Be a Christmas budgeting champ
I used to get laughed at for having all my Christmas shopping...
Dealing with debt can make you feel isolated. There may be a sense of shame that stops you from talking to people you trust, and keeping your worries to yourself can take a toll on your mental health.
If you’re struggling with debt-related worry, it’s worth paying a visit to the MoneySavingExpert.com forum. The forum has almost 1.7 million members. Most of them are looking to save money, improve their budget or tackle their debt problems.
On their Debt-Free Wannabe (DFW) board you’ll find hundreds of people just like you who are dealing with – and overcoming – their debt problems.
You won’t find judgment there, but you will find support and inspiration to help you through your own journey out of debt.
On the ask a debt advisor a question thread, you can get helpful advice about your debt problem from one of our debt advisors. You can also read through the 1,000s of answers our advisors have given to others.
By learning from their experiences, you can be even better prepared for dealing with debt (although please check the date of when the original comment was posted as the advice may no longer apply).
The Debt Free Roll of Honour is where you’ll find the success stories of lots of people who made it out of debt. Not only is it a celebration of what they’ve achieved, it also serves to inspire those still in the process of paying off debt. In time, you could be posting your own success story!
Need inspiration? Want to save some money but don’t know where to start or how much is realistic for you? The Debt-free Wannabe Challenge forum has some great ideas to help you get started.
You can also start a Debt Free Diary to keep track of your progress. This has proved to be super helpful to lots of Debt-Free Wannabe forum members!
Do you feel that debt has affected your mental health? You’re not alone. The Debt and Mental Health thread in DFW is where you can post about your own debt-related mental health issues, and read about other people’s experiences.
It’s easy. All you need to do is set up a username on the forum (you’ll need an email address to do this). Once your account is approved, you’ll be able to post questions and comments, and take part in various DFW challenges.
You can also set up a ‘debt free countdown’ that’ll appear under every post you make as your signature. It’ll act as an inspiring visual reminder of the progress you’re making. Simply go to your profile settings to tweak your profile to your liking.
We’ll leave the last word to Andrea Hirai, the forum manager at MoneySavingExpert.com:
“Our Debt Free Wannabes are such an inspiration, and it’s fantastic to see how this community has grown over the years!”