DFNLWs - what did you do next?

bassitt74

Well, shortly after I became debt free I was able to put down a 20% deposit to buy my first home so I dare say I'll be found on the mortgage free wannabe boards. I'm already making overpayments.

I'm also setting up several saving plans for the short and long term:

- 11 instant savers for items that will spent within 12 months such as; road tax, car insurance, christmas, phone line rental, insurances, dental payments, clothing etc

- A Cash ISA with regular fixed monthly amounts for my 3-6 month emergency fund. Any cash back will be going into this account as well to help it grow.

- A Stocks & Shares ISA to build up funds for my funeral plan. I'm only 41 but if I save £15 p/mth it'll take me approx 22yrs just to buy the cheapest plan!. A good lesson I learned from my dad who's now sadly passed away.

- A plan to gradually increase my pension payments by 1% of my pay each year for the next 7 years.

I'm also going to open a 'fun money' account to siphon off the little bits of savings I make on food shops, bills, leftovers from my current account etc. I'll gradually build this up until I have enough to invest it in bonds and shares. As this will be a few pennies at a time it will take a while but at the same time it'll be spare money I won't mind taking a little risk with.

FinallyGettingFree

I have learned so much in my journey to becoming debt free, and I'm continuing to use those lessons as I go forwards. I still live a pretty frugal life, and I put a percentage of my salary into savings every month (about the same amount that I used to pay towards debt).

Although I live below my means in order to save, it's an amazing feeling to actually have that money to one side, and think "well I could buy that new Macbook if I want but I'm choosing to prioritise savings right now". I have learned the joys of delayed gratification after years of sticking whatever I wanted on a credit card and it feels great!

I'm looking forward to having 3 months expenses saved up, at which point I will save for something that I really want... like that Macbook!

KirstyO

Well it's been a year since my DFD and I can't believe the position I'm in this year compared to last year!


I am now a homeowner (on a 95% LTV mortgage though, so definitely becoming a MFW...)


I also have a regular savings pattern. At the moment I am saving £75-110 a month for holidays. In June I am going on a cruise with my family, but after this my priority will be getting my new home the way I want it, so this holiday money will be split down again...maybe £25 a month into a holiday pot, and the rest split between the home improvement fund and the emergency fund...


The emergency fund currently gets £25 a month but this will soon be more. I want to achieve a 5k emergency fund (for if I ever lost my job or couldn't work for a while, this is around 5-6 months of bills, or 3-4 months of bills and frugal eating) as well as a paydays worth of buffer (inspired by YNAB).


I also want to make YNAB part of my life. As I'm studying alongside my job I get a free student copy so I've had chance to play around and see what it can do for me but now I want to make it work for me and help me to achieve that buffer.


My new years resolution this year is to overpay my mortgage every month, even if it is only by £1. I don't get charged for overpaying as long as it's less than 10%. I'm still figuring out whether I want to do this monthly or as one off payments, but some helpful folks on MFW have already told me the best way to work this out


Outside of the house situation, I've been on a short break with my family to the cotswalds, and also a 5 night cruise to Bruges, Amsterdam and le Havre, which I'm thrilled to say I paid for by saving and not using credit, which will be the same for my next cruise in June.


I do have a credit card. A Barclaycard Initial which I'm using each month and paying off in full to improve my credit file as much as possible.


In May this year my default will be 4 years old. I'm so looking forward to the day it is gone, but knowing that I got my mortgage even with that on there (from a high street lender at a reasonable rate) made me feel less resentful towards it. I know it's my own fault that it is there, but it was really getting me down when I was looking at houses and thinking I wouldn't be able to get a mortgage.


Most importantly I have learned valuable life lessons from being in debt, and I know that I have learned them because I'm behaving differently towards money now. In some ways I am a bit obsessed with it. Not with HAVING it, but with how I manage it.


On top of all of this, I still have 2k tucked away in a high interest ISA which matures next year. It was designed as house-buying money but I never even needed it. Nearer the time I'll see whether or not it's worth throwing at the mortgage or reinvesting.


For now I'll sit in my lovely house that will one day be mine, knowing that if my credit card debt was called in tomorrow, I could just say 'here' and pay it all off!

Former_MSE_Andrea

If you've cleared your debts don't forget to share what you've been up to since to help inspire our Debt-Free Wannabes!

katy_ann

Becoming debt free has been the best thing ever, since I've become debt free I've got married, had a baby and now we're saving for a deposit for a mortgage, I've also got enough money in savings to allow me to take a full year off of work to spend with my little man! So for me becoming debt free has been life changing! Oh and to add we've done all these things without taking out any credit whatsoever, its all been saved from wages and I still don't have any credit!

Napista

Since becoming debt free, I have started saving for a house deposit and built a rainy day fund for a couple of months of bills. My budgets have also become more and more detailed, think it's becoming a hobby :shhh:

Honeylife

I treated myself, two children and 2 grand kids to a holiday abroad in the Canary Islands. We had never ever been on a overseas family holiday. Through the extensive reserch experience I had gained. I had learnt to look for cheap offers and vouchers, so I got an amazing deal on flights and villa. Worth every penny.

I have also continued to be frugal and wont buy anything without sleeping on it for one more night! I buy far less food. My health is generally better as I am not anxious about my debts. But the most important thing is I have SAVINGS! :T :T :T

determined_new_ms

we originally became df in Oct 2010 then for 2 years we saved a deposit and bought our first house. But we borrowed £5k off of the inlaws to help with the renovations needed. I was earning good money so it didn't seem a problem. Then our lives changed beyond recognition when we suddenly took custody of our then 1 yo granddaughter. Our financial situation changed - I lost my job, was out of work for 15 months and I have now returned to work almost 6 months ago but stepped down in responsibility and work pt. I have a lot less income now! We became df on 30/12/16 as my mil let us off the last £1000.

I still save but at a much lower rate than previously due to reduced income and I am planning to apply and hopefully start an MA this year, with a view to applying to do a PhD in clinical psychology. So once again will be taking on credit. I need to start looking at the best way of taking this out. Cost is £5k so will probably be a mixture of savings, a career development loan from my employment and then a loan from the SLC for the rest.

We would like to do some home improvements as we took on a fixer upper but due to the change in our circumstances we weren't able to do the bigger jobs when our gd came to us. We would also like to overpay our mortgage but that is on the back burner for now.

My partner also is wanting to retrain for a change in career so we need to work out how we will fund that also!

newleaf

I've remained debt free since 2011. We cleared our mortgage a couple of years later and I successfully reclaimed PPI!
I retired from work and instead of needing to use my pension lump sum to pay off debts, I was able to invest it.
Pleased to say that my life changed forever in 2006 when I first came to this website and had my lightbulb moment.

Kepi

Hello!
As a family we are starting our debt free journey next month. This month we have had been to the Fringe in Edinburgh and stayed with family and the whole of our short break we didn't worry about money!


My daughter is starting comprehensive in September and looking forward to Christmas without the DMP payment. I am still not sure how I feel about it all? I am not sure it has sunk in yet? We have been on the DMP 8 years. Anyone experienced this?