budget and arranging a DMP. I began my DMP with them in November 2007 and my debt free date felt like years away.

Every month was tough; I had to turn down invitations from friends, holidays have been out of the question and everything I've bought (clothes, things for the home) has had to be cheap and subsequently poor quality. Living to a budget was extremely difficult and I spent many a night lying awake wondering if I would have enough money to feed myself before payday.

Last year, again with advice from MSE, I received £6,600 in redress from HSBC for PPI misselling. When I received the letter, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! It wasn't enough to clear my outstanding debts at the time but I called CCCS and they advised me around making full and final settlement offers. I was able to make reduced payments to 2 of my creditors and have enough left over to clear the other 2 in full. Before receiving that money, my debt free date was going to be June 2013 but as of this month, I am debt free!

This month is the first time I haven't sent a large chunk of my salary to CCCS and it feels great to still have money in the bank a week into the month. I've already been able to start putting a little aside and my focus is a trip to New York in June of next year for my birthday. I will never take out another loan or credit card and will continue to be as thrifty with cash as I can. I also can't recommend CCCS enough; every person I've ever spoken to there has been knowledgeable and given me great advice and I would never have been able to clear that huge debt without them. :T

gothrockchic1

Clare_B wrote: »

I'm not particularly active here but I wanted to share my story.

a. The date of your lightbulb moment: October 2007
b. Debts at their highest: £28,000
c. Debt-Free Date: February 2012
d. Your one pearl of wisdom: CCCS. I can't praise them enough!

I couldn't even tell you how I managed to get into so much debt; I have nothing at all to show for it. I'm single, no children, no mortgage and I have a reasonably well paid job. For some reason, I kept taking out credit cards and loans and it's the old story - the interest started spiralling out of control and eventually I was £28,000 in debt, avoiding picking up the phone, dreading the post arriving and hiding it all from my family. I was shifting money from one card to another to try and pay things off, and then buying more stuff on credit as I had no cash. I was also taking out bigger and bigger loans as I was struggling to keep up with repayments.

I was considering an IVA and came to this site to find out more about them, and read about CCCS. I called them, not at all convinced they'd be able to help me, but they talked me through setting a budget and arranging a DMP. I began my DMP with them in November 2007 and my debt free date felt like years away.

Every month was tough; I had to turn down invitations from friends, holidays have been out of the question and everything I've bought (clothes, things for the home) has had to be cheap and subsequently poor quality. Living to a budget was extremely difficult and I spent many a night lying awake wondering if I would have enough money to feed myself before payday.

Last year, again with advice from MSE, I received £6,600 in redress from HSBC for PPI misselling. When I received the letter, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! It wasn't enough to clear my outstanding debts at the time but I called CCCS and they advised me around making full and final settlement offers. I was able to make reduced payments to 2 of my creditors and have enough left over to clear the other 2 in full. Before receiving that money, my debt free date was going to be June 2013 but as of this month, I am debt free!

This month is the first time I haven't sent a large chunk of my salary to CCCS and it feels great to still have money in the bank a week into the month. I've already been able to start putting a little aside and my focus is a trip to New York in June of next year for my birthday. I will never take out another loan or credit card and will continue to be as thrifty with cash as I can. I also can't recommend CCCS enough; every person I've ever spoken to there has been knowledgeable and given me great advice and I would never have been able to clear that huge debt without them. :T

Well Done I hope you get to NYC have a great time! :T:T:T

sparky0107

Clare_B wrote: »

I'm not particularly active here but I wanted to share my story.

a. The date of your lightbulb moment: October 2007
b. Debts at their highest: £28,000
c. Debt-Free Date: February 2012
d. Your one pearl of wisdom: CCCS. I can't praise them enough!

I couldn't even tell you how I managed to get into so much debt; I have nothing at all to show for it. I'm single, no children, no mortgage and I have a reasonably well paid job. For some reason, I kept taking out credit cards and loans and it's the old story - the interest started spiralling out of control and eventually I was £28,000 in debt, avoiding picking up the phone, dreading the post arriving and hiding it all from my family. I was shifting money from one card to another to try and pay things off, and then buying more stuff on credit as I had no cash. I was also taking out bigger and bigger loans as I was struggling to keep up with repayments.

I was considering an IVA and came to this site to find out more about them, and read about CCCS. I called them, not at all convinced they'd be able to help me, but they talked me through setting a budget and arranging a DMP. I began my DMP with them in November 2007 and my debt free date felt like years away.

Every month was tough; I had to turn down invitations from friends, holidays have been out of the question and everything I've bought (clothes, things for the home) has had to be cheap and subsequently poor quality. Living to a budget was extremely difficult and I spent many a night lying awake wondering if I would have enough money to feed myself before payday.

Last year, again with advice from MSE, I received £6,600 in redress from HSBC for PPI misselling. When I received the letter, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! It wasn't enough to clear my outstanding debts at the time but I called CCCS and they advised me around making full and final settlement offers. I was able to make reduced payments to 2 of my creditors and have enough left over to clear the other 2 in full. Before receiving that money, my debt free date was going to be June 2013 but as of this month, I am debt free!

This month is the first time I haven't sent a large chunk of my salary to CCCS and it feels great to still have money in the bank a week into the month. I've already been able to start putting a little aside and my focus is a trip to New York in June of next year for my birthday. I will never take out another loan or credit card and will continue to be as thrifty with cash as I can. I also can't recommend CCCS enough; every person I've ever spoken to there has been knowledgeable and given me great advice and I would never have been able to clear that huge debt without them. :T

Well done Clare_B
Congratulations on your achievement. It's got to be one of the best feelings in the world , being able to say "Debt free" :T. Good on you kid . New York is our treat too, 2 weeks today :j

Once again, a massive well done to you :T

LondonGirl252

Well done, I hope you enjoy New York and your debt free life ahead. Thanks for sharing, its reading stories this that keeps me going!!!