The "Pay ALL your debt off by Xmas 2012" challenge

A question about : The "Pay ALL your debt off by Xmas 2012" challenge

Hi Everyone,

In Oct 11 I had my LBM (Light Bulb Moment), I'm still not sure why I had it to be honest but I'm glad I did! I joined some of the challenges on here and even started a debt free diary. I was so scared that this was just a phase and pretty soon I'd go back to my old spending habits and continue to fritter away money, feeling like a failure (again) because I'd started something but quickly gave up...

However, I made tentative changes every day and kept up with the challenges and with each day my confidence in myself grew. I was changing my spending habits, I was taking in lunches everyday to work, trying to drive sensibly to get as many miles out of my fuel as possible, using up what is in the freezer/cupboards, cutting down on takeaways, using a spreadsheet to log all my debts and payments made... etc...

This was now the middle of November and I was raring to go with my debt busting but frustrated because there was still 6-7 weeks until I could join the new challenges for 2012, several members of this challenge had been following my debt free diary and encouraged me to start the Pay off ALL your debt by Xmas 2012 challenge.

I've started this new thread as the number of members has grown so big and so fast that I am quickly running out of room on the original thread! When I set this challenge up it was my first one and I had no idea what to do or what to expect so I didn't save enough posts at the beginning for information etc. There is so much extra I want to bring to the challenge and I think that these extra posts will enable me to do this!

On the next few posts are the lists of our lovely members, I usually do my updating in the late evening every day so please be patient, although if it's longer than a day then please just give me a nudge as I may have missed it!
Don't worry about working out your %'s below as I can do this for you.

Also, on the next few posts are details of other challenges that can be done alongside this one that many of us are members of and really help towards our debt freedom. There will also be links to really useful things like the DFW Dictionery (this is brilliant and helps all new members get to know the lingo on here...), hints/tips that our lovely kerri_dfw has put together, other ways of making money such as surveys and comping with links to these parts of the boards and information on how to use the MSE forum such as subscribing to threads and how to make fonts bigger etc that a lot of our new members have asked over the last few weeks.

I am also thinking of using one of the posts to track weightloss of our members here although I must stress that people have joined this thread to pay off their debts so I don't want the weightloss to detract from this. I for one want to lose 1.5 stone through 2012 so we might as well have the support for both in one place! We'll see how it goes though, any hints or tips on weightloss would be greatly appreciated from both the exercise experts or the dietary experts here!

Finally I just want to say a huge thank you to you all for joining me in my own personal journey to debt freedom. I have been in debt all of my adult life (I am 30 yrs old), I went to uni and incurred Ј23k of student loan debt, Ј10k of credit cards/overdrafts from uni (my parents couldn't fund me so worked every holiday but still couldn't manage without credit) and car loans of Ј24.5k and Ј9k (don't ask!). In total I had Ј43,073 of unsecured debt (exc. student loan) and was drowning in debt. I have worked hard and moved quickly up the ranks at work after a few years of not finding the right job. I have made sacrifices to get to this point by giving up my lovely apartment in the city I was renting to move back in with my parents. It has been tough especially when I have lived away from home for 12 years but it was necessary and will be the best thing for me in the long run.

If you think of anything that you feel would be beneficial to the thread or want to play a part in managing the thread in any way then please just pm (private message) me and we'll figure out how to do this! I welcome all suggestions.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new thread and find it useful and fun. If you are new then please don't wait for a number from me to be considered a member of the team, just get posting and you'll fit right in! If you have any questions then please just ask and any of us will be happy to help you. Remember, there are no such things as silly questions on this thread and it is never too late to join!!!

Good luck my debt busting buddies!!!

Jemma xxx

Here is the link to the original thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3613807

P.s. I will be doing all my updating on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays (this includes allocating new numbers for our lovely new members). Please don't wait for a number to join in!!!

Please read the next 8 or so posts to get some great hints/tips and also on how to post your totals when you pay off some debt xxx

Best answers:

• The Trusty Team:
  001 mf0u1098 Ј6,700 / Ј16,386.45 40.89%
  002 charleyroo Ј8,000
  003 CW2 Ј7,069 / Ј12,459 56.74%
  004 loubie_lou Ј2,770.78 / Ј13,876.93 19.97%
  005 kerri_dfw Ј2,530.00 / Ј5,030 50.30%
  006 Suzitiger Ј133 / Ј5,353 2.48%
  007 mumfirst Ј9,958.67
  008 Shopping_addict Ј6,431
  009 eldestofthree Ј12,000
  010 rjh35 Ј4,061.76 / Ј15,461.76 26.27%
  011 antonia1 Ј1,970 / Ј4,795 41.08%
  012 his missus Ј1,525.00 / Ј6,583 23.17%
  013 fritterprincess Ј3,200 / Ј8,500 37.65%
  014 debtfreeeju Ј1,559 / Ј9,650 16.16%
  015 emiesq Ј10,000
  016 jakes-mum Ј3,246.35 / Ј8,806.89 36.86%
  017 beachie Ј1,117.01 / Ј4,000 27.93%
  018 RoobyNooby Ј1,800
  019 mazy_m Ј6,900
  020 Deniseg4 Ј17,550
  021 Flossy87 Ј949.82 / Ј8,334 11.40%
  022 Clarienne Ј2,423.57 / Ј8,379.50 28.92%
  023 Natlie Ј2,190 / Ј9,800 22.35%
  024 forgottendreams Ј1,700 / Ј6,100 27.87%
  025 Bobley Ј6,000
  026 MrsAckroyd Ј10,000
  027 GreenSaints Ј2,689.89 / Ј22,922.39 11.73%
  028 banwa Ј2,658 / Ј15,000 17.72%
  029 lulalolly Ј1,619 / Ј8,276 19.56%
  030 salkunh Ј848.22 / Ј38,028.13 2.23%
  031 savingforarainyday Ј260.91 / Ј7,145 3.65%
  032 catapa Ј3,600
  033 jimmytwoshoes Ј3,373.96
  034 moneymakermum Ј9,521
  035 sydneybean Ј216 / Ј5,592 3.86%
  036 Shellgsxr Ј2,817.73 / 6,157.85 45.76%
  037 alamaya Ј46,042.38
  038 Miss Information Ј669.33 / Ј2,529.33 26.46%
  039 jamescarsonlee Ј497.81 / Ј10,442.39 4.77%
  040 GemmaB1 Ј14,440
  041 snoopyfan28 Ј376 / Ј8,000 4.70%
  042 PammyH Ј6,500
  043 rosiest Ј4,008 / Ј12,911.70 31.04%
  044 shrekkiegirl Ј2,365 / Ј9,230 25.62%
  045 SEASHELL Ј16,563
  046 May-13 Ј4,361 / Ј14,128 30.87%
  047 sam09 Ј3,567 / 12,724 28.03%
  048 CraftyTwinkle Ј2,530.98 / Ј10,369 24.41%
  049 recurrent-ostrich Ј2,545.57 / Ј10,000 25.46%
  050 seriousDFW Ј2,145 / Ј10,722 20.01%
  051 Nickyanne123 Ј1,795.40 / Ј14,247 12.60%
  052 ibnimmo Ј44,700
  053 JayneTay Ј280 / Ј5,000 5.60%
  054 Katiec950 Ј4,241.77 / Ј10,678 39.72%
  055 InsertWittyName Ј5,969.09 / 15,626.32 38.20%
  056 dd1981 Ј2,417.25 / Ј9,793.81 24.68%
  057 PedroMatias Ј6,710.43 / Ј17,227.93 38.95%
  058 hazelc56 Ј1,038.39
  059 Choc-addict Ј785.86 / Ј29,979.60 2.62%
  060 idristhedragon Ј100 / 1,900 5.26%
  061 plum44 Ј17,845
  062 Xandersmum Ј500 / Ј8,950 5.59%
  063 Malmol09 Ј1,457.85 / Ј17,630.02 8.27%
  064 theposhbint Ј534.30 / Ј13,210.36 4.04%
  065 Kerfuffle Ј2,108.51 / Ј12,471.68 16.91%
  066 StrawberryR Ј997 / Ј6,160.16 16.18%
  067 rusty1987 Ј208.41 / Ј6,527.50 3.19%
  068 psychopathbabble Ј3,498.06 / Ј6,492.82 53.88%
  069 lemonpopsicle Ј3,290 / Ј7,719 42.62%
  070 RosaBernicia Ј510 / Ј11,195 4.56%
  071 Angel84 Ј6,621
  072 fruityslh Ј3,786.12 / Ј15,106 25.06%
  073 mumofcookers Ј3,700 / Ј8,200 45.12%
  074 Bad Weather Ј11,000
  075 MaltbyMaeve Ј7,731.63
  076 nannygladys Ј2,200
  077 Helen Pie Ј2,316.32 / Ј16,660.26 13.90%
  078 affordmylife Ј1,600 / Ј4,500 35.56%
  079 utopiah Ј760 / Ј2,260 33.63%
  080 Jan2011 Ј94.20 / Ј22,868.63 0.41%
  081 fairyface Ј50 / Ј40,000 0.13%
  082 Tjrw1985 Ј4,900
  083 twirly09 Ј1,000
  084 SpagBol Ј3,771 / Ј58,000 6.50%
  085 louisa_84 Ј250 / Ј5,500 4.55%
  086 mummychicken Ј_______
  087 Beccie Ј3,418 / Ј12,234 27.94%
  088 accountingbod Ј5,518.39
  089 rubywhatashmoo Ј1,550 / Ј1,550 100.00%
  090 Debtfreein2011 Ј5,577 / Ј22,867 24.39%
  091 samjl Ј16,400
  092 Pie Ј797 / Ј7,180 11.10%
  093 sharronej Ј4,010.62 / Ј21,120 18.99%
  094 TOOMUCHWORRY Ј20,000
  095 sarah_84 Ј6,725
  096 L-M 1498.55 / Ј6,164.55 24.31%
  097 Munchin Ј2,837 / Ј5,608.30 50.59%
  098 novagirl Ј300 / Ј2,100 14.29%
  099 irishnini €634.68 / €12,051.15 5.27%
  100 ashleighsalem Ј4,261 / Ј5,701 74.74%
  101 flowerbomb1979 Ј_______
  102 DomRavioli Ј10,000
  103 parsniphead Ј514 / Ј19,000 2.71%
  104 rainbowneeks Ј7,855.40
  105 Deeperblue Ј10,000
  106 bailey80 Ј34,939.16
  107 browng Ј1,100 / Ј5,100 21.57%
  108 must_change Ј4,000
  109 Maddie57 Ј994.16 / Ј28,729.16 3.46%
  110 redmel1621 Ј8,247.66
  111 jenna2007 Ј7,795
  112 floridafairy Ј3,628 / Ј8,241 44.02%
  113 fedupofbeingindebt Ј9,000
  114 Machine Ј1,530.61 / Ј15,962.80 9.59%
  115 stargazerselena Ј4,002
  116 emma2105 Ј4,368
  117 purpleruby Ј10,813.21
  118 miecherox Ј18,883
  119 TwelveStopsThenHome Ј_______
  120 timbstoke Ј1,550
  121 lika_86 Ј5,390
  122 gettingthereslowly Ј491.85 / Ј10,000 4.92%
  123 Superheavy Ј3,327 / Ј10,762 30.91%
  124 skaps Ј898.84 / Ј6,231.61 14.42%
  125 carer adrian Ј5,000
  126 Trevor64 Ј23,331
  127 trying hard Ј2,396 / Ј19,900 12.04%
  128 Twigs2205 Ј18,000
  129 Miss C J Ј717 / Ј5,620 12.76%
  130 DorsetGirl Ј1,798.58 / Ј7,873.87 22.84%
  131 zalnpl Ј6,000
  132 janeypoo Ј3,000
  133 Credit-Crunched Ј1,480.00 / Ј13,946 10.61%
  134 Cynical Monkey Ј3,967.71 / Ј13,292.93 29.85%
  135 January20 Ј1,786.19 / Ј1,786.19 100.00%
  136 thenewscrooge Ј9,626
  137 wit40iwtwan Ј10,847.73
  138 Dolly Rocker Ј2,983.89 / Ј8,531.47 34.98%
  139 claresy Ј11,431
  140 On_a_mission23 Ј10,000
  ------Continued on next post------
• 141 ftm2009 Ј3,192.48 / Ј12,203.48 26.16%
  142 velvet27 Ј317 / Ј2,700 11.74%
  143 money free 2011 Ј1,290 / Ј16,600 7.77%
  144 teresa Ј4,500
  145 gemred_21 Ј608 / Ј15,313 3.97%
  146 dizzybee Ј145 / Ј10,062.55 1.44%
  147 Kimsmum Ј128.09 / Ј11,578.09 1.11%
  148 twomanyshoesfortwofeet Ј7,000
  149 camuk81 Ј7,459.74 / Ј14,258.67 52.32%
  150 Poorish Panda Ј33,381
  151 happymoneysaver1 Ј707 / Ј10,013 7.06%
  152 mrso2b Ј1,412.12 / Ј12,000 11.77%
  153 gonnabedebtfree Ј26 / Ј34,842 0.07%
  154 Mama Ј17,000
  155 Flickering Ember Ј_______
  156 littlefish123 Ј8,234.18
  157 DaisyCat Ј282 / Ј20,300 1.39%
  158 Impulse1976 Ј563.80 / Ј13,543.80 4.16%
  159 Mymamma Ј268.96 / Ј19,320 1.39%
  160 gh4662 Ј4,295 / Ј32,836 13.08%
  161 savebabe Ј16,000
  162 ashers6976 Ј12,000
  163 Nod Off Ј2,915
  164 bridgetkate Ј5,200
  165 cj75 Ј157 / Ј20-25k 0.63%
  166 rictus123 Ј0.00 Ј13,500
  167 misslauren $2,200.00 / $8,100.00 27.16%
  168 hummingbird Ј727 / Ј15,000 4.85%
  169 RSYCAMORE Ј4,000
  170 twoboysmamma79 Ј4,130 / Ј9,924 41.62%
  171 Skintbint Ј1,500
  172 Raspberrysauce Ј902.41 / Ј11,051.73 8.17%
  173 tippingpoint Ј8,800
  174 webitha Ј2,646.40 / Ј5,350.65 49.46%
  175 Gorgeestwo Ј125 / Ј5,500 2.27%
  176 FannyAdams Ј146.08 / Ј3,397 4.30%
  177 loveday69 Ј632.25 / Ј4,886.18 12.94%
  178 spartan59 Ј1,175 / Ј15,385.92 7.64%
  179 Calling14 Ј1,671.41 / Ј12,224.35 13.67%
  180 Natterjack88 Ј1,443.43 / Ј13,837 10.43%
  181 Christina F Ј_______
  182 curioustom Ј4,460
  183 Lost and nervous Ј3,000
  184 george Ј13,500
  185 LB29 Ј_______
  186 Fiddlestick Ј6,403
  187 FortunePig Ј14,500
  188 Kellyjelly27 Ј17,850.12
  189 jazzypinkpuppet Ј457 / Ј12,100 3.78%
  190 judpudding Ј3,000
  191 FREEZ Ј1,500 / Ј4,000 37.50%
  192 muppets Ј135 / Ј1,000 13.46%
  193 Killmark Ј5,194 / Ј8,596 60.42%
  194 MissShoes Ј7,124
  195 plzhelpmesave! Ј6,000
  196 Robo787 Ј10.19 / Ј20,000 0.05%
  197 andrinaperry Ј2,795
  198 Fedupofbeingindebt Ј9,500
  199 miss empty piggy Ј_______
  200 superduperloop Ј463.00 / Ј3,086.35 15.00%
  201 jammydodgersandrhl Ј1,700
  202 migraineboy Ј16,000
  203 anguk Ј33 / Ј3,497 0.94%
  204 ZarZar1990 Ј10,000
  205 Linzight Ј1,013.00 / Ј3,912.65 25.89%
  206 rich8996 Ј17,881.50
  207 phoebesmum2105 Ј1,322.89 / Ј6,772.21 19.53%
  208 kat10 Ј2,091 / Ј10,000 20.91%
  209 nicola1303 Ј2,650
  210 karenann76 Ј3,317.67 / Ј18,132.56 18.30%
  211 SeduLOUs Ј1,215.70 / Ј3,950 30.78%
  212 rolopolo1965 Ј14.63 / Ј11,300 0.13%
  213 misskwa Ј8,000
  214 minx1985 Ј12,718.15
  215 iwanttogoonholiday Ј1,347.00 / Ј8,299.00 16.23%
  216 Purple_Sunshine Ј19,000
  217 Amy83 Ј548 / Ј6,000 9.13%
  218 flyingmamma Ј8,000
  219 cherylelizabeth1 Ј450 / Ј4,150 10.84%
  220 k30lly Ј1,271.79 / Ј14,382.21 8.84%
  221 michelle2904 Ј11,255
  222 bottleofred Ј3,000
  223 lancashirelassie Ј7,050
  224 Pixie Fairydust Ј6,200
  225 Aaarghusername Ј1,124.49 / Ј5,312.74 21.17%
  226 Annelien Ј43.75 / Ј16,904.29 0.26%
  227 travellinglight Ј4,500
  228 leikela Ј287.03 / Ј10,110 2.84%
  229 gallyw Ј_______
  230 2012MyYearToClear Ј490 / Ј20,000 2.45%
  231 LITTLEMISSDEBT Ј376.50 / Ј18,400 2.05%
  232 C.M. Ј5,833.50
  233 CoupsRus Ј209.53 / Ј5,000 4.19%
  234 vw campervan mum Ј5,000 / Ј12,468 40.10%
  235 naughty-yet-sorta-nice Ј5,000
  236 yasmin2 Ј981 / Ј9,758 10.05%
  237 Brokenpromiseland Ј934 / Ј11,284.27 8.28%
  238 mrsyallop Ј2,670.63 / Ј8,327.54 32.07%
  239 DarlingBuds Ј6,400
  240 chickenpluckersmate Ј10,000
  241 thebrink Ј8,467
  242 mumsiemum Ј1,010 / Ј5,175 19.52%
  243 P.Whitaker Ј4,175.06
  244 bupster Ј303.94 / Ј16,231.42 1.87%
  245 theonlynuttytart Ј2,070
  246 cyclura Ј6,650
  247 RitaRed Ј6,700
  248 Muffin86 Ј15,000
  249 Canucksfan $10,700.00 / $17,418.95 61.43%
  250 Debtfree-2012 Ј64 / Ј12,000 0.53%
  251 missmimo Ј239.75 / Ј5,798.84 4.13%
  252 rdchick Ј873.14 / Ј8,703.32 10.03%
  253 Everhopeful09 Ј4,731
  254 KittieB Ј1,300
  255 JamesKirstyLou Ј500 / Ј11,331.10 4.41%
  256 brightpurple Ј2,740 / Ј15,000 18.27%
  257 NewlyfrugalMumof3 Ј7,989.27
  258 ani*fan Ј343.83 / Ј13,458.14 2.55%
  259 kc26 Ј3,344.47 / Ј12,636.00 26.47%
  260 loublouking Ј15,000
  261 Sox77 Ј9,000
  262 richjames Ј12,733.04
  263 melwinnie Ј6,200
  264 supakarin Ј582.21 / Ј7,933.95 7.34%
  265 KS2008 Ј566.53 / Ј4,478.17 12.65%
  266 jenny.b Ј309.30 / Ј3,511.84 8.81%
  267 angelbob Ј1,200.60 / Ј2,354.93 50.98%
  268 blacksta Ј1,233 / Ј13,210 9.33%
  269 poohspals Ј1,701.96 / Ј17,820.96 9.55%
  270 Smoosh Ј1,613.76
  271 welshone27 Ј2,401 / Ј7,288.55 32.94%
  272 Glenda Ј750 / Ј4,000 18.75%
  273 atlonglast Ј2,639 / Ј8,746 30.17%
  274 greenjade Ј249 / Ј5,750 4.33%
  275 si the smurf Ј4,480.93
  276 PENNY LESS Ј24,000
  277 tirlittan Ј677.45 / Ј2,687.08 25.21%
  278 Mrs Addicted to Spending Ј1,210 / Ј4,515 26.80%
  279 PiggyBankShaker Ј1,592 / Ј5,749 27.69%
  280 nodebtin2012 Ј1,500 / Ј10,644 14.09%
  281 catmort Ј1,739.77 / Ј7,735.45 22.49%
  282 weewifie Ј25 / Ј1,525 1.64%
  283 LaurenC Ј4,735
  284 tunisiaone Ј4,265
  285 I want expendable cash Ј7,700
  286 mum of 3 boys Ј150 / Ј10,700 1.40%
  287 MJ415 Ј2,273.75 / Ј11,094.22 20.49%
  288 Worrier1957 Ј_______
  289 LittleMsStitch Ј272.68 / Ј5,333.99 5.11%
  ------Continued on next post------
• 290 shakeyblakey Ј3,680
  291 mctaggart Ј9,650
  292 Irbal Ј21,311.44
  293 crazyforshopping Ј20,000
  294 MaccaHallam Ј28.27 / Ј4,323.41 0.65%
  295 techsavvy Ј440 / Ј20,030 2.20%
  296 monkeymagic222 Ј6,500
  297 sparkleinuk Ј12,929
  298 xoxo Ј706.45 / Ј2,297.52 30.75%
  299 icklepeach Ј2,150
  300 michelleafc Ј_______
  301 bellas mum Ј_______
  302 Aroha Ј5,850
  303 alfie2009 Ј8,555.89
  304 choclover Ј1,566.34 / Ј5,210.12 30.06%
  305 ros47 Ј_______
  306 Ruthy1604 Ј3,155.17 / Ј16,779.81 18.80%
  307 nctmum Ј3,710.32 / Ј16,388.93 22.64%
  308 ZzZzZz30 Ј590 / Ј16,458.32 3.58%
  309 eddi Ј555.36 / Ј5,554.36 10.00%
  310 Lemon Tree Ј1,100 / Ј4,400 25.00%
  311 Kim85 Ј1,750.94 / Ј4,456.24 39.29%
  312 jellyjacks Ј8,200
  313 shazzyl Ј300 / Ј10,000 3.00%
  314 Rosieposiepud Ј_______
  315 skaps Ј1,270.71 / Ј6,231.64 20.39%
  316 mumof3plusoh Ј400.00 / Ј1,855.78 21.55%
  317 ratherfreeze Ј_______
  318 mumtothree3 Ј10,000
  319 Barbeduk Ј2,654.53 / Ј6,109.94 43.45%
  320 emileeeee Ј3,563.87
  321 lashley82 Ј654.12 / Ј6,651.52 9.83%
  322 welshywoo Ј2,742.24 / Ј10,693.27 25.64%
  323 LittleMissSpendALot Ј9,292.14
  324 Jubilee76 Ј1,611 / Ј12,000 13.43%
  325 TheAllanCadenhead Ј250 / Ј2,000 12.50%
  326 Sazdaz Ј100 / Ј6,631.93 1.51%
  327 lobbyludd Ј_______
  328 Oompa Loompa 737.15 / Ј14,185 5.20%
  329 nikorusama Ј4,000
  330 gemma_louise Ј_______
  331 DebtFreedom 2084 / 12000 17.37%
  332 Manchuri 1359 / 13730 9.90%
  333 Ghostlove 574 / 1590 36.10%
  334 guardianess 1750 / 2400 72.92%
  335 Debt-Free-Dave 450 / 5500 8.18%
  336 MrsPee 3300 / 10100 32.67%
• 
  DFBX12 ROLL OF HONOUR
  
• Grand Totals!!!
• Hints, tips and information to newbies!
  Here is a list of things that should be useful to both newbies and us relative oldies alike:
  1) Understanding the lingo! Here is a link to the DFW Dictionary which will explain what things like NSD's and VSP mean. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=672601
  2) Subscribing to a thread - This is a shortcut to any thread that you want to keep going back to. e.g. if you've joined a challenge and you want to keep going back to it quickly so you don't have to constantly search the forum each time then you can go to your list of subscribed threads and immediately go to that thread. To do this then just go on the thread you want (such as this one), on any page of the thread go to "Thread Tools" which is in the green band just below the page numbers on the right hand side. Then click "Subscribe to Thread". There are 2 boxes with i) a drop down menu for Notifications by email (which you can change later if you want - this just allows you to set up your subscription so that whenever someone posts onto that thread then you can be sent an email or not) and ii) a box telling you the number of subscriptions in your folder (I just ignore this to be honest). Click "Add Subscription" and it will put this thread in a list of subscribed threads. To see your list of subscribed threads then just click on "Quick Links" which is in the first green band, on the left hand side above the page numbers. Click on "Subscribed Threads" and your list will appear. If you want to unsubscribe then, from your subscribed list, just tick the box on the right hand side of the thread name and at the bottom there is a drop down menu called Selected Threads with Move to folder... as the default. Just click on the down arrow to chose whether you want to unsubscribe or change your email notification status etc.
  3) Create a signature - A signature is a powerful tool (at least I think it is!) where you can put your debts, a witty proverb, your challenge member numbers etc. I find it really useful to update mine so you can see very easily how well you are doing with either debt busting or saving or on a challenge. It also helps people running any challenges if you put your challenge number in your signature. To create a signature then click on "Quick Links" in the green band above the page numbers on the right hand side and click on "Edit Signature". Here you can change colours, fonts, insert smileys etc.
  4) Changing the font size/colour or adding smileys to a post - When posting on a thread, it is really helpful if you can make your text large and in a different colour when updating totals so that it is easy for the people who manage the challenges to spot them to help them when updating their lists. To do this then click on "Post Reply" or "Quick Reply" and then click on "Go Advanced".
  5) List of Challenges/Tips - our lovely kerri_dfw has put together a list of challenges on the forum and her own list of tips to debt busting. Here is the link to the original thread and it is post #10 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3613807
  Post numbers can be found on the right hand side of each post.
  6) Weekly mini-challenges - Each Tuesday we have a new weekly mini-challenge that kerri_dfw thinks up! Since we are all in here for the long haul (12 months ish) then it's a great way to keep people motivated with something different each week. Keep an eye out for these! You don't have to join in these though if you don't want to, it's just for a bit of fun for those who want a different little challenge each week to help them keep motivated.
  7) Snowballing - https://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx. If you have multiple debts i.e. several credit cards/loans then it can be difficult to know in which order to pay them off. This snowball calculator is really useful in helping you decide and also can tell you the shocking amount of interest you are paying each month! One word of caution though, I think this is a brilliant tool however, it can scare people in how long it tells you that all your debt will be gone and sometimes that can lead to people giving up and losing all their enthusiam. Yes it is great to know your DFD but I try to think of myself as in competition with the snowball calculator. It currently says 2013 but it just means that I have to either try and cut back more or earn extra income from Ebaying/car boots etc. The rule of thumb on the forum is that you should pay off your highest interest debt first although some people prefer to get rid of their debts from the lowest amount first as it can give a great psychological boost to get rid of a debt no matter how small.
• To help me run this thread easily, could you please all post your totals in large text and in a bold colour, i.e.:
  Ј265.43/Ј7685.67
  (where the first amount is the total you have paid off so far in this challenge and the second amount is the total you pledged to clear by Xmas 2012.
  It would also be a big help if you could also put with it your challenge number.
  i.e. another Ј50 paid off so now the total for
  #001 is Ј315.43/Ј7685.67
  By the way, don't worry about working out your % paid as I can do that for you!
• Weight Loss Challenge
  For those of you who want to shed a few pounds whilst doing this challenge then there are a number of challenges on the forum but I can keep a track of your weight loss here if you want. I will keep your numbers the same as above so as not to confuse things. Again just make sure that you tell me how many lbs you have lost in total against the total you are aiming to lose just the same as the debt paying format in bold/different colour.
  I will update this every Monday evening:
  001 mf0u1098 1.4 / 26lbs
  004 loubie_lou 3 / 18lbs
  012 his missus 17 / 70lbs
  014 debtfreeeju 0 / 16lbs
  036 Shellgsxr 6 / 30lbs
  038 Miss Information 0 / 42lbs
  046 May 2013 0 / 9lbs
  047 sam09 0 / 14lbs
  048 CraftyTwinkle 0 / 28lbs
  049 recurrent-ostrich 14 / 42lbs
  050 SeriousDFW 7 / 54lbs
  051 Nickyanne123 4 / 35lbs
  056 dd1981 0 / 42lbs
  057 Pedro Matias 0 / 14lbs
  060 idristhedragon 3.5 / 28lbs
  064 theposhbint 0 / 20lbs
  068 psychopathbabble 1.5 / 31.5lbs
  077 HelenPie 13 / 63lbs
  089 rubywhatashmoo 0 / 11lbs
  100 ashleighsalem 1 / 48lbs
  135 January20 2 / 28lbs
  138 Dolly Rocker 6.5 / 36lbs
  142 velvet27 4 / 28lbs
  157 DaisyCat 5 / 16lbs
  159 mymamma 0 / 42lbs
  180 natterjack88 14 / 100lbs
  191 FREEZ 1 / 42lbs
  199 miss empty piggy 0 / 56lbs
  205 Linzight 5 / 7lbs
  219 cherylelizabeth 0 / 7lbs
  234 vw campervan mum 0 / 20lbs
  235 naughty-yet-sorta-nice 0 / 70lbs
  237 Brokenpromiseland 0 / 24lbs
  239 DarlingBuds 0 / 42lbs
  241 thebrink 0 / 30lbs
  242 mumsiemum 0 / 14lbs
  245 theonlynuttytart 0 / 14lbs
  249 Canucksfan 5 / 70lbs
  252 rdchick 7 / 46lbs
  257 NewlyfrugalMumof3 0 / 32lbs
  259 kc26 3 / 14lbs
  263 melwinnie 0 / 42lbs
  267 angelbob 0 / 24lbs
  274 greenjade 0 / 112lbs
  281 catmore 7.5 / 11kgs
  282 weewifie 0 / 16lbs
  283 LaurenC 0 / 35lbs
  284 tunisiaone 0 / 105lbs
  296 monkeymagic222 0 / 3kgs
  297 sparkleinuk 0 / 4kgs
  299 icklepeach 0 / 28lbs
  302 Aroha 0 / 33kgs
  303 alfie2009 0 / 22lbs
  308 ZzZzZz30 1 / 14lbs
  310 Lemon Tree 0 / 50lbs
• Savings Challenge
  One of our members has already completed the DFBX12 challenge and wants to now save up for the remainder of the year! Below is a list of the challengers that now want to save and their amounts.
  001 rubywhatashmoo Ј650 / Ј2,500 26.00%
  002 fallenwiccan Ј750 / Ј6,600 11.36%
• Every week our lovely kerri_dfw sets a new weekly mini challenge. They are not mandatory in any way, they are intended to be fun and give and extra boost in morale by trying something new each week. Below is a list of all the challenges (thanks Kerfuffle for compiling them!) so far on both threads (link for the old thread is on post #1):
  First thread
• Not buy chocolate or crisps # 357 page 18
• Something a little different/small personal spend # 983 page 50
• Put one thing back # 1353 page 68
• Take your lunch to work # 1724 page 87
• Take 15 mins for yourself # 2254 page 113

Second thread

• Eating out of cupboards and freezer # 112 page 6
• Keep a spending diary # 738 page 37
• Pay by cash # 1148 page 58
• Meal Plan # 1584 page 80
• Declutter yourself # 2042 page 103
• No little shops # 2699 page 135
• Grow something # 2986 page 150
• Bake something # 3422 page 172
• Waste not want not # 3792 page 190
• Say no to junk # 4108 page 206
• Get out more # 4400 page 220
• Rount it up # 4586 page 230

We didn't have a challenge between 26th Dec - 1st Jan as Kerri was in Wales.

• WOW and THANK YOU! This looks fantastic and looks like you've put a lot of thought into how we're using the thread. I can't believe how motivating all the support has been so far and I just can't wait to see everybody's totals increasing.
  Please add me to the weight loss thread if that's ok - my goal is to lose 54 lb in 2012, hoping to achieve this by September time at the latest.
• Whoop whoop. Gotta get my post onto the first page of the thread quickly! Amazing work Jemma... hope to see in NYE 2012/13 with a big ole monkey off my back! And I'm sure everyone else will be joining me too. Might even have a little glass of something nice...
• Let's hope we don't go over 450 members and need a part 3!
  I like the post that covers the totals paid each month - can't believe we cleared nearly Ј24k in November and I think that December will be even better!
  Thanks for running all this mf0u1098
  [EDIT] Just put the data into a spreadsheet and between us all we aim to pay-off Ј2,309,641.80 by Xmas 2012, that's an insane amount! Well done everyone!
• Jemma first of all thank you for such a motivating post! Reading your story was like reading my own! I too have crazy debts - Ј28k student loan and Ј18400 personal debt!
  I would love to join your challenge although I am unsure if I could clear ALL Ј18k in one yr! Will do my best though
• Thanks for the shiny new thread and all your hard work happy new year to everyone and here to a brilliant debt free journey in 2012
• Lovely shiny new thread for the New Year
• Just had another statement through the post Ј81.45 off the balance so that takes me to:
  Ј110.41/Ј11051.73. #172
  Thanks
• Woohoo! Lovely shiny new thread, thanks Jemma! Can you add me to the weight loss bit too, I have 3 stone to lose this year. Is that 42lbs?
• Thanks for the lovely new thread- can I also be added to the weightloss challenge bit- 100lbs please!
  Also I've found a site very similar to SB so if you would like a referral let me know