The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

katepnlo

i can sign the roll of honour!!
DEBT FREE DATE!: 17 JUNE 2007

Wow, my debt has gone, i have bloody done it, just this second paid my last payment to the credit card :j :j :j :j :j :j :beer: :beer: :money:
(well apart from the money claim £30 for Halifax thats on there!! but i don't really owe that as that should all be done n dusted ina week lol)

I am in shock.
But very proud to
This now meens we can get on and do our house up, as we stoped so we could clear our debt, infact we put new fencing up today.
I had to share my excitement as i know everyone is working towards it, plus i am so sick to death of beautifull house that looks like a 70's reject.

will have the rest of our holiday to pay for in a few weeks so will be 'saving'!! (havent done that before!) to pay the last few hundred on that (was of course a great bargain, that couldn't be got cheaper anywhere lol)

The relief is amazing, it will be odd too...from now we will 'see' where our money is going, rather than just me seeing the money go out and make my credit card balance smaller lol

yay yay yay !!!!

To top it off, if our two halifax accounts pay out on bank charges my credit card won't eat it!!!!!

Anyway my mind is wandering..i did it i am debt freeeeee :eek:
kate

keep going everyone!!, it all started building up for us 5 years ago and it has taken nearly 2 years to get to this point

THANK YOU MONEYSAVINGEXPERT I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THIS PLACE!!

LJD1_2

I've joined the club!

Final LBM was about May last year
Final amount of debt was £8000
Pearl of wisdom - we never buy anything now without a cooling off period. If we really want \ need it we go back a week later. Most of the time we realise we don't need it!

Really can't believe we've done it and the support of this forum has been crucial. Knowing we weren't alone really helped. Thankyou xx

fraz1975

New on here, only joined now to keep myself debt free and watch the black numbers go up.


Its hard, but it can be fun getting debt free and the easy sleep at night is worth it, and I no longer have to try to convince the cat to eat the post when it comes in, woohooo ....

TheBinMan_2

This is my first post, though I've received the MSE emails for about three years now.

Lightbulb Moment: January 2004
Peak of Debt Mountain: £14,000 (student loans and stupid spending mostly)
Debt-free date: 2 June 2007 (Just waiting for the &More statement saying zero, woo-hoo!)

Pearls of Wisdom:
Get a credit card with a cheap "for-life" rate rather than tarting around. It was undoubtedly cheaper to do this when I had my massive debt as fees were nil, but it took a lot of effort and probably damaged the credit score a bit with all the knock-backs. Once you've got the card, never drop your monthly payments below the first minimum payment they set you.
And don't fool yourself into thinking you have any savings while still in debt. Any spare cash you get, dump it onto the card.
Oh and use a spreadsheet to track all your transactions daily, auditing your statements as they come in. Yes it's time-consuming and tedious, but it will help you to budget, allow you to see your overall situation at a glance and mean you can immediately spot any potential fraud or other errors.

Having said all this I've been extremely lucky (albeit equally stupid) what with having no mortgage (cheap rented flat), no kids or car, and a stable job. This also makes me kick myself that I ever had £14,000 worth of debt rather than say £8,000 worth of savings. Still, I'm now £3,000 in the black and looking forward to watching it grow. Suggestions anyone? :-)

Here's my condensed debt-free diary:
January 2004: £9.900 shifted to Capital One's 3.9% for life card. First repayment £260 and this was the minimum I ever repayed.
£5,000 sitting in an Abbeyloan, 6.4% rate but locked for 5 years (unfortunately) monthly repayments £118 including protection insurance

August 2006: £1,500 savings used to clear the Capital One card.
£4,000 transferred from the Abbeyloan to the Egg Card, who offered me 0% for 5 months as an anniversary deal

January 2007: £2,000 transferred from Egg to new M&S &More 3.9% for life card: I set the repayments at £320 per month.

June 2007: Final payment of £256.68 paid to M&S, debt balance of zero!!!!

My Current Financial Situation:
Marks & Spencer &More Card - Cancelled but kept as it marks a momentous point in my debt-free journey! :-)
Egg Credit Card - zero balance but for emergencies
Abbey Credit card with cashback - for monthly spending and paid off in full
Abbey Monthly Saver - 7% interest, due to mature in August
Abbey ISA - for my tax-free allowance, obviously
Abbey eSaver - instant access for keeping surplus cash

So that's me, 8 years to accrue, 3 years to defeat! Thank you sooo much, MSE, it would certainly have been a harder fight without you. And to my fellow DFWs, you can do it!!!

:money:

Burlesque_Babe

a. The date of your lightbulb moment - July 2006
b. Debts at their highest - 25,000
c. Debt-Free Date - May 2007
d. Your one perl of wisdom. - Every single day do something that is related to bringing your DFD a bit closer. Even saving £1 on something every month will help, even though you don't think it will make a difference - it does.

immoral_angeluk

You kept that quiet Keren!!! Well done!!!!!!!!!

Burlesque_Babe

oh, hiya I_A!!! Can't hide anywhere!!!!

o_Looby_o

Lightbulb Moment: June/July 2006
Peak of Debt Mountain: £6000.00
Debt-free date: 5th June 2007

Pearls of Wisdom: I don't really have one, I just saved as much as a possibley could every month and do any unnecessary spending.

:j

JAMIEDODGER

lightbulb moment - may 2005
dfd - 6th july 2007
pearl of wisdom - focus on the prize:)

BabyDragon_2

Wow I did it too!

a. The date of your lightbulb moment = Jan 06
b. Debts at their highest = £10,000
c. Debt-Free Date = 22 July 07
d. Your one perl of wisdom. I can't believe how good it actually feels to owe no one. My outlook to wanting things has changed so much - when I was in debt and wanted something I decided I would pay it off someday and bought it any way - now I have the money to buy things - I don't actually want much at all - I find the 'Do I really want it?' question coming up - I think I just rather see my money in the bank and boy it's so strange but so great at the same time Wahooo!! :beer:

MSE :money:is a great site.