Check If You Qualify

5 Inspirational Stories Of People Who Defeated Their Debt

Sharon McDougall - Updated - 22nd April 2024 - 4 minutes to read

When you have large personal debt, it often feels as though there’s nothing you can do to get out of that situation. You throw away bills, ignore phone calls, and often feel overwhelmed and scared.

However, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a simple, single step. There are a lot of people out there who were in a similar situation and decided to grab the bull by both horns and do something about it. Here are five inspirational people who beat the odds.

If they can do it, so can you.

1. John Corocan.

John is a former Clinton White House aide, author and law graduate. He accumulated $129,000 (£85,000) in debt during his law degree. In addition to that, in the five years before he attended law school he and his wife had amassed $755,000 (£500,000) worth of debt thanks to wedding costs, graduate degrees, a rental property and a new car loan. John - realising his wages would never help them escape debt - took a risk and started his own law firm, but only after working out how he could do this with the least risk and lowest overheads. They also sold their own home and became tenants again. By doing this, they eliminated 80% of their $755,000 debt. You can read John’s full (amazing) story here.

Scotland Debt Calculator

Get a rough indication of what your repayments might be under each of our different debt solutions.

Your Total Debt

£0 - £5,000

£5,000 - £10,000

£10,000 - £20,000

£20,000+

Your Employment Status

I am employed

I am self-employed

I am unemployed

I am a student

I am retired

Your Total Monthly Income

£0 - £1,000

£1,000 - £2,000

£2,000 - £3,000

£3,000+

What can you pay monthly towards your debt?

£0 - £100

£100 - £200

£200 - £300

£300+

2. Anna Newell Jones.

At the end of 2009, Anna realised she had over $23,000 (£15,000) worth of debt despite working full time and also running a wedding photography business on the side. She had got into some bad spending habits, treating herself to clothes and other luxury items regularly. Planning her wedding had also encouraged her to splurge. Although her debt wasn’t as high as some other people mentioned in this post, as Anna puts it ‘it was too much for her’. She decided to go on a spending ‘fast’ to break the vicious cycle. She cut all of her expenses back to the bare bones and by 2010 she was astounded to find that she had paid off $17,911.89. She was debt free three months later. You can read more about Anna’s journey here.

3. Maria Nedeva.

Professor Maria and her husband John owed over £100,000 on various loans and credit cards, partially due to a drop off in business for her husband’s consultancy company. Her first step was to request an £80k consolidation loan - secured against the house - to pay off seven separate credit cards. However, this still left £20k to pay on other cards. To tackle this, they set a budget for (very) basic, frugal living costs, cut all spending down to the bone and anything they earned over and above that budget went on repayments. She says that the breakthrough was when she realised ‘no payment is too small to have an effect’. Her smallest loan payment was just £4.87! However, it all added up and three years later they were debt free.

4. Carrie Smith.

Despite being good with money, a painful divorce left the then 25 year old Carrie $14,000 (£9,200) in debt, something she had never imagined happening at her age. However, she was determined not to let this stop her achieving her dreams. She realised that her credit card debts were costing her the most due to uncompetitive interest rates, so she tackled them first. She also used free debt payment tools that helped her come up with a payment timeline and, critically, she made sacrifices. She gave up cable TV, gym memberships, salon visits, holidays, meals out and movies. She also took on freelance writing work to up her income. Soon, she was entirely debt free.  You can learn more about her full story here.

5. Stephanie Benedetti.

A few years ago, Stephanie realised that she was $90,000 (£60,000) in debt. The majority of this was from student loads, plus around $9000 (£6,000) in credit card debt. In an attempt to cut down her debt, Stephanie decided to change her lifestyle. She moved in with a roommate, cancelled her cable subscription and stripped all other expenses back to basics. To supplement her income, she took on casual work including mystery shopping and babysitting. These changes all added up and before she knew it she was able to spend $2000 (£1,300) a month on paying back her debts. Before long, she was debt free and has even appeared on talk shows to talk about her achievements.

Remember... debt might seem insurmountable and completely out of your control while you’re still at the bottom of the mountain, but you’d be amazed at the difference just a few months can make if you make a plan and stick to it. Once you start chipping away at it, you’ll start to feel much better… just like these inspirational debt champions.

facebook colour icon linkedin colour icon messenger colour icon whatsapp colour icon email colour icon
Sharon McDougall Square

Sharon McDougall

Manager

Other Articles

9 practical tips for cutting your household expenses Household Expenses

9 practical tips for cutting your household expenses

We all want to save on our household bills and have more money in our pocket for the fun things in life. While bills are an unavoidable fact of life, here are some ways you can help to reduce them:

7 Advantages of using a Debt Arrangement Scheme to become debt-free Debt free happy woman

7 Advantages of using a Debt Arrangement Scheme to become debt-free

If you’re trying to deal with overwhelming amounts of debt, you may be eligible for the Debt Arrangement Scheme in Scotland.

10 steps to take now to improve your credit rating Credit Rating

10 steps to take now to improve your credit rating

If you are currently working on reducing the amount of debt you have, improving your credit score may not be at the top of your agenda.

About

Why Choose Us

Usp Discussion

Speak Direct With

A Qualified Adviser

Headset

We Don't Operate

Call Centres

Usp Location

5 Offices in Scotland

National Coverage

Usp House

Ask us About

Home Visits

Usp Award

Fully Regulated Advisors

From a Reputable Firm

Usp Hand Heart

Helping Scots Get

Out of Debt Since 1989

We'll give you a call

Our Scottish based team can help advise you on your debt problems.

Here at Scotland Debt Solutions we take your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to contact you with regards to your enquiry. We will not use your information for marketing purposes. See our Privacy Policy.

Tools

Useful Tools

Personalised Debt Report
Usp Planner

Personalised Debt Report

Our personalised debt report will help you better understand your financial position and see where your money is going.

Debt Report
Instant Scheduled Call & WhatsApp
Headset

Instant Scheduled Call & WhatsApp

Arrange a call with an expert advisor at a time to suit you or contact our team via WhatsApp for immediate help and advice.

Arrange Callback
Find a Local Office
Usp Signpost

Find a Local Office

We have five offices located across Scotland. Find your nearest one here.

Find an Office

OUR SERVICES

We can help you with...

Sequestration

Sequestration

Sequestration is the Scottish version of bankruptcy and may be suitable for you if you do not have the money to pay back your debts

Find out More
Trust Deeds in Scotland

Trust Deeds in Scotland

A Trust Deed involves making a monthly contribution to your debts for up to four years. After this time any remaining debt included in the Trust Deed will not need to be paid.

Find out More
Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS)

Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS)

A Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) lets you pay off your debt through a series of manageable instalments over a reasonable length of time.

Find out More
Business Debts
Icon Briefcase

Business Debts

Whether you are a sole trader or a limited company director, we can help you work through your current financial problems including money owed to HMRC

Business Debts

Our Insolvency Practitioners are regulated by ICAS or the IPA and our firm is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

Fees and Information: There are fees associated with our services. These will be fully explained before entering into any of the personal debt solutions referred to on this website. Full details of our fees and how these are charged are fully explained to you prior to you committing to any particular service.

ICAS Insolvency Practitioners