The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Domayne

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
There have been MANY flickering LBM's over the years, the first was some time back in the summer of 2005!!! I don't think I had a REAL LBM until joining MSE though, November 2013

b. Debts at their highest
12.5k was the high point of my debt, at the time of joining MSE they were only £3640.20 and with interest, I have paid off £3902.56 in my time here!

c. Debt-Free Date
TODAY!! - 07/03/2014 :j

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
I'm not sure if I can add anything that hasn't been said before but what helped me was doing a SOA and seeing how much I had left over for debt repayments and giving myself a weekly 'allowance' and moving it to a separate account - when it was gone, it was gone and I had to wait until the following week/payday!

Every little helped - making regular 'PAD's' even if only £1 here and there really add up!

Keeping my spends tracked on my phone app - I did this religiously in the first few months and it really opened my eyes to how much money I was spending on carp!

Treat yourself every now and then - It will stop you from going crazy, feeling deprived and feeling like your debt journey is a prison sentence!


e. Which MSE guides helped you
None of them really

f. Which forum threads helped you
DFW, Debt free diaries, How much have you saved and families and relationships, I didn't comment very much but reading other peoples stories, advise, tips and tricks always kept me inspired and motivated!

g. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4802768

Upsidedown_Bear

Congratulations and well done :T:T

Karmacat

Beanie, congratulations!!! I'm really, really pleased for you :kisses3:

beanielou

Karmacat wrote: »

Beanie, congratulations!!! I'm really, really pleased for you :kisses3:

Thanks
Further challenges ahead:eek: :rotfl:

Former_MSE_Andrea

Congrats beanielou, trying hard and Domayne. It's so good to see your names up in lights here. You should have received your badges now and we've just mentioned you on twitter

Andrea

beanielou

Thank you MSE Andrea
You have lots of shiny badges
Have a great weekend

Thank you MSE Badger for my lovely shiny badge

boredofbeingathome

beanielou wrote: »

The date of your lightbulb moment Was Feb 2006 when I found MSE.
b. Debts at their highest About £20,000!!!!
c. Debt-Free Date 3/3/14.
d. Your one pearl of wisdom.~~Every little helps~~chip chip & chip away.It can be done.Break it down.
e. Which MSE guides helped you
f. Which forum threads helped you~~ DFW was my friend
g. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it

I didn't have a DF diary but I have been around the DFW boards for a long time~in with the bricks!!

Although I am now DF I have further challenges to deal with.
I will continue to plod.

I managed the last wee bit with the help of a PPI payment paid to a close relative which they shared with me as I helped them get the refund.

Keep going all~you can do it.
As Martin says there is no debt problem that cannot be resolved~it may not be easy and it may not be quick but it can be done.
Thanks to all the great people I have met on MSE~ I salute you all.

Congratulations Beanie, i couldn't be more pleased for you.xx:beer::j:money:

Sea78

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

March 2006

b. Debts at their highest

£38,000

c. Debt-Free Date

25th Feb 2014

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

Unfortunately it's so much more than one thing that helped me get debt free - planning obviously and accepting help if need be (Step Change etc). All those little extras like surveys, bingo etc that pay for Christmas!

e. Which MSE guides helped you

Info on Debt Management Plans helped me from the site.

f. Which forum threads helped you

The DFW boards and diaries helped me sooo much - been less active over the last few years, but they helped me beyond description, with so much more than just my debt problem.

g. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it

I had them ages ago, but nothing that relevant now.


Just thank you so much to those who listened to me whinge and moan and carry on for the first few years!!

fermi

Great sea78. Fantastic to see another long timer finally debt free.

Upsidedown_Bear

Congratulations and well done Sea78 :T:T