Thanks MSE forum. Ten years since LBM

janey_j · 8 April 2019 at 11:53AM

Hello

Just wanted to say a massive THANKS to all the wonderful courageous people on the MSE forum, for all the help, support and advice you have given me.

Ten years ago my OH and I were facing debts over £100,000 (business and personal). We were in a really black dark place, both suffering from severe depression, but we had an amazing daughter to keep fighting for.

This week ten years ago was the LBM when we started fighting back. MSE and the forum changed everything and was my go to place daily for advice. Reading other peoples journeys literally kept me going.

Ten years ago all I could see was being in debt for decades, losing our home, a miserable life and never being able to retire.

What actually happened was remarkable, once we started fighting back, the debts became more manageable as we fought to have some to 0%, negotiated settlement fees, found an insurance policy to cover one of the loans, then worked several jobs, sold stuff on ebay, reduced expenditure and started budgeting. It was an exceptionally hard journey, we were severely depressed but always put on a brave face for our daughter. I remember feeling resentful and angry at the mess we had gotten into and so guilty that we couldn't afford to give our daughter a family holiday.

It actually took five years to clear and once clear our expenditure started to rise. After years of being careful there were things we needed to spend on, like maintenance on the house. I was worried we would go back to our old spendy ways. Then we had our second LBM and we suddenly realised that we had a choice, we were in actually a very good strong place, we could either have our old spendy lifestyle back or we could live a modest lifestyle (better than when we were in debt crisis) and actually work toward having financial security by using the money which previously had gone into debts into pensions, the mortgage and savings. Which is what we have been doing.

Ten years on I wince at how we spent our money, I would never want to go back. I have learnt so much from the MSE forums, it's now normal to me to choose to spend money wisely. I'm actually so much happier spending money thoughtfully and carefully.

So here's a specific mega THANK YOU to all the amazing people on the MSE forums who:
recommended.

FAKEAWAYS. my OH bought a load of spices and taught himself to make amazing curries, they are now so much better than a takeway and he makes extra sauce to freeze for emergency meals.
BREADMAKER. This saved us so much money in the early years especially making pizza bases for hoards of my daughters friends to make their own pizzas when having sleepovers.
TAKING LUNCHES TO WORK. Saved loads on taking leftovers to work and always having in my locker an easy to prepare lunch like a tin of soup.
COOK ONCE EAT TWICE, always do enough food for two meals, what an amazing tip, saves so much time.
SHOPPING AT @ldi, Saved thousands by switching to this supermarket and trying all their brands and so much less temptation than the bigger supermarkets.
LEARNING TO BAKE, a basic chocolate cake which has saved loads in not having to buy birthday cakes etc.
LEARN TO MEND STUFF FROM YOUTUBE. what an awesome tip, have mended so much and learnt to maintain stuff, saved a fortune.
SHARE STUFF YOU DONT NEED. I gave loads of make up freebies that didn't suit me to the girls at work and to my amazing surprise all of them did exactly the same and gave everyone stuff they didn't need including me.
DOWNGRADE YOUR MAKEUP. I have saved loads by trying cheaper brands of make up, which are so much better than i thought they would be.
EBAY your junk. Sold loads of stuff from the loft and also even broken car parts from the garage.
FIND A USEFUL CHEAP HOBBY, I started jewelry making with a £5 tool kit and started by mending/altering stuff , then friends asked me to mend their stuff and gave me loads of old jewelry to take apart.
FIND A CHEAP WAY TO KEEP FIT, PARK RUN, wow thanks to whoever wrote about this, it's local, fun and free.
ENGLISH HERITAGE/NATIONAL TRUST we alternated memberships each year and had loads of amazing family days out for the price of petrol and a picnic.
HAVE A YOU TUBE NIGHT, we do this regularly sharing comedy clips and old 80s music videos with friends and drinks, we have had some amazing nights crying with laughter.

These are just a few of the specific amazing pieces of advice I wanted to thank people for, there are so many more that have got us out of debt and helped us to create a much better life.

THANKYOU once again to everyone on the MSE forum, I owe you all so much.

Janey

MSE_Kelvin · 9 April 2019 at 11:54AM

Nice work Janey, really heartwarming read and, as someone currently struggling with personal debt (built up before I worked at MSE I should probably add

) inspirational too. Good luck to you and your family for the future

PS: We've popped a link to this thread on the homepage as we thought your story might help other people in a similar situation.

pidge04 · 9 April 2019 at 12:12PM

I love this!! What a turnaround!

Great tips!

Scott-Weiland · 9 April 2019 at 12:38PM

Thats really brilliant too hear x What a turnaround

I do alot of the things you mentioned, i agree there is so much good free stuff to watch on youtube. My recommendation on Youtube if anyones ever feeling down put Robin Williams into youtube and watch some of his tv interviews. Absolutely brilliant x

I normally do Yoga workouts from Youtube and i have researched so much stuff on the sport i do on youtube.