So, finally. It's done.

BusPass_2

Great post mr-aaa and the heartiest congratulations.

Keep the mindset.

Today is supposed to be Blue Monday, most depressing day of the year, but you have turned that one on it's head. Don't let the herd influence you. The media will have us all off the cliff like lemmings if you listen to them.

I am debt free, have just booked my summer holiday today, have a break to Paris next week, and a trip to London for the marathon in April. Blu Monday, get lost!!!

I am saving too!

I too had a mountain in 2002, and a very small fork. Took six years but I got there.

There is a book title in there so go for it. Relive your journey, commit it to paper, and you never know who might publish it.

:T:T:T

Mister_aaa

BusPass wrote: »

Great post mr-aaa and the heartiest congratulations.

Keep the mindset.

Today is supposed to be Blue Monday, most depressing day of the year, but you have turned that one on it's head. Don't let the herd influence you. The media will have us all off the cliff like lemmings if you listen to them.

I am debt free, have just booked my summer holiday today, have a break to Paris next week, and a trip to London for the marathon in April. Blu Monday, get lost!!!

I am saving too!

I too had a mountain in 2002, and a very small fork. Took six years but I got there.

There is a book title in there so go for it. Relive your journey, commit it to paper, and you never know who might publish it.

:T:T:T

A book, hmm nah. I have enough trouble with 1000 word essays for the Open Uni

I was dissapointed by the lack of fanfare though. I might buy some party poppers and let them off lol

Wee_Pilsbury

Mister_aaa wrote: »

Strange time for me. I never posted a diary but was an avid reader / lurker here.

I paid off my last credit card on Friday. :j

It all stems back to 2005ish, i had been made redundant, and had mortgage and credit card debts, and the redundancy money was enough to live off while i looked for another job for about 5 months.

4 months later, and not having found a job i was starting to panic, when just in the nick of time i found a job.

The fear and uncertainty around that "what will happen if i dont find a job and run out of money" was quite an eye opener, i guess my proper light bulb moment.

So i started my new job already in a position, due to having been unemployed for 4 months, to not expand my spending. I kept my spending at the same as if i was unemployed, and started saving. I never wanted to feel that powerless over something like money again.

Slowly but surely, much like chipping away at a mountain with a fork, i started taking responsibility.

First to go was the mortgage. I was in a lucky position because my morgage wasn't that big as i had bought a house off the council. Many nights out were missed. Holidays were skipped, treats were left unpurchased. Until finally 18 months ago my final mortgage payment was sent through.

Obviously then the snowball effect took place, but in my favour this time. One by one, my 3 credit cards were worked on. Consolidating into 0% offers, and chipped away until Friday came and i logged onto barclaycard and sent through the balance of my last card.

A PPI reclaim (in my sig) paid off my car loan and a fair chuck of my outstanding mortgage (thanks MSE for that one!).

So, here i am. 4 months from 40, paid off house and no debt, car that i own outright and in a position finally to start doing stuff that i want to do. It's weird, like i said at the start "Strange time for me".

Now i'm so used to living in my means, now that my wages are more than my means, what do i do? It's unfamiliar territory for me.

I think the overall message is that it is possible to overcome the mountain, even with a fork! :rotfl: And to all of you dfw's out there, realise this, every time you think that it is impossible. It isn't, it's doable, it just takes time, commitment and discipline. Sadly in our "now now now" society, all of the above are very difficult. But the feeling of pride in actually doing it surpasses any high from a shopping fix * 10000000.

Hang in there, and good luck (and thanks for reading - if you made it this far) :beer:

Mister_aaa.

Sig to be updated

Fantastic! What a feeling it must be to be not only debt free but also mortgage free. Can I ask though, am I right in thinking you paid your mortgage off before your debts? It seems to be the done thing to do it the other way round so I'm curious

Mister_aaa

Wee_Pilsbury wrote: »

Fantastic! What a feeling it must be to be not only debt free but also mortgage free. Can I ask though, am I right in thinking you paid your mortgage off before your debts? It seems to be the done thing to do it the other way round so I'm curious

My mortgage was less than my debts, so i was able to get rid of that one first and just use the money from that to snowball up onto getting rid of the c cards.

nancmat

Well done, I have also just paid off my two loans today giving me an extra £384 a month which i can now put towards paying the last £1,134.81 on my Northern Rock loan!! Good luck to others, feels great to actually being able to plan for the future, whereas this morning I had no nappies left for the baby it was that bad, thank god for pay day x

DawnW

I can see just why the OP paid off his mortgage first - it must have been very scary to lose your job and not know if you would be able to pay the mortgage if you couldn't find another in a few months. Even though in most cases it makes sense to pay off debts first, if you don't pay the mortgage, you can lose your house. If you simply don't pay your unsecured loan or credit card, you can go on a DMP or similar. Much less drastic. In his (?) position I would have done the same I think.

SuziQ1962

Congratulations-very inspiring to me who is at the beginning of the DF journey!Enjoy your new financial freedom :-D

bargainbetty

Mister_aaa wrote: »

I was dissapointed by the lack of fanfare though. I might buy some party poppers and let them off lol

Personally I would have run around my house naked, because it was mine, all mine! I still intend to do it when I get mortgage free.

I feel sorry for the people in the flats opposite my place - June 2020 is not going to be a good month for them

Congratulations - fab story and inspiring!

Mister_aaa

bargainbetty wrote: »

Personally I would have run around my house naked, because it was mine, all mine! I still intend to do it when I get mortgage free.

I feel sorry for the people in the flats opposite my place - June 2020 is not going to be a good month for them

Congratulations - fab story and inspiring!

Lol, i couldn't possibly comment on whether this has already happened

Mister_aaa

Well, its started. I've decided to start looking for another job, as the one i do now is of no benefit to society whatsoever. This bothered me in the past, but now i don't 'have' to do it for the money, i ask myself "why am i doing it?"

It might take time to get another one in a not for profit or public sector area (with the way things are at the moment), but it's now my next goal.