Thank you DFW board...

leebo87

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on the DFW boards for a couple of months now and just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who posts and offers support to others. I'm sure there are tens if not hundreds of people who are supported by your replies to other people's posts, and I am one of them.

I've been in debt to varying degrees ever since University. In my early 20's I managed to save 'enough' to go travelling but racked-up about £2k on credit cards in the process. Since then (over a period of approx 5 years) I have taken out two loans; £4k £7.5k, another £1400 credit cards, a car loan, £3k from the bank of mum and dad and was constantly near my overdraft limit (£250) every month.

My LBM came when I went to check on the status of a loan I knew was coming to an end. I called the bank that provided the loan to be told it had been passed to a DCA (whom I hadn't heard anything from!) and that so long as I kept up payments it would all be paid off by Christmas 2016 - a whole year later that I had anticipated. I was so tired of living from pay day to pay day with no savings and what seemed like all of my earning being frittered away.

From that moment I was determined to address my wreckless attitude to spending/finances and get out of debt for the first time in a decade. My LBM happened in September and thanks to a lot of support/advise posted on this forum I can happily say I have cut my spending right down; have found a new love for spreadsheets; created a spending diary and have paid off 25% of my existing debts on CC's and loans. For the first time in my life I have an accurate picture of my finances and know exactly when a bill or payment needs to leave my account.

I have also been able to get out of my overdraft for the first time in years and budget for Christmas. This will be the first Christmas in years where I haven't put the majority of my spending on credit cards or used my overdraft. I'm over the moon! Thanks to budgeting and tips on here I can now start to think seriously about the future - saving for a deposit on a house, going on a holiday etc.

My (mostly)Debt Free Date is set for July 25th 2016 - and I can't wait. I will have all but one loan paid-off and that one finishes at the same time the following year.

So.... THANK YOU everyone who posts on the DFW boards. You do more than you even know!

TheMillions

Well done, sounds like you have spent a lot of time planning your spending and understanding where you can be saving and not frittering away.

Good luck down the line

crazy_cat_lady

Fantastic progress in just a couple of months. Brilliant!