Debt Free Successes: How did you do it?

Igamogam

OK I am not DF but will be one day so I am subscribing to this thread to be inspired and pick up some( more ) ideas

NoOneAround

Igamogam wrote: »

OK I am not DF but will be one day so I am subscribing to this thread to be inspired and pick up some( more ) ideas

Thank you for joining Igamogam:beer:
I should have said in my first post the thread is not exclusively for posts by those who are already DF, but anyone who is on their way too
:T


xx

TizerCat

Very helpful and encouraging! Thank you for posting your stories it is good to hear from those who have achieved it

TC x

NoOneAround

NoOneAround wrote: »

I have just begun my DFW (Spent 4 years pretending....) and have found much support and encouragement on this forum.

It has been really inspiring to see "Debt Free!" in many of the signatures:T

and got me wondering how people have got there. Much as I would love to read each and every diary, there are not enough hours in the day!


As suggested by Brizzledfw and TizerCat, I am starting this new thread and hope that people will post a quick summary of the route they took to be able to sign that elusive "Debt Free" autograph!

Suggestions of info to add:-

Total debt and date started to deal with it.
Debt Free date/how long it took.
How did you do it?
Paid in Full?
Full and final settlement?
How much if any Written off?
Self managed or charity or other company?

Thank You!
NOA

Thanks to all the posters so far :T
Would be great to hear some more summaries of the routes people have used/are using to deal with their creditors. It certainly helps and inspires me and hopefully many others too:)

brizzledfw

Just bumping this thread as keen to hear more tales

Calling14

Nice to hear your success stories, just reading this thread is getting me motivated to stop frittering money away and to hunt items to sell tonight.

Thanks guys awesome I seem to have lost my mojo lately, kick up the !!!! time and now ready for a successful October. I want the DF title in my signature x

NoOneAround

brizzledfw wrote: »

Just bumping this thread as keen to hear more tales

Thanks Brizzle - I was wondering about the etiquette for bumping:)

NoOneAround

Calling14 wrote: »

Nice to hear your success stories, just reading this thread is getting me motivated to stop frittering money away and to hunt items to sell tonight.

Thanks guys awesome I seem to have lost my mojo lately, kick up the !!!! time and now ready for a successful October. I want the DF title in my signature x

Thanks for popping in Calling14 - it keeps me motivated too so looking forward to reading lots more inspiring tales!

HOK3Y

Hi NOA,


I don't post very much anymore but saw this thread and wanted to share. I have no idea how much my debts were at their worst. During my first marriage there was probably a time when it was around $75k, maybe even more. What I do know is that I had tackled some of it before I had my true lightbulb moment in August 2013 and then it stood at over $21k. At this point, I declared war on every creditor I had - nothing less would suffice. They had me hooked with debt slavery - I was working for them and not me. I decided enough was enough.

Debt Free date/how long it took: I was totally debt free by April 2014

How did you do it? We cut back on everything, followed a strict budget, went out every night for a walk in our home town searching for roadkill (dropped coins - remarkably lucrative!), picked up receipts in Asda to get vouchers for groceries (saved around £135 in November last year doing this), sold everything we had of value regardless of sentimental value, completed surveys, flipped items from charity shops on Ebay for profit - honestly, if we could make £1 in some way, we would do it. We accepted the value of every penny.

Paid in Full? All paid in full - and it felt great.

Full and final settlement? Nope.

How much if any Written off? None.

Self managed or charity or other company? Totally self managed. the only way to do this successfully is to get a little obsessive about it. You need to go all in, balls to the wall. You need to live and breathe debt busting. It needs to influence almost every decision you make. You have to get good at saying no and you have to feel pride when you do. You have to focus on the end goal rather than how good it will feel to have a new pair of shoes. It takes dedication and determination but living debt free is worth it.



Most important thing to remember: Stay positive. No matter how rubbish it feels or how sad you are to be missing an evening out with friends, focus on your end goal and remember that every penny you save is something good you have done for yourself.

Very best of luck to you NOA. x

mfmaybe

As you will see from my signature I'm not currently debt free, but I've got there once before and will again.

As a junior trainee, very lowly paid, back in the late 90's I bought my first flat. As well as having horses and way too many lovely holidays, I ran up £25k in debt. This was more than my annual salary even by the time I qualified. I had no idea how I'd ever pay it back, so I did something quite drastic. Moved abroad, to a tax free country. I got a good salary there, and was able to save up a fair bit of money. At the same time I rented out my flat in the UK, and still own it now. Needless to say there is a fair bit of equity in it by now, so it was worth all the worry.

I lived abroad for 2 years and when I came home I still had some credit card balances, but I also had a fair bit of savings. I was able to use those to put down a deposit on a house so that I didn't have to sell my flat. I paid off all the credit cards over time, and for years only ever put things on cards that I could pay off again the next month. However I was always a bit lax with my overdraft, but I didn't worry too much about it. I was also saving regularly, I pay into pensions etc, so all was fine. That was until we got married (cleared out all our savings, and a bit more) and at the same time started spending money on IVF Unfortunately this still hasn't worked for us (planning on going again soon) but I ended up having to borrow money from a family member towards it. I don't regret it, but I have had to make some changes. This year I decided it was time to re-focus, so I've been able to pay off my overdraft. I've got a balance on a 0% card that is now my only external debt other than 2 mortgages (flat and our home, both of which get overpaid) and I'm trying to get back into the habit of saving up for things. I still find it hard to keep focussed, mainly because I know I've got assets that very comfortable cover the debt; and life has a way of ruining the best laid plans. I'm trying to keep up surveys and swagbacks, and for a while fleabay was my friend but I've lost enthusiasm for that just now. Main things for me are homemade lunches, and holidays! Both ends of the cost spectrum.

Sorry for the waffle. I realise moving abroad isn't the easiest solution for many people but it worked for me and others I know :cool: Right now I'm still juggling - large annual bills are my downfall so I'm still playing catch up trying to get ahead of those - but I'll get there. Writing in my diary has been the one thing that's kept me going this year. I fear without it I'd have the 0% card, yet still run up my overdraft again. It has also given me both the information and motivation to remortgage, change utilities suppliers, set a budget for food shopping, meal plan, and a hundred other little titbits.