The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Hopelessly_Hopeful

DebtKiller wrote: »

The date of your lightbulb moment
March 2004. I'd just been paid a couple of weeks before, but realised I had no money for petrol, and all my (many) credit cards were pretty much maxed out. I had no control over my money whatsoever and couldn't have told you what money I had (or not). Thankfully I chanced upon this site, and found plenty of advice on what to do about my situation, as well as seeing that I wasn't alone. Moved onto a DMP with CCCS, and then started on the journey to being debt-free.

Debts at their highest
£55,000. That was store cards (x5), credit cards (x4), overdraft (£3500!), and loans taken out to consolidate other loans (a common story). I'd been refused a new consolidation loan a few months prior to my LBM, but hadn't twigged that there was an issue. Total head in the sand.

Debt-Free Date
May 2007. Despite being on a DMP and having the collective wisdom of MSE-ers, I still worried endlessly about the communications I was getting from debt collection agencies, as the debts were bought on and on and on, down the chain. CCCS were amazing, but as we know, debt collection is big business and they rarely play by the rules. I had approx 2 years of the DMP left to run at that point. Managed to persuade my mortgage company to provide a remortgage (thankfully lots of equity in the house) and used that money to clear the remainder of the debt. It's not something I would recommend to do, but it worked for me (and I was fortunate that the house market shot up so high that my mortgage was quite far removed from the valuation).

Your one pearl of wisdom.
My problem was spending money on "things" that I really didn't need -- DVDs, games, clothes, etc -- but wanted at the time, especially if it was on offer and therefore a "bargain". My pearl of wisdom would be to ALWAYS give yourself at least 24 hours between finding something you want to buy, and buying it. I operate that policy as often as I can and find that, having slept on it, I don't need to buy the "thing" after all.

Well done

I really like that 24 hour tip

HHx

debtfreesomeday

So, today We are technically debt free.

Date of LBM: sept/oct 2008

Total debt: was around £40k at our LBM, but went up again by around £10k during our journey, so around £50k in total.

DFD: today, 17th April 2013.

Firstly, here's a link to my last debt free diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3627535

I think this was my third of fourth and helped no end. I am sure that, without these diaries, I would not have been so focused and the debt would still be holding us back.

My biggest tip would be to remember that every little penny helps. In the early days we sold stuff on amazon, music magpie, eBay, local notice boards, car boot sales, you name it we sold stuff on it! We got rid of things we didn't want and didn't use and paid as much of it as we could towards the credit cards. The little numbers soon add up to bigger ones.

I also buy lots of birthday and Christmas gifts when I see them very cheap, usually in January! Save them and put them away until needed. This helps us save loads of money.

The last tip worth mentioning is to use cashback sites, survey sites, online codes and (clubcard) vouchers to help pay for things along the way, be it essentials or little treats. It's always good to get something for nothing. :0)

It may not be the best advice for all, but 2.5 years ago we re-financed our loan to a better deal, meaning we would pay it off 3 years earlier. As it was, we were in a position to pay it off 6 months early, but we do now have a mortgage of £66k to pay off! We shall be adopting the same principle with this and chipping away at it bit by bit to reduce the term as much as we can.

Bufger

I just realised I never did do a Debt free diary.

a. December 2009
b. £10,200 unsecured
c. January 9th 2012 @ 11.15am
d. You would be suprised at your savings potential even if you think you're only just getting by. Introduce one lifestyle change at a time and in a few months the tables will start turning and your income will start to run away from your outgoings and everything in the middle needs to pay off debt! Highest interest rate first and then snowball.
e. I didnt ever have a diary. I knew from reading others I could do it so I didnt feel like I needed the additional support.

I'm now working on overpaying my mortgage and getting down my secure debt. Its all 'positive debt' as I needed a car, the sofa I wanted wasnt available without the preloaded interest by paying cash (so I may as well have the supposedly 0% finance) and the student loan is largely unavoidable.

I now understand money, i enjoy it and managing it is actually a fun part of my day! As sad as that sounds... (PS, I have the same income as before and im in the same circumstance but I now manage to overpay my mortgage and get an extra holiday a year, thats how unorganised I was with money previously!)

sarah1972

I am so proud that I am debt free now :j

I had a lightbulb moment in 2007 when I realised that debts were getting on top of us and I needed to do something about it so I entered into an IVA over 5 years. I entered the IVA with £40,000 of debt that had been accumulating over the years.

I became debst free in October 2012 when I made my last IVA payment, when the insolvency practioner called me to congratulate me and tell me that I had made the last payment, I burst into tears on the telephone

My only piece of wisdom now is, if I cant afford to pay cash for it then I will save until I can. No more credit cards or loans for me

fermi

Congrats Sarah. I didn't realise that.

I went through the whole BR thing in 2006/7, and it has been tough but very worth it. Like you I am determined to never let any sort of debt get out of control again. If I can't afford it, I will wait.

cheesy*wotsit

sares wrote: »

Your story brings so much hope to me! I am at my wit's end - I owe about £20,000, I am a single parent, I work part-time and I have to find £500 every month to pay my bills. I think I will take your advice and call CCCS but I am so embarrassed and ashamed. None of my family know and I am too scared to tell them but I need to take that first step so I will call CCCS this week. Thanks

Please don't feel scared/daft/stupid/choose your own on asking for help. In 2004 I went to the CAB for advice and they were fantastic. I'd tried to solve it myself before and fudged it up enough to get narky letters in the post, and I wouldn't open them. I'd just got married but my dad had died and I was in a crap place. I realised that my dad would never want me to worry, and I bit the bullet and went. I took a bin bag full of creditors bills with me - but I didn't get any looks or comments whilst waiting to be seen, which I felt said a lot.

After chasing down a LOT of PPI and using that to clear my debts as well as my budgeting (trust me I was tempted) I managed to call Lloyds TSB last week - and ask them to close my account! I only have Northern Rock to do now, and that should be done in 2 years. The money I used to put towards my creditors now goes into a separate account that I can't touch, so having gone from owing nearly £25k in 2004 I now owe approx £3.5k and am working hard on getting them paid off so I can tell Northern Rock to "get lost"

Just one thing... Stick to the advice that you are given. It's hard I know, but when you see those figures shrinking the feeling is fantastic.

pinkpanther22

The date of your lightbulb moment: Bit different here - I wasn't in debt because of myinability to manage money but because of my husband's alcoholism and mycontinued attempts to help him. He was a"functioning" alcoholic in a reasonably well paid job, but even themost tolerant employer gives up eventually. The lightbulb moment for both of us was 17th September 2009 when hestopped drinking.


Debts at their highest: £42,957

Debt-Free Date: 14th May 2011(it's amazing how much was being literally ****** down the drain by his habit -see how quickly we paid them off when he stopped - and that gives you an ideaof how bad it was too). We now havesavings!! (but chances of mortgage nil because of his trashed credit rating asa result of the booze).


Your one pearl of wisdom: Several, please bear with me

1. If you have an expensive vice - just stop it. No ifs, no buts. It is possible and I know more than oneperson who has. It takes guts to behonest with yourself about what it is, but you need to want to stop and thebest way to do it is cold turkey.

2. Take up exercise as a substitute (I think someoneelse has already suggested that but I second it)

3. Sleep on it - do you really need it? - Probably / possibly not,especially if it's some form of electronic consumer good / designer brandeditem

4. Think what else you could buy with the money thatmight be more worthwhile and then review again whether you really need it

5. Work out how many hours you would have to work toafford it (I'm self employed and this one in particular is highly motivational)

HeadInTheSandnoMore

I had a "semi lightbulb moment" in 2009, at that stage my debt was around £55k. So I sold my house (As £37k was a secured loan this reduced my debt significantly), but due to the recession, this sale just about covered my outstanding mortgage and secured loan. Then I stuck my head firmly back in the sand again.

In June 2010, I had my full Lightbulb moment - At this stage my debt stood at around £36k, there was no hiding from the mess I was in.

So, I relocated from "down south" and moved 150 miles north, moved back in with my parents and became self employed.

I'm pleased (and relieved) to say that I became debt free on February 18th 2013. Its been a traumatic and long slog, but I got there. I hadn't realised how heavy the debt was on my shoulders, and now its wonderful to be paying cash for everything. Last xmas I splashed out a bit more than usual on pressies for my family - but was the first time ever that I didn't use credit for any of it, it was cash all the way, and I shopped with a pre-prepared list (And shockingly didn't stray from it!!).

Lists and spreadsheets are my thing - so my tip is to only go shopping with a list, if you don't have it on your list, don't buy it. At least when preparing a list, you can also research prices online and investigate the best deals. I'm currently in the process of buying a new house (Assuming I can get a mortgage agreed, which should be okay, as my credit score is surprisingly good), and ive already started my spreadsheet, planning what extra's I can afford (Its a new build, and isn't built yet, so can still request extra things to be included), and what bits I need / want to buy in addition to the items I already have in storage.

Well done to everyone else who is debt free, and good luck to all the debt free wannabes, you can do this with patience and focus...!!!

ashleyriot

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

September 2009 after my girlfriend left me to run an apartment on my own and then I got really scared about money.

b. Debts at their highest

Including Student Loans (although I was a pre-1998 student so much less than today's students) about £40,000.

c. Debt-Free Date

March 2012 (I had a 0% credit card with £500 on it and I refused to pay it off 3 months early because that £500 was helping me earn 3% in my Santander current account, lol - just minimum payment each month).

d. Your one perl of wisdom.

Budget, budget and budget. It will scare the hell out of you as you realise what you spend money on and you will probably cry a bit but that's ok! Crying is your brain telling you that you need to work things out but at least your brain is now telling you this - it wasn't before because your head was in the sand.

I'm sorry, I have more perls:

* Don't be scared to say, "I can't afford to do this," to anyone - partners, friends or work colleagues - you'll thank yourself in the end - and don't start off by saying, "I'm sorry but…"

* Consolidation of debt is only the answer if you continue to overpay the debt by the amount you're saving in only have one payment now each month. Otherwise nothing has changed.

* Anyone can cook at home - avoiding take aways etc. will be a massive saving of money in the long term. A slow cooker is a major friend.

* Go to sleep dreaming about the fact that for every payment you make on debt, you're reducing the capital owed so therefore reducing the interest paid so more money then goes to the actual debt next month.

Dream about clearing one whole debt and then having all that extra money every month to pay off more debt going forward (ok, you can treat yourself on month one perhaps).

* Have no brand loyalty ever - you owe them nothing.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

ashleyriot wrote: »

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

September 2009 after my girlfriend left me to run an apartment on my own and then I got really scared about money.

b. Debts at their highest

Including Student Loans (although I was a pre-1998 student so much less than today's students) about £40,000.

c. Debt-Free Date

March 2012 (I had a 0% credit card with £500 on it and I refused to pay it off 3 months early because that £500 was helping me earn 3% in my Santander current account, lol - just minimum payment each month).

d. Your one perl of wisdom.

Budget, budget and budget. It will scare the hell out of you as you realise what you spend money on and you will probably cry a bit but that's ok! Crying is your brain telling you that you need to work things out but at least your brain is now telling you this - it wasn't before because your head was in the sand.

I'm sorry, I have more perls:

* Don't be scared to say, "I can't afford to do this," to anyone - partners, friends or work colleagues - you'll thank yourself in the end - and don't start off by saying, "I'm sorry but…"

* Consolidation of debt is only the answer if you continue to overpay the debt by the amount you're saving in only have one payment now each month. Otherwise nothing has changed.

* Anyone can cook at home - avoiding take aways etc. will be a massive saving of money in the long term. A slow cooker is a major friend.

* Go to sleep dreaming about the fact that for every payment you make on debt, you're reducing the capital owed so therefore reducing the interest paid so more money then goes to the actual debt next month.

Dream about clearing one whole debt and then having all that extra money every month to pay off more debt going forward (ok, you can treat yourself on month one perhaps).

* Have no brand loyalty ever - you owe them nothing.

Congratulations Ashley

Great words of wisdom too

HHx