I'm Back - and better! Final Push to Go...

Exerbusi2 · 10 February 2017 at 10:10AM

So my February goal was is to be under £5,000 on the credit card.

I've just paid off another £109, which brings me down to £5,070. I'm owed another £70 from a client this week, which I will use to pay down my credit card to £5,000.

I've also sold some shares I owned in RBS. They are worth more than I paid for them, they aren't exactly a growth share and they don't pay a dividend, so I've sold them to raise £130. That will all go on the credit card, which should see me hit £4,940 of CC debt within the next week or two.

I will be receiving a small payment for some writing (around £50) next week, which will also go on the CC, putting me in the £4,800's - far enough below £5k to feel 'good' about it!

angelpye · 10 February 2017 at 11:54AM

Popping in to cheer you on...making great progress and sounding really focused! Well done!

Exerbusi2 · 10 February 2017 at 4:21PM

Thank you angelpye!

I've become tunnel-visioned about this, so any extra cash I get goes on paying it off!

enthusiasticsaver · 10 February 2017 at 4:43PM

Good progress being made there. I too believe in less material possessions but those we have are high quality and last.

Exerbusi2 · 12 February 2017 at 10:18PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Good progress being made there. I too believe in less material possessions but those we have are high quality and last.

Thanks enthusiasticsaver!

It's only over the last couple of years I've really bought into the philosophy, but it's working well for me so far!

Exerbusi2 · 12 February 2017 at 10:25PM

I found out today I have been paid slightly earlier than I expected by a client, so I have managed to pay off another £70.

This is a big deal - it brings my CC debt to £5,000 exactly. That means anything I pay off extra now will see me below the £5k which was such a big deal to me at the start of this process.

I wanted to be below £5k by the end of February, so I'm very happy with this progress.

It means I've paid off £1800 since early Jan and whilst this (possibly) isn't sustainable in the long term, it'll see me eating into the CC debt at a rate I'm happy with.

I've got a new project starting later on this month, plus I have a significant payment coming to me in April. My plan is to use as much of that as I can (all of it if possible) to pay off the credit card. If I can do that, I'll be closer to £2,000 by the summer.

If I can get the bill down to £2k by the summer, I should be able to pay if off completely this year, which would be amazing!

It'll leave me with only a mortgage as my debt then!

zippygeorgeandben · 13 February 2017 at 12:27AM

Hello Exerbusi2 I have just stumbled across your thread and I'm loving your enthusiasm! Keep on going!
If I may sabotage your page with my situation. In July/August I paid £3700 for 3 adults to go away on holiday (I was one of them don't worry!) and I stuck it all on the CC. My sister paid £1250 for her share but it never actually went off the CC, just in my account (naughty me I know). In September though, my sister suddenly was given notice to leave her work in 6 weeks. She has no savings, lots of HP and CC debt repayments and it made me think, well, hang on, if that happened to me how would I cope with repayments and rent etc. and the answer was not very well. I also stumbled across a money blog where someone said they pay 50% of their salary on 'needs', 20% on debt repayments and 30% on 'wants'. A simple yet effective way to manage money. Well I'm loving it. Since September I've been paying off the loans and hitting the CC with £200 a month instead of the minimum £50. I paid an extra £450 off the CC last month and I'm now transferring this with no fee to another 0% card which is 25 months long (my current one runs out in July). Plus I got through Christmas without over spending!
I've also started to sell some of my beloved candle addiction and made about £200 on that so far. Straight off the debts. Don't get me wrong, I still go out etc but I know I'm spending within my means.
With the snowball calculator it says I'll be debt free by March 2019 but I'm determined to try and do that by end of 2018. The CC has gone from £4200 to £3200 in four months and currently this month I'm at £9 spent and I normally have £850 to spend on myself so I'm hoping I'll kick a few hundred more off the CC.
Sorry once again to hijack your thread but yours oozes positivity and I wanted to feed off that!
Ben
PS here is a link to my original thread i started in December with debts laid out.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5567669

Exerbusi2 · 13 February 2017 at 5:00PM

Hi Ben!

Thats fantastic progress - well done you!

I think you're right about the 'how would I cope' question. It's a reason I put a cash buffer away and if nothing else, it gives you peace of mind.

I'm self-employed and for the first time ever, I'd over-saved for my tax bill! This means I have a little extra cushion (around £1300) to go towards next years' bill, so I don't have to stress about it too much at this stage. If I put £300 per month away towards my tax bill, I should be fine again next year. It also means I can divert a little extra money towards my savings.

I've got a share portfolio worth around £4000, but given the Trump/Brexit/China Crisis/Isis/Russia situation I may sell some of those - if I do so I'll put all of the profit on the CC.

Selling the extra candles is a great idea. I've mentioned in this thread that I believe in raising income rather than stopping spending as a more favourable way to pay off debt. It's certainly what I intend to do and it's worked so far!

I'd love to be debt free this year - that's my aim!

zippygeorgeandben · 13 February 2017 at 7:09PM

China Crisis! Wishful thinking!
Perhaps we could challenge each other! I'll beat you to being debt free!

Exerbusi2 · 13 February 2017 at 9:01PM

Well, it's all a bit of a lash up, politically - that's about as far as my expertise goes anyway!

A debt free challenge sounds like a great idea! I'm up for that!

I'm Back - and better! Final Push to Go...

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