The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

Bailey25

I've been waiting to post on here.....lurking.....reading other's posts for motivation.....and now it's my turn!

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
April 2012. I got married in February and a couple of months later decided to face up to the numerous credit cards and catalogue debts. I had never seen them as a problem but decided to add them all up and was a bit shocked by the reality.

b. Debts at their highest
£5,350 (only about £1,000 of this was from the wedding so I thought I was in control but realised the ccs and catalogues were more than I thought)

c. Debt-Free Date
26.03.12

d. Your one perl of wisdom.
Just keep chipping away. Whenever I had an odd amount in my account I transferred it over to the credit card. Small amounts really do add up. I generally reviewed my lifestyle and taught myself to live with less luxuries, not taking my cards when out, just a bit of cash for emergencies.

Joining a challenge was the final push for me so I've got the 'pay off all your bebts by Christmas 2014' board to thank.

There's so many tips on here, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Good luck in your quest whatever stage you're at!

MrsGSR

a. The date of your lightbulb moment 9th September when I realised that mine and DH's joint account was £1,000 in the red and we were getting payments returned that I decided to take control of household finances and now we have around £500 each month left over from bills and mortgage so we have been able to save from that account.

b. Debts at their highest £650 this was my personal CC debt

c. Debt-Free Date 26/04/2014

d. Your one perl of wisdom. Forecasting my outgoings really helped to keep on budget

f. Which forum threads helped you
NSK challenges really helped to refocus me and change my outlook on life and money.

sistafromanothermista

a. The date of your lightbulb moment-- MAY 2012
b. Debts at their highest ----£20,308
c. Debt-Free Date---TODAY!!!! 27TH MARCH 2014
d. Your one pearl of wisdom---Keep going and don't give up! it's a rocky road to debt freedom but one that is well worth walking. Cut back and re-assess all of the things you once considered 'essential'. Getting rid of Sky TV was the best decision and saved £36pm! Also using the snowball calculator was the best tool to keep the debts on track.

e.Which forum threads helped you---The DFW board and the diary pages kept me sane and made me giggle a lot along the way.
g. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it

---

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4007703




May i have my badge now?? :cool::D

kataklysm

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
Aug 2008. I was running out of balance transfer cards, and starting to be rejected for having too much debt. We were both contractors, and the cards were used to make up for gaps in income between jobs... and car repairs.. and a new kitchen.. but never repaid. My partner lost his job in June 2008. Then in July I lost mine too. I found a new role quickly, but my new wage could only just keep us afloat...
It's taken 6 years, but now the last card is gone, and it hasn't quite sunk in yet.. The beer will help I'm sure :beer:

b. Debts at their highest
£15,401

c. Debt-Free Date
March 27th, 2014. A glorious wonderful day :T

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Never ignore a problem. Open every letter. Sign up for internet banking, use a spreadsheet to model your finances, check every payment has been made on time, and look for every efficiency you can. Shop at Lidl. Hug your kitty every day. Don't waste time wishing for what you don't have; work hard, focus on all the good things in your life, and the rest will come in time.

e. Which MSE guides helped you
Balance transfer guides primarily! A low life-of-balance rate turned out to be a life saver.

f. Which forum threads helped you
All of them!

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

I didn't have a diary, but I want to say an enormous thank you to everyone here for their amazing ideas, advice and support; there really is a lot of love on MSE, and it's worth shouting about. You guys!

clippy_girl

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

June 2010

b. Debts at their highest :eek:

Over £11K

c. Debt-Free Date

Today :T:j:beer::money::A

d. Your one pearl of wisdom

Try and up your income. I did mystery shopping and took in a lodger. And make sure you have a second account you can get an 'extra' paid into eg mystery shopping, ebay, quidco etc.. I used to use the one account but anything extra I got was swallowed up in the main balace!

e. Which MSE guides helped you

Mainly CC balance transfers

f. Which forum threads helped you

DFW diaries- lots of very inspiring stories

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

TBH I started a few but was a bit rubbish at keeping them up to date

Focus now- I am now saving up to go on my first holiday paid for in advance

Mort

Nothing since the 12th March and then 5 in 4 days! Fantastic.
Welcome to the club.

Upsidedown_Bear

Congratulations to all those newly debt free :T:T
Feels great doesn't it? :beer:

shyspender

a. The date of your lightbulb moment June 2013 - Took out a Tesco credit card before this, to get the 0% interest on a CC I had with the intention of paying it off and then using the Tesco card for clubcard points, paying it off each month. That didn't happen

b. Debts at their highest Total debt when I transferred it, apart form the mortgage, was £2972.21

c. Debt-Free Date - My predicted DFD was my birthday, 27/06/14, but with a bit of jiggery pokery, it was Friday 28th March 2014

d. Your one perl of wisdom. Budgetting and keeping a spending diary, Found that I can actually have money left at the end of the month if I think about what I am buying and why

e. Which MSE guides helped you None

f. Which forum threads helped you Loads, I often browse for ideas and tips but big mention to NinjaSavingKat and her monthly challenges, they have really helped me out!

g. And if you had a debt diary on DFW, a link to it Don't have one

brizzledfw

Hello all :wave:

I am so excited..5 minutes ago I became debt free:j:j:j and immediately jumped over here to say thank you, its an amazing feeling

a. The date of your lightbulb moment

Probably September 2003..but it really flickered for years..like a yo-yo diet really. The real breakthrough came in June 2013 when OH and I started working together on it and I came clean about what we owed.

b. Debts at their highest

£25,000 in early 2013:eek:

c. Debt-Free Date

Today:j 31st March 2014

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

Just keep chipping away. NEVER GIVE UP Whenever I had an odd amount in my current account I transferred it over to the credit card. Small amounts really do add up. I generally reviewed our lifestyle and taught myself to live with less luxuries, not taking my cards when out, just a bit of cash for emergencies. We logged every spend and saw where we overspent..food, holidays and going out mainly We took on a lodger, ditched paying for childcare, EBayed, said no, ate out less, took on more hours at work (both of us)..but most of all set ourselves goals and challenges on here..keeping a diary on here, reading others and posting every day made a huge difference.

I also set myself a tough goal of being DF by 31 March this year. Even in February it was looking impossible and then several good things happened and so its all come right in the end ...thank you Universe

There's so many tips on here, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

e. MSE Guides - none but am sure they are great

f. Threads..too many to mention but it was the Debt Free and MFW Diaries..I have 'met' so many amazing people

g. Diary..not sure how to post the link but its LBM in 2003..what have I been doing since..??!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE..heres to the rest of our lives..debt free..and boy are we going to stay this way

brizzledfw

Upsidedown_Bear wrote: »

Congratulations to all those newly debt free :T:T
Feels great doesn't it? :beer:

Yep It feels amazing

Thanks UB