The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Dithering_Dad

LBM: Feb 2007 when I found this site.
Debt: £13,528.51
Paid off: April 2007
Method: Working two jobs, long hours and starting my own business. Was very lucky to find a desperate customer who needed my services, wnated me to work "as many hours as you can to fix our problems" and who paid well and on time!!

oops_a_daisy

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

LBM: Feb 2007 when I found this site.
Debt: £13,528.51
Paid off: April 2007
Method: Working two jobs, long hours and starting my own business. Was very lucky to find a desperate customer who needed my services, wnated me to work "as many hours as you can to fix our problems" and who paid well and on time!!

:T Well done Dithering Dad on clearing that amount of debt in such a short time :T

beanielou

Yes, well done dithering dad.An amazing amount to clear in such a short time.

JET34

Fully switched onLBM Dec 2006

DEBT £1300.00 and it would have kept rising!!

PAID OFF 23rd Feb 2007:rotfl: :rotfl:

Method - All though my debt wasn't as much as some people's on here it still gave me headache's and I felt that as a single mum to 3 I really needed to sort my self out before it got to big for me to deal with.
I stopped spending my excess money on rubbish and instead used it to pay off my debt's which in return have reduced the amount I have to pay out each month... So much so I have now started saving for the first time in my adult life... I also logged on here everyday, read the debt diary's they really inspired me.

janey30

light bulb moment 3 days ago got meself into a lot of debt by gamberling so really only meself to blame but since reading on here im ready to tackle it here it goes
llyods tsb 16000
norther rock 7000
tesco 5000
cc 5600
im gonna save like ive never saved b4 and get my cc down to zero in 6 months not sure if this is acheiveable but im gonna give it a try then start to pay off all the others tackling one at a time i think is best

Molanole

Hi Janey :hello:

Welcome to DFW. I think this thread is meant for those who are now debt free so why don't you repeat your post in main DFW forum. Then some of the regulars will be able to find your thread and give you the very best advice.

Good luck in becoming debt free.

seven-day-weekend

Date of Lightbulb Moment : Never liked debt but got into it due to unforeseen circumstances (long-term illness). So struggled to pay bills and had to put some stuff on credit card. Resolved in early 2004 NEVER to have any long-term credit ever again once I had cleared this.

Debts at highest : about £62,000 including mortgage on investment property (no mortgage on main home).

Debt-Free Date : September 23rd 2005

Pearls of Wisdom : Mine would be don’t max yourself up to the hilt. We went through 25 years of marriage not doing so and then when I went back to work full-time, we bought the investment property on a mortgage because we could.

When first my husband and then myself had to go part-time through ill-health, we could not afford the mortgage and the flat was not in a good enough condition to rent on the open market. We ended up borrowing more money on a loan and credit cards.

Luckily after struggling to get it refurbished we were able to get a payment holiday for six months from the mortgage, sold the flat and paid off all the debts.

Budgeting is essential too.

Also - I'll say this loud - USE CASH NOT PLASTIC!

jesster_2

DATE OF LBM: December 2005. Not quite sure why, think it was the first time the bank said 'no' to any more lending and i gradually realised that the repayments weren't making the credit card go down when i kept topping it back up again by running out of salary with 'emergencies' at the end of the month.

DEBTS AT HIGHEST: £8,500. (Ok so there are loads of people here with much more, but it was a lot to me!)

DEBT FREE DATE: Today! (April 16 2007) I've got to be honest, it feels weird. A bit unreal. Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet, or maybe I'm now having to think about all of the things that really need something spent on them but which I've been able to ignore because of the higher purpose of debt repayment! It feels like a lot of responsibility and I have slight fear about spending now, in case I feel disappointed with myself for spending cash, even though i have it, when I could probably manage without. I'm hoping I lighten up - just a little bit! - soon...

PEARLS OF WISDOM:
**Be obsessed.
**Work out your debt free date and then don't look at potential overspends in terms of pounds but in terms of extra days, weeks or months you'll still be in debt. Once you see that even a ten pound overspend will mean you're technically in debt for a month longer, it doesn't seem worth spending.
**Plan your spending at the START of the month. Divide up your income and account for EVERYTHING you need to spend on. There's no point writing it down once it's flown out of your purse. Sure, do a spending diary at first, but then you need to turn it into a spending PLAN. Otherwise it's like dieting by writing down your food and watching your exercise video while sitting on the sofa. You've got to actually DO it!
**If you have something costly coming up, start putting a little money aside for it each week or month so it doesn't knock you for six when it happens. There's no such thing as 'unexpected' car tax or insurance, and birthdays, weddings and christmas all give plenty warning too. A little put aside now could be the difference between falling off the wagon and onto the credit card, or staying on board the debt freedom train.
**Don't worry about being unsociable. One night not-out goes quicker than another week or month in debt.
**If you'd have to put it on a credit card because you can't afford it, then, er, you can't afford it!
**Plan your meals at the start of the week; only go to the supermarket once a week / fortnight according to how you plan.
**Make nearly every day a 'no spend' day. If you don't go in the shop you won't spend the money. Realistically, there's no reason why at least 6 days a week can be no spend, if you're organised.
**Once you do your snowball calculator keep a record of how your balances should go down each month. That way you'll stay on track because it's in black and white.
**KEEP THE FAITH! You CAN do it. It's not rocket science when you think about it, it's just about not spending when you don't absolutely need to.

Shadowplay_2

Lightbulb moment: September 2003

Debts at highest: £6,348

Debt-Free Date: April 2007

Pearl of wisdom:

1. Budget, I began by setting up a simple excel spreadsheet which logged all my expenditure over each working month. This progressed into a very complex and highly efficient spreadsheet which calculates and displays my financial situation in a format which is optimal for me. I spent, on average, 15 minutes EVERY DAY updating my spreadsheet.

2. Falling off the wagon, if you do fall off – get back on as quickly as possible. This limits the impact. Don’t dwell or become upset at yourself, just put it down to experience and focus back on the task in hand.

3. Realisation, Sky TV is not and never will be a necessity! Remember its not what you earn – its what you spend.

Wahm

The date of your lightbulb moment
Jan 2006 - decided to make clearing my debt an unoffical resolution (I didnt write it down or declare it at all - just started 'doing' it)


Debts at their highest
Over 7 grand

Debt-Free Date
21 April 2007

Your one perl of wisdom.
One! well - use credit cards with caution - pay off every month, if you cant afford to do that you shouldnt have one.

Dont bury your head in the sand - be aware of how much you owe on your cards - I wrote them down and stuck them up in the kitchen - each time I paid something off I changed the total - helps you feel like you are getting somewhere.

Change to a low credit card rate - I juggled 0 per cents was quite hard work and not so easy any more but it meant everything I paid went towards clearing my debt.

Paid any spare cash that came in to the cards before a got a chance to blow it. Sometimes it hurt that money that came in from work (self employed) got swallowed up on debt when I couldnt even remember what I had bought! Now I can enjoy it.

Look at your direct debits and ditch loads of things you dont use anymore - sky tv when you dont use the channel, insurance for things that benefit the insurance company more than they are ever going to benefit me. Pay for ONLY WHAT YOU REALLY NEED - tv licence, house insurance and so on.

More than one - and there's more but I wont go on....