a. The date of your lightbulb moment

1st September 2016 however I didn't know I needed a LBM until the first few posts from MSErs on my sticky, politely asking me to think about whether I really needed that consolidation loan. So actually maybe the LBM happened within the first two pages of my sticky, not sure which MSEr should get the actual credit though!

b. Debts at their highest


£19766.82 (however I will also add that I have paid off my student loans during this time also, which was £3856.72) so you could say the total debt was 23623.54.

c. Debt free date

31st August 2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom

You must ensure that you track your spending EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's like dieting, if you take your eye off the ball and the bigger picture/long term goals, it is so easy to fall back into the cycle which brought you onto MSE in the first place.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you

N/A

f. Which forum threads helped you

DFW boards and loans - if anything just for a wake up call and realising that others were starting a journey of discovery and I was already on that road.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it

I didn't have a diary but my sticky at the top of the loan board ended up kind of being my diary. It's just ironic that I wanted to be a DFW but didn't know at the time! (Hence it being on the loan thread, which is pretty funny actually!)

Whoop whoop .... made it

Answers
LBM was back in 2012. I had been promoted at work and was told I was been flown out to Argentina in two days! I was struggling to work out how to pay for my expenses before I could claim them back! My credit cards were all full and, although I had a works Amex it did not work everywhere!
My debts were around gbp19k
I then contacted PayPlan who were recommended by a counselling line available through work. They set me up paying gbp100 per month to start. Debt free date was somewhere around 2025 (minimum). I kept this up and just increased around gbp20 a month. Then, due to a change in circumstance (remarried so two household incomes) I have been able to blast the debt this final year at gbp450 per month

My pearl of wisdom is to allow yourself enough money to live. I will not lie when I say I exaggerated my expenses. I thought initially that I would be paying this back into retirement and there was no way I was going to have my time with my children spoilt. I massaged the figures shamelessly and justified doing so by knowing I could have gone for an IVA or full and final settlements rather than choosing to pay my debts in full. Remember a DMP is an informal agreement so you do have some leeway. I think my creditors accepted by plan simply because I always managed to increase it annually.

The entire site has been my saviour and Martin Lewis my god.

I do have a credit card now but the balance never exceeds my savings. I use it for the protection it provides rather than it making me it’s prisoner.

Good luck everyone xxxxxxxx

ST xx

Finally free!

a. The date of your lightbulb moment
Sometime in March 2013, when I realised I could not afford food and none of my "shift it around" tricks would work to stop the calls/letters anymore.

b. Debts at their highest
About £11k

c. Debt-Free Date
08/09/2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Stick to your budget no matter what is going on around you. Learn to say no to your mate's spontaneous invites to things like the pub where the budget gets blown.

e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
None really, I just checked back often and read about other's journeys.

f. Which forum threads helped you
See above.

g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it
I didn't.

I have paid my last credit card debt off today
It does feel good!

Cannot remember my exact LBM some years ago, decided about 2 years ago to start paying extra on my cc and a loan I had.....all clear by july 2017!!

I just want to say well done to everyone on here trying!

Many of you are proving that it is possible with enough motivation to beat your debts and gain even more control over your finances!

My wife and I took out a mortgage in 1996 and I insisted with the bank to have the longest interest-only mortgage we could get. We couldn't make changes to the policy until after the first 5 years, on that day we went in and after saving very hard for 5 years managed to pay half of the mortgage amount so took out a repayment mortgage (longest term again to pay less interest per month) and ploughed everything we could into it. Bottom line is we paid off the mortgage in full on the house in 8.5 years from start. No luxuries, everything we earnt went into paying off the mortgage as it was cheapest overall to do that.

We later sold our house and bought a flat which was far cheaper, meaning we could retire early.

I also have gained over £80 on Checkoutsmart and have about half that on Topcashback.

So kind moderators, could I please have the following badges please? Thanks very much!

a.The date of your lightbulb moment
Sometime around June 2011. We found out my wife was pregnant with an unplanned 3rd child. This threw me in to a blind panic as the previous 2 periods of maternity leave had stretched our creditworthiness (and available credit) to the absolute limit. By now we were only just treading water and the prospect of losing half of our income for 9 months meant losing our home would be a real possibility
b. Debts at their highest
£47,352.19
c. Debt-Free Date
16th November 2018
d. Your one pearl of wisdom.
Face up to it. Don't hide from your debt. As soon as you face up to it you are on the road to being debt free. It may feel like this day will never come but it will
e. Links to the MSE guides that helped you
Stupidly I didn't really use this board until I was close to the end.
f. Which forum threads helped you
'Debt-Free Wanabee'
g. And if you had a debt diary on the Debt-Free Wannabe board (DFW), a link to it

I was supposed to debt free on 1st Dec but my eagerness took over and decided to make my final payments to Idem and PRA early so I could feel that amazing feeling of FINALLY being debt free

I was £28k in cc debt when I had my lbm in 2010. I became debt free in about 4 years, with everything paid off. I can't find my posts in here because I didn't log in for a while and forgot my id. I did have a bit of a wobble after buying a car using an interest free cash transfer but glad to say I do have it under control. I do have cc debt on 0% and fortunately enough savings to cover it. Hope every one hangs in and doesn't panic, it's a horrible place to be but you can get out of it. I'm hoping I can pop in and offer some advice, just because I've been there, done it, had the stress the worry and eventually dug my way out, debt is a darkness but it does lighten.

My lightbulb moment was in 2010. I had approx 10k of debt in my name and nothing to show for it. My ex convinced me to take out credit cards and loans and give him the miney...silly silly girl I was back then.

It's been a long road but I became debt free in the first quarter of this year. I kept so much of this debt secret from my family.

Things have changed so much, I'm in the process of buying my first home (this once seemed impossible) I have money at the end of each month and I now responsibly use credit. (Barely use it at all but if I do it's sensibly)

It's so nice not to fear the post anymore!

Shhhhhh there is a Badger about

Oh good

Just payed off my credit card bill so am finally debt free 29/11/18.

Congrats. And a badge already"

Finally, We're DEBT FREE!! and it feels AMAZING!

The date of your lightbulb moment : about 7 years ago when I first started using YNAB

Debts at their highest: £5143

Debt-Free Date: 1st December 2018

Your one perl of wisdom: Don't stick your head in the sand, be honest with yourself, your spouse/partner, your friends and your family.

Which forum threads helped you: The Debt free Wannabe area, and the Old Style Moneysaving threads.


I still can't believe we've done it. It feels amazing! Now it's time to not go crazy, and start saving for a new-to-us car, and eventually our own home!

x

Lightbulb moment happened for me on 25th January 2018.

Debt at its highest was £12,754.09.

I paid my last debt payment on Friday 30th November 2018.

My one pearl of wisdom would be to keep the focus even when it feels like you are never going to get there. Also to accept the help and support of people who are willing to give it to you. I would never have managed to pay off this amount of debt without the help of my amazing mum who has allowed me to to stay in her house rent free since March 2018. She is my honest to god guardian angel.

I don't have any specific links to any guides on here that have helped me - sorry but the whole site has just been the best.

Here is a link to my diary which I am going to keep using while I embark on my next MSE venture of saving to buy me a house!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5846129

Dxxx

So pleased for you

TODAY IS THE DAY!!! – I managed to get loads of overtime for the last push of debt busting so somehow managed to pay the last of the credit card off and the rest of my holiday off! I’m so happy I’m hopping around the place like a mad woman!

Thank you all for sharing and caring on here and thank you Martin for setting it up in the first place. This forum does so much good for people like me. I can’t even count the number of times I wanted to just have a splurge or give up but I’d just come back on here read your journeys, look at my signature to see how far I’d come and talk myself back down!

a.The date of your lightbulb moment May 2015

After I received a bill for £15,000 for works the council were going to do to my flat which had to be paid within two years. I had just booked an expensive (non-refundable) holiday and I thought I was going to be sick when I opened it as I was in loads of CC debt anyway.

b. Debts at their highest

£27,077 – A figure I will never ever forget.

c. Debt-Free Date

20th December 2018

d. Your one pearl of wisdom
Do something sooner rather than later otherwise before you know it you will have been in debt for decades. For a real kick up the ar*e/lightbulb moment calculate how old you’ll be when you finally pay off your debt at the rate you are going. It will definitely make you see it as an emergency whatever age you are!
Also although it was tough paying off debt and being disciplined, the whole process has totally rehabilitated me and my spending habits. I’m a different person for the better which I’m very grateful for.

f. Which forum threads helped you

DFW board is amazing for support, encouragement and advice - you can see that loads of people are in the same boat and that anything is possible with determination. It also really helps if you are a singleton with no partner to talk to about your debt, which I was or if you can’t talk to your family for whatever reason.

To everyone still on the journey KEEP GOING!
There will be an end and it will be worth it.

Peace and lots of love ,
DC x

That's awesome! Well done
And thanks for the inspiring story - it gives hope to the rest of us!