11 years a slave - end of my journey from £103,500 in debt

welshkaren45

Totally inspiring, Merry Christmas xx

sentientpoet

Thank you everyone for your kind words . This whole forum has been an inspiration for me.

I think 'tenacity...willpower...determination' were pretty key, and although my route wouldn't suit everyone it was what I felt I had to do, no excuses, no free passes, purely for the sake of my own sense of closure.

It hasn't really sunk in yet, and I suspect it won't fully until a couple of months have passed and I can see my bank balance beginning to build. The hard work is not over yet though - I am still very conscious of my own expensive tastes and I'll have to keep up the hard self-discipline to avoid slipping into bad habits - even if it is with my money and not someone else's. Then again, a bit of hard discipline can be a good thing :eek:

As for what's next, hmmmmm. There are a couple of big, life-changing things that I want to save for, and on top of that I will be hopefully thinking about a mortgage in the next year or so, so I'm just going to roll straight into the next part of the routine. YNAB will still be my best friend, and now that I am in clear air I feel more determined than ever to do it all properly this time.

I am also acutely aware that I am not totally home and dry - I am at break even point, and very conscious that life can change in an instant, so the next step will be to keep on the current monthly plan for a bit and build an emergency pot as quickly as possible. I am aiming for £5K by the end of April, and £10K by the end of July, which is achievable if I commit to it. I am also extremely fortunate that my latest job involves some travel to some awesome places, which does help mitigate any sudden urge to splurge.

The last nine months of the DMP were the worst as the end was so near and my impatience was so great! The next four months will be the same until I've hit that 5K cushion, but then I'll breathe a bit easier and will probably relax my budget a little. And I'll definitely try to hang around here more to offer any help I can to others who are facing that lake, and holding that teaspoon.

Karonher

Congratulations and good luck with hitting your savings target

Scad

Don't post very often but felt I needed to ... congratulations! I seriously take my hat off to you, if there were only more like you prepared to dig deep emotionally and physically to dig yourself out of the hole you dug yourself, this country would be in a far better place.

ada-or-ardor

Absolutely incredible and so humbling that you wanted to own up to your responsibilities and pay it all back.

Your metaphor of the lake and the teaspoon is a great one, and could apply to so many things.

Really well done and congratulations. Enjoy this momentous occasion and have a wonderful debt-free Christmas!!

bargainbetty

Utterly brilliant achievement! Beautifully written too.

kirtsypoos

What a fantastic post - congratulations on what is, without doubt, a fantastic achievement.

Here's to your new debt free life :beer:

doingitanyway

I suspect you are indeed a poet as kirstypoos is right, beautifully written. I have a big debt to tackle in 2017 but you have proved that knuckling down and keeping on will get you there. Well done. So impressive. Bravo.

kindofagilr

Absolutely amazing to read this!!!!!!! MASSIVE well done, Merry Christmas xx

dewdropsandsunshine

Fantastic!

Thank you for sharing your amazing achievement with us