Martin's DFW Book - Lightbulb Moments Please!

Hello

It occurred to me that I didn't actually know how much my overdraft actually was. My DH used to deal with it all however he didn't know either. I looked. I was horrified. It had got so bad, although with the bank automatically giving more I had not incurred extra charges, thank God.

I looked at saving money but it wasn't going to be enough. That was when I had the slap around the face and realised that I had to stop smoking. It's like having a £5 a day pay rise!! We are making a dent now, but it's going to be a struggle.

irishwench69

What did it feel like when you had yours? Frustrating, but overall a great relief (like I had finally stopped making excuses / kidding myself)

Where were you? At home, with my brother......checking through my credit card statements ( :eek: )

How did it happen? I had just moved, and had taken a loan out for the deposit (yeah I know :eek: ) I had no money and was just shifting minimum payments from card to card.
I was thinking how am I still paying so much, after all I had been paying one card off in particular for about 18 months....?
Looking through the statements, I realised having only done minimum payments, I hadn't actually paid anything off the overall debt - it was ALL pretty much interest :eek:

After that, it was pretty scary but liberating - I realised just how much I had been kidding myself, and that nothing was as important as getting rid of the debt - I could survive and come out of the other side a stronger and better person

.........and I have!

HTH,

IW x

MadDogWoman_2

Occurred in June 2006.

We had to decide between paying a bill or eating for a week as there was no money in any account or card and we permanently lived in our overdrafts.

Admitted the problem to my mum who recommended this site. She also went through our budget and recommended the CCCS. (She's just come to the end of an IVA so completely understands).

Started the DMP in August 2006.

I'm convinced that my LBM lead to me getting pregnant naturally after 8 years trying, and lots of treatment including a failed IVF.

Ali-OK

What did it feel like?
It felt like a great weight was being lifted - I suddenly realised there could be an end to being in debt, instead of wondering how an earth I was going to afford to live every month.

Where were you?
At home, with the new Council Tax bill infront of me in March 06..trying to re-budget to find how I could find the increase of £7 a month.

How did it happen?
I'd already started budgeting properly in November 05 and making a concerted effort to pay more than the minimum payments on the cards. Then with that Council Tax bill in hand, I searched the internet about debt - and up popped MSE. That was a revelation, through reading lots of posts I could reduce my outgoings, maximise income from points sites and cashbacks, ebay, etc. I also found others in the same situation - suddenly it wasn't just me and my debt, it was a community of others in debt supporting/helping/encouraging each other on their debt free journeys. This was exactly what I needed and my df journey properly began.

MSE_Martin

What happens with the profits from the book?

A good question. As you know all my proceeds from the Thrifty Ways books which was written almost in its entirity from the Forums went to the MSE Charitble Fund and the sites charities - i didnt make a penny from it.

This book is slightly different, half is from the forums and half is directly from me (thats what makes it different). I haven't yet decided whether i will donate all my proceeds or donate half my proceeds to be honest, but it will be one of those two.

Martin

1_step_closer

Good thread this!

How did I feel:

Utterly sick and disgusted and ashamed and as if I should either crawl under a rock or commit suicide.

Where was I:

At home in front of the PC. I found this site completely by accident, perhaps it was fate!

How did it happen:

Head in sand syndrome. OH had debt and as he and his parents told me debt was common and nothing to worry about I went along with it. Had poorly paid jobs for a while, lived on my cards...........and the rest is history!

sanfrancisco

Come on Martin you should take some money.

The great british public need you on our screens and on our radio stations telling it like it really is. If you start not taking money you might get disheartened, which will be bad news for all of us. You have to have motivation.

Take the money and go wild (in a restrained MSE kind of way!)

LookingAhead

MSE_Sue wrote:

What did it feel like when you had yours?
Where were you?
How did it happen?

What Did It Feel Like?

- Half of me felt sick when I realised I could wipe out at least the next two years of having a fun life as I cleared debts.....half of me felt enlightened and like a weight had been lifted as I knew things could only get better in the long run.

Where Were You?

- I was sitting on my lounge floor with a calculator and a pen & paper.

How Did It Happen?

- I had been talking to my brother about how I felt credit rich (very) but cash poor (very). So I started to google sentences like "Pay off Debt" "How to make more money" and stuff like that. Stumbled across The Motley Fool website and downloaded a pdf from them. The one gem of information that triggered the whole thing for me was "replace the word credit with debt".

At that point it was just lift off as I started to do the maths....

Found the MSE site a couple of months later which compounded my interest (so to speak!) in becoming [STRIKE]credit[/STRIKE] debt free. Edit: Especially after reading Moozie's thread!

southernscouser

What did it feel like?

Crikey it seems like so long ago! From what I can remember it was a relief that I'd told other people about my debt. But daunting that my life wouldn't be the same again! But exciting that this was the start of a new life and a new me.

Where was I?

I was on my way home from my first visit to the International Space Station. I had vastly under-estimated fuel costs and had to get things under control! :think:

How did it happen?

By pure luck. I was renewing my car insurance. I had always been good at shopping around and did a google search. Came across a loophole from Martin where one company were offering double the difference or something if you found a cheaper quote within a month or so! They were really un-competitive aswell but I bottled out from doing it, but luckily I took a look around the site and the rest as they say is history.

SarahNeedle1872

Where was I?

Sat in front of the pc, after finding out I was pregnant (not expected!). Had started to think about buying a house (yeah right!), and thought I'd better figure out how much of a mortgage I could afford. Turns out not a lot! That was the first time I'd looked at my debts as a whole, rather than 'oh, my loan's only £5K.... Yeah, I've only got £4K on my credit card'.

How did I feel?

Annoyed with myself for getting into the situation in the first place, and angry because I have relatively little to shows for the money spent!:mad:
Mostly sick at how much I'd managed to spend in such a short time!

How did it happen?

Getting divorced and not leaving the spend habit behind, paying for everything when my OH was starting to sort his finances out, and just generally not being responsible with money.