Debt Free Successes: How did you do it?

A question about : Debt Free Successes: How did you do it?

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

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

Best answers:

• I'm interested to know as well :-)
  TC x
• I'll start, but it is going back a bit - became debt free about 12 years ago. Total debt was something in excess of 15k on cards and overdrafts - doesn't sound a lot compared to some, but it had been around / building up for many years due to basically, bringing up a family on a very low income. We both came from poor backgrounds where the financial choices made were not the best, got married as teenagers back in the 70s and had very little. When our children quickly came along, we were really up against it.
  What we did, well, we paid it back - all of it, every penny, including interest. We became able to do this as the kids got older, and I graduated as a mature student and got a reasonably paid job. We didn't use a charity or company, as we didn't have a DMP. I am not even sure they were around back then. We simply went from paying the minimums and struggling to meet the cost of living on what was left over, to overpaying as much as possible. Once it was gone, we started to save. We eventually managed to buy our own little home and overpay the mortgage. We have lived a very modest life compared to many who post on these boards (not judging at all, this is our choice and others make different choices ) but by doing so we have both been able to retire at 60 with no mortgage, small occupational pensions and savings in the bank. The children are all grown up now, with families of their own. They all went to college, and I am pleased that we have been able to give them a better start than we had.
  We feel very lucky to be in the position we are in, though getting here has been hard. Our house is a modest mid terrace, we hardly ever go on holiday and our cars are old, but we have no debt, and can afford to help our families out a little now and then, and this is enough for us This site is very helpful to us now, but would have been an absolute godsend back then. The support on here is amazing
• Total debt and date started to deal with it. Had about Ј12k of debt and made the decision to start clearing it on NYE of 2014.
  Debt Free date/how long it took. 8 August 2014
  How did you do it? Sold stuff. Prioritised, set goals, made realistic plans, cut back on everything, worked overtime (LOADS) and among all of this we also managed to have a baby lol . We wanted to pay our friend off first (Ј2k loan). Once that was done we worked towards paying the 2 credit cards off in sizeable chunks. Threw almost every bit of 'disposable' income from our 2 salaries overpaying the Natwest loan. And finally had enough to pay back my parents a Ј3.5k loan as well. We did this fast and furious but obviously it helps that me and my wife have good(ish) salaries and a few things we could sell.
  Paid in Full? Yep.
  Full and final settlement? n/a
  How much if any Written off? None written off.
  Self managed or charity or other company? Self. Did this all with no external involvement. Wasn't under huge pressure to clear these debts as everything was on track anyway with payments, just no longer wanted to owe anyone anything - wanted to live in the black, where we plan to stay from now on!!
  Good luck on your DF journey too.
• Hi NOA!
  Well I think at its worst we had Ј37k of unsecured debt on CCs etc. Pretty shocking.
  The LBM came and went for around 8 or even 9 years before I really got focussed, and then it hit a whole new level when OH came on board in June 2013. Before then it was 3 steps forward and 2 back as each of us, at different times, overspent and 'encouraged' ourselves to do more things. Not to say we haven't had a great time, good memories to show for it, but still we have not been as careful as I'd like with the riches we had.
  We have good jobs, even though both part time and I have gone self employed. As of being DF. We seem to be OK. What we did to shift the debt was:
  - liquidated every saving pot or ISA we had to pay down the CCs
  - started making a note of every penny we spent and in what to analyse weaknesses
  - took in a lodger and begged, borrowed, exchanged for childcare (so haven't paid for childcare for over a year now)
  - took on more work to gain more income
  - sold everything we could on bay of E or Am@zon
  - ruthlessly budgeted around food, our weakness, and even though everything was HM anyway, really tried to cut down on eating out at our favourite places
  - cut down on present buying for Xmas and birthdays
  - told kids that they couldn't have it if it wasn't in the budget
  - said 'no' to friends that wanted us to spend money..but luckily they understood, (the second time of telling anyway!)
  - started talking about money to each other and others and making it less of a taboo and an embarrassment
  Phew. Am sure there is more but that's a flavour.
  Paid off the lot. All done by gaining strength from the uplifting folks on here, books like the Tightwad Gazette, Your Money or Your Life etc. oh and growing up..and taking control and realising that we had to do this ourselves, for ourselves. Debt was a curse I wanted to be free of.
  As I say though, still have a stonking mortgage of almost Ј200k, but planning to overpay so it's gone in 7 years..watch this space!
  Best of luck hon. Hope you get some more stories.
• Hi guys,
  Nice thread. Feel a bit daft posting after the others have stated their totals as mine was so low but seemed horrifying.
  My debt, at it's highest was Ј2400 in July 2011. Maybe a bit more but I still stick my head in the sand over the fact my mum and dad bailed me out to the tune of Ј2000.00 before I ran it all up again.
  Debt came from living costs far higher than my income. I had a house, with mortgage, relationship, dog, nice furniture. It all fell apart due to issues at my work with serious harassment (Boss was a Jordanian 50-something gentleman) and as everything fell apart I picked up and ran. I spent 6 months living with my ex after we split as we didn't have anywhere to go or the money. House was in negative equity and he wanted to keep it. So I moved out, gave up my job, and moved 250 miles away one day. With nothing other than my clothes and ornaments and enough to get me a deposit on a tiny rented flat, once I had a job. I was lucky and got a job but it wasn't amazingly well paid and I was commuting 2 hours a day, with the costs. Slowly each month I went further and further into debt. Parents bailed me out, but that didn't help the main issue, too many bills, not enough money. I moved close to work, but my bills were higher for rent etc.
  Had a steady relationship but he didn't live with me, or contribute from his Ј160ish a month wages when he stayed at weekends. Got pregnant, & boyfriend didn't take it too well for the first... 9 months of my pregnancy, and it hit me, Ј2400 in debt with a baby on the way and possibly doing it on my own. I cut back EVERYTHING. Sold what I could, did extra work. Got cashback on a tonne of things. I surveyed, watched endless videos for Nectar points or other points which added up to shopping vouchers. Lived and breathed MSE. And tracked every penny on a Ј1.99 app on my phone. Even debated the Ј1 out of my purse for mistletoe on a Christmas market.
  8 months after I started properly doing something about it in September 2011, I was debt free having paid off all of it, on my own. Not gone back since, and won't be!
  Thanks for reminding me how far I have come... and how long it has been since I declared!
• LDL..that is some story. Awesome.. Thanks for sharing
• 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
• Very helpful and encouraging! Thank you for posting your stories it is good to hear from those who have achieved it
  TC x
• Just bumping this thread as keen to hear more tales
• 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
• 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 Ј135 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 Ј1 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