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,

I have set myself a target of paying off all my debt by Xmas 2012. I have over Ј16k of debt to shift so it's going to take some doing!

I've decided to start the Pay off ALL your debt by Xmas 2012 challenge to help me get there and I hope that you will join me to!

I've also decided to start this challenge now as I only found MSE again in October and so feel like I'm in limbo waiting to start the 2012 challenges with gusto!

Just picture next Christmas knowing that you owe nothing, there is no debt and all your money is yours to do with as you please...

If you want to join me then please just post on this thread and I will add your name and total to the 2nd post. I would love for you to join me so that we can be there to support and encourage each other, and ultimately congratulate each other as we each cross the finish line, no longer DFW's but DF's. How amazing will that feel...?!

Good luck with your debt-busting people!!!

p.s. it's never too late to join!!!!

Best answers:

• The Trusty Team:
  001 mf0u1098 Ј2045.85 / Ј16,386.45 12.49%
  002 charleyroo Ј8,000
  003 CW2 Ј4000 / Ј12,459 32.11%
  004 loubie_lou Ј1220 / Ј13,876.93 8.79%
  005 kerri_dfw Ј1090 / Ј5,030 21.67%
  006 Suzitiger Ј133 / Ј5,353 2.48%
  007 mumfirst Ј9,958.67
  008 Shopping_addict Ј6,431
  009 eldestofthree Ј12,000
  010 rjh35 Ј791.76 / Ј15,461.76 5.12%
  011 antonia1 Ј410 / Ј3,895 10.53%
  012 his missus Ј720.09 / Ј6,583 10.94%
  013 fritterprincess Ј700 / Ј8,500 8.24%
  014 debtfreeeju Ј1045 / Ј9,650 10.83%
  015 emiesq Ј10,000
  016 jakes-mum Ј1025.27 / Ј8,806.89 11.64%
  017 beachie Ј4,000
  018 RoobyNooby Ј1,800
  019 mazy_m Ј6,900
  020 Deniseg4 Ј17,550
  021 Flossy87 Ј130 / Ј8,334 1.56%
  022 Clarienne Ј8,379.50
  023 Natlie Ј707.31 / Ј9,800 7.22%
  024 forgottendreams Ј365.35 / Ј5,854 6.24%
  025 Bobley Ј6,000
  026 MrsAckroyd Ј10,000
  027 GreenSaints Ј609.32 / Ј22,922.39 2.66%
  028 banwa Ј1,724.78 / Ј15,000 11.50%
  029 lulalolly Ј1316 / Ј8,276 15.90%
  030 salkunh Ј103.59 / Ј38,028.13 0.27%
  031 savingforarainyday Ј6,350
  032 catapa Ј3,600
  033 jimmytwoshoes Ј3,373.96
  034 moneymakermum Ј9,521
  035 sydneybean Ј76 / Ј5,592 1.36%
  036 Shellgsxr Ј1045.64 / 6,157.85 16.98%
  037 alamaya Ј46,042.38
  038 Miss Information Ј135 / Ј2529.33 5.34%
  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 Ј539.88 / Ј8,000 6.75%
  044 shrekkiegirl Ј371 / Ј9,230 4.02%
  045 SEASHELL Ј16,563
  046 May2013 Ј1766 / Ј14,128 12.50%
  047 sam09 Ј1425.51 / 12,724 11.20%
  048 CraftyTwinkle Ј1839.12 / Ј10,369 17.74%
  049 recurrent-ostrich Ј805.14 / Ј10,000 8.05%
  050 seriousDFW Ј603 / Ј10,722 5.62%
  051 Nickyanne123 Ј147.52 / Ј14,247 1.04%
  052 ibnimmo Ј44,700
  053 JayneTay Ј280 / Ј5,000 5.60%
  054 Katiec950 Ј3,162.43 / Ј10,678 29.62%
  055 InsertWittyName Ј3217.50 / 15,626.32 20.59%
  056 dd1981 Ј1,065.58 / [STRIKE]Ј9,793.81[/STRIKE]10.88%
  057 PedroMatias Ј2,835.48 / Ј16,136.77 17.57%
  058 hazelc56 Ј1,038.39
  059 Choc-addict Ј785.86 / Ј29979.60 2.62%
  060 idristhedragon Ј174.74 / 2,321.54 7.53%
  061 plum44 Ј17,845
  062 Xandersmum Ј200 / Ј8,950 2.23%
  063 Malmol09 Ј342.52 / Ј17,630.02 1.94%
  064 theposhbint Ј279.09 / Ј13,210.36 2.11%
  065 Kerfuffle Ј827.11 / Ј12,471.68 6.63%
  066 StrawberryR Ј315.74 / Ј6,160.16 5.13%
  067 rusty1987 Ј208.41 / Ј6,527.50 3.19%
  068 pyschopathbabble Ј252.21 / Ј6,492.82 3.88%
  069 lemonpopsicle Ј1010 / Ј7,719 13.08%
  070 RosaBernicia Ј510 / Ј11,195 4.56%
  071 Angel84 Ј6,621
  072 fruityslh Ј1201.79 / Ј15,106 7.96%
  073 mumofcookers Ј355 / Ј8,200 4.33%
  074 Bad Weather Ј11,000
  075 MaltbyMaeve Ј7,731.63
  076 nannygladys Ј2,200
  077 Helen Pie Ј1,268.86 / Ј16,487.87 7.70%
  078 affordmylife Ј3,000
  079 utopiah Ј110 / Ј2,260 4.87%
  080 Jan2011 Ј94.20 / Ј22868.63 0.41%
  081 fairyface Ј50 / Ј40,000 0.13%
  082 Tjrw1985 Ј4,900
  083 twirly09 Ј1,000
  084 SpagBol Ј10,000
  085 louisa_84 Ј250 / Ј5,500 4.55%
  086 mummychicken Ј______
  087 Beccie Ј941 / Ј12,234 7.69%
  088 accountingbod Ј5,518.39
  089 rubywhatashmoo Ј650 / Ј1550 41.94%
  090 Debtfreein2011 Ј5,577 / Ј22,867 24.39%
  091 samjl Ј16,400
  092 Pie Ј564 / Ј7,180 7.86%
  093 sharronej Ј805 / Ј21,120 4.00%
  094 TOOMUCHWORRY Ј20,000
  095 sarah_84 Ј6,725
  096 L-M Ј6,164.55
  097 Munchin Ј425 / Ј5,608.30 7.58%
  098 novagirl Ј80.77 / Ј2,100 3.85%
  099 irishnini €204.41 / €12,051.15 1.70%
  100 ashleighsalem Ј2553 / Ј5,701 44.78%
  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 Ј200 / Ј5,230 2.20%
  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 Ј1003 / Ј11,241 8.92%
  113 fedupofbeingindebt Ј9,000
  114 Machine Ј74.40 / Ј15,962.80 0.47%
  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 Ј353.64 / Ј10,000 3.54%
  123 Superheavy Ј814 / Ј10,762 7.56%
  124 skaps Ј6,231.61
  125 carer adrian Ј5,000
  126 Trevor64 Ј23,331
  127 trying hard Ј566 / Ј19,900 2.84%
  128 Twigs2205 Ј18,000
  129 Miss C J Ј30 / Ј5,620 0.48%
  130 DorsetGirl Ј516.69 / Ј7,873.87 6.56%
  131 zalnpl Ј6,000
  132 janeypoo Ј3,000
  133 Credit-Crunched Ј1918.96 / Ј13,946 13.75%
  134 Cynical Monkey Ј3967.71 / Ј13,292.93 29.85%
  135 January20 Ј173.02 / Ј1,786.19 9.69%
  136 thenewscrooge Ј9,626
  137 wit40iwtwan Ј10,847.73
  138 Dolly Rocker Ј322.99 / Ј8,531.47 3.79%
  139 claresy Ј11,431
  140 On_a_mission23 Ј10,000
  141 ftm2009 Ј12,203.48
  142 velvet27 Ј92 / Ј2,700 3.41%
  143 money free 2011 Ј16,600
  144 teresa Ј4,500
  145 gemred_21 Ј160 / Ј15,313 1.04%
  146 dizzybee Ј10,222.55
  147 Kimsmum Ј128.09 / Ј11,578.09 1.11%
  148 twomanyshoesfortwofeet Ј7,000
  149 camuk81 Ј830.61 / Ј12,516.23 6.64%
  150 Poorish Panda Ј33,381
  ------Continued on next post------
• 151 happymoneysaver Ј7,500
  152 mrso2b Ј447.49 / Ј12,000 3.73%
  153 gonnabedebtfree Ј26 / Ј34842 0.07%
  154 Mama Ј17,000
  155 Flickering Ember Ј_______
  156 littlefish123 Ј8,234.18
  157 DaisyCat Ј70 / Ј20,300 0.30%
  158 Impulse1976 Ј489.72 / Ј13,543.80 3.62%
  159 Mymamma Ј17,953
  160 gh4662 Ј32,836
  161 savebabe Ј16,000
  162 ashers6976 Ј12,000
  163 Nod Off Ј2,915
  164 bridgetkate Ј5,200
  165 cj75 Ј20-25k
  166 rictus123 Ј710.81 / Ј13,500 5.27%
  167 misslauren $170 / $8,100 2.10%
  168 hummingbird Ј15,000
  169 RSYCAMORE Ј4,000
  170 twoboysmamma79 Ј20 / Ј9,924 0.20%
  171 Skintbint Ј1,500
  172 Raspberrysauce Ј28.96 / Ј11,051.73 0.26%
  173 tippingpoint Ј8,800
  174 webitha Ј15 / Ј5,350 0.28%
  175 Gorgeestwo Ј5,500
  176 FannyAdams Ј3,000
  177 loveday69 Ј120 / Ј4,886.18 2.46%
  178 spartan59 Ј753 / Ј15,385.92 4.89%
  179 Calling14 Ј12,224.35
  180 Natterjack88 Ј1399.54 / Ј10,000 14.00%
  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 Ј12,100
  190 judpudding Ј3,000
  191 FREEZ Ј100 / Ј4,000 2.50%
  192 muppets Ј80 / Ј1,000 8.00%
  193 Killmark Ј1,066 / Ј8,596 12.40%
  194 MissShoes Ј7,124
  195 plzhelpmesave! Ј6,000
  196 Robo787 Ј20,000
  197 andrinaperry Ј2,795
  198 Fedupofbeingindebt Ј9,500
  199 miss empty piggy Ј______
  200 superduperloop Ј3,086
  201 jammydodgersandrhl Ј1,700
  202 migraineboy Ј16,000
  203 anguk Ј3,497
  204 ZarZar1990 Ј10,000
  205 Linzight Ј3,950
  206 rich8996 Ј17,881.50
  207 phoebesmum2105 Ј6,500
  208 Kat10 Ј10,000
  209 nicola1303 Ј2,650
  210 karenann76 Ј16,950
  211 SeduLOUs Ј400.11 / Ј3,950 10.13%
  212 rolopolo1965 Ј11,300
  213 misskwa Ј8,000
  214 minx1985 Ј12,718.15
  215 iwanttogoonholiday Ј6,809
  216 Purple_Sunshine Ј19,000
  217 Amy83 Ј6,000
  218 flyingmamma Ј8,000
  219 cherylelizabeth1 Ј4,150
  220 k30lly Ј30.81 / 14,382.21 0.21%
  221 michelle2904 Ј11,255
  222 bottleofred Ј3,000
  223 lancashirelassie Ј7,050
  So how am I going to achieve this ridiculous target...???
  Well, I've set aside as much disposable income aside as possible and will reduce my budgeted spence each month until I find a limit that is do-able.
  On top of this I will be listing stuff that's been in boxes for months/years to earn extra money (and de-clutter at the same time). I've also been looking at doing car boots (in the spring although there are some christmas jumble fair type thingys about. I've also seen some craft fairs out there so will have a mooch around on saturday at one and see what type of things they sell and prices to see if it is worth me trying selling my home made xmas cards...
  I've asked that all birthday and christmas money is paid to me in Ј2, Ј1 or 20p coins so that they can get added to my pots straight away without the temptation of buying things that I really don't need!!! I'm going to wear a lovely dress for my works xmas do that I bought several months ago rather than get something new and I've dyed my hair back to it's natural colour so save on hairdressing costs! To be honest, I love being a brunette now and have had loads of compliments.
  My family and friends have agreed on spending limits for xmas of Ј10 to cut the cost of christmas for all. For one xmas pressie (or should I say 2 as it's my sister and her boyfriend) I've arranged to give her my clubcard points as I dont need anything in the Rewards but she's just bought a house so it can be worth up to Ј72 to her. Pretty good deal I think as she gets a present worth Ј72 and it's not even come out of my budget so it's like I've paid off 2 presents for free!
  Have you got any ideas...? xxx
• Hi, can I be added please?
  Sounds stupid but I've just had an unsecured loan out for a car (I would like to move my thread to this board, to build my story and work towards paying it off) and I want to pay it off within 12 months!
• Ј12,459 for me please! God that sounds a lot
• thanks! My debt is/will be Ј8,000.
• Stick me down for 13k lovely!
• Ideas for paying off this humongous debt:
• Setting and sticking to a very strict budget each month allowing maximum overpayments on debt;
• Trying to squeeze budgets throughout the month and pay any spare on the debt e.g. if food is Ј100, try to spend Ј97 and pay Ј3 off debt!
• Looking at "needs" in a different way e.g. do I really need that night out, toiletry item, hair cut, clothes, etc or could it wait a bit longer?
• Do lots of surveys and use money to pay off debts/points/vouchers for gifts/small treats to keep sane;
• Walk whenever possible to reduce petrol costs;
• Put a jumper on and avoid using heating unnecessarily (maybe after the cold winter though, I am up North after all);
• Do cheapo entertainment/socialising e.g. nights in, DVD nights, walks out, nothing expensive!
• Search for fabulous presents for people that look expensive but aren't - try to always find bargains!
• Carboots!
• Amazon sales (can't stand e-bay!)

...it sounds so easy...

• Challenges
  List of challenges official page
  Spending less
  2012 Frugal Living Challenge
  All New 100 Day challenge!
  No More Buying Books Until I've Read the Ones I've Already Bought
  No More Buying DVDs Until I Have Watched the Ones I Already Own
  Storecupboard challenge
  Saving
  "Sealed Pot Challenge 5" (2012)
  Virtual Sealed Pot Challenge 2012
  Ј2 Savers Club Part 5 - 2011
  Ј365 in 365 days...... the 2011 challange
  Paying off debt
  Pay One Debt 2012!
  A Payment A Day - Part 11!
  Loose change pays your debt challenge
  2011 mfw
  Mortgage Free by 40 challenge
  The Mortgage Free in Three - Take 2 challenge (MFiT-T2)
  ***The A Fixed % of Money Left After Bills Goes On Debt Challenge***
  Pay off one debt in 100 days part 7 (1-12-2011 - 10.3.12)
  Earning more
  eBay challenge for 2011 / **FFS Make Me Rich This Year eBay or Else!!**
  challenge Make Ј11,000 in 2011 The Dribblers Advance
  Make Ј10 per day in November. All WELCOME!
  Slice the pie (FAQs re Slice the Pie)
  Daily clicks challenge
  Money neutral
  ***New*** Thrifty Gifty Money Making for Christmas and all occasions 2011***
  Lose weight
  DFW lets get rid of the lbs without spending ЈЈЈs
  Murphys No More Pies Club
  Lose Weight 33
  Weight Loss the Old Style Way
  May marches on weight loss wise!
  Other
  The giving up/cutting down on diet coke or caffeine challenge
  Exercise at least 3 times a week
  The Giving Up Smoking Thread - Part 3
  The Giving up/ Cutting down Alcohol support thread- number 10
  The 101 in 1001 Project - What would you like to achieve?
  Use it or lose it
  The Great Declutter Part 3 - 2011
  Please PM me if I've missed off one that you're intersted in lsting here.
  Hints
  1. Decant liquid soaps/shampoos/conditioners into pump dispensers
  2. Use a puff or sponge, one pump will go further
  3. Meal plan
  4. Start a DFW diary
  5. Ebay/amazon your clutter it's surprising what people will buy
  6. Use price comparison websites for everything
  7. Use cashback sites
  8. Buy in bulk when a good deal is on
  9. Pay attention when purchasing products, just because it's bigger doesn't mean 2 of the smaller wouldn't be cheaper
  10. Look at the bottom & top shelves first
  11. Write and stick to a shopping list
  12. Don't be scared of bills, open them, then talk to us for support
  13. CCCS are free and there to help, call them if feeling swamped
  14. Think "do I want it or need it", then sleep on it for a fortnight, do you still want it?
  15. Accumulate as many NSD's as possible
  16. Take your lunch/coffee/tea to work with you instead of buying it
  17. Try some of the challenges they really help
• Oooo Loubie Lou, you're starting on a lower figure based on what you're hoping to pay by end of year - should I do same? I've put my current debt figure down but it should be a bit less by end 2011...what does everyone think?
• this thread is a great idea and i love reading all your tips! i want to challenge myself and i'd love to end (next) year with savings too!
• Haha what are we like?! I'm so indecisive. So in an attempt to be decisive, I'll stick with Ј12,459 - it will be gone!!! And then I am having one hell of a night out Bring on 2012!
• I'd love to join you!!! i am on a few threads on here and I think this one will keep me on track and push me towards a fast dfd!!
  i want to be out of debt by october so that I can go to the maldives to do a volunteer project out there. Love what ur doing guys, I have a debt of 5,000 and I earn about 8k a year, hopefully on the rise as I am mainly self employed and establishing my business atm.