FourthTimeLucky's 4th attempt to become debt free
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Glad to see you're making progress.
Little and often really can make a huge difference. Not just in terms of getting the overall debt down, but also psychologically.
Seeing the debt reduce each month is a great feeling. I'm finding I'm already starting to see the snowball effect.
Keep going and good luck.DMP:
Starting Total: £10,254.47 _pale_
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Remaining: £3,386.94 :dance:0 -
After a bit of an absence I am back with a little update. Loan payment and credit card payments have been made for this month. I paid an extra £40.00 off the credit card as I had some overtime payments from work. Rather than use it to bulk up my current account I have put them to good use.
I have also devised a beast of a spreadsheet that details the separate debts and takes in to account the end of interest free periods and also any overpayments.
My outstanding loan balance is now £9,953.74 from £10,760.80 when I started my diary. It is nice to get it under the £10k mark although still a long way to go. The credit card balance is now £2,983.62 from £3,353.62 when I transferred the balance over. I guess that is another threshold now its under the £3k mark. Time to update that signature now...Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
Back for a monthly update and this one contains some good news. Today is pay day so out goes my loan repayment and my £100.00 off my credit card bill. In addition to this I have paid an extra £400.00 off my credit card. I won £378.00 in the union raffle at work for the first time. I have five lines a month at the cost of £1.00 and this was my first ever win.
Rather than be tempted to keep it for Christmas or a rainy day or even treat myself to a little bit of it I instead topped it up to £400.00 and paid it off my credit card. I did regret not keeping a little aside but would have just frittered it and my Christmas plans are all budgeted.
Signature updated to show recent payments. It is nice to see a jump like that in the percentage paid off.Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
Glad to see you're making great progress.:T
Don't forget to enjoy Christmas, though, and be careful not to underestimate how expensive it can be! (speaking from experience here!).DMP:
Starting Total: £10,254.47 _pale_
/
Remaining: £3,386.94 :dance:0 -
It has been a while but back to update my DFD.
Christmas went really well and was actually relatively frugal. I was in the surprising position of having some money left over come pay day which was nice.
I have reverted to my standard £100.00 payment from my credit card (plus £25.00 as an extra) and the contractual loan payment of £269.02. I plan to check my pennies toward to end of the month and see if I have scope to pay any more off the credit card balance.
This month's payments take the total debt under £12,000.00 which is another milestone met and the fact it is now 2017 means I will be debt free the year after next!.Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
I have just checked my internet banking after the final bill for the month went out and I am in the unusual position of having a lot more money left that I am used to. I think my frugal ways are starting to pay off.
I also upgraded my phone without having to pay any more. I got a new handset and an even better tariff for the same price I was paying previously. It is relatively expensive at £37.40 a month but its an iPhone 7 with 20GB of data and I more than get my monies worth. I am on a staff tariff as a friend works for the phone company which I guess is Money Saving right?
I plan to continue with frugal January and then pay some more off my credit card balance. I was tempted to do it now but don't want to leave myself short.
It finally feels like I am getting somewhere..Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
Two more bits of good news.
1 - I have sold my old mobile phone for £100.00 which will be going straight off the credit card once the money clears.
2- I have contributed to a book that was released at the weekend and will be receiving 10% of the royalties on a bi-monthly basis. I have no idea how much this will be but 72 hours after release my share stands at £18.55 which is better than a kick in the teeth.Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
Looking for a quick bit of advice if anyone can help;
Now things are getting on to an even keel and I am managing my money a lot better I was toying with the idea of reducing my overdraft. It is £900 at the moment and has been since I finished university many moons ago. I haven't been in it for over a year and feel I would benefit psychologically from reducing it.
Is there anything obvious I am missing when considering this?
- will it affect my credit/show as a search?
- could it be refused and withdrawn totally?
I bank with HSBC and the process of changing it appears to be an automated process.
All advice welcome...Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
I've just had a little bit of good news so thought I would share it.
I contributed toward a book that was published at the start of the year. It is selling well and looking like netting me over £100 for the first month which will go straight off my credit card balance.
It has set my mind away thinking I could write more and add to my sole self-published title to try and rake some more money in. I need to balance that with the time it will take but it is definitely something I am going to give a little more thought to.Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190 -
Pay day again and another round of payments from the ongoing debts.
These are the difficult days when the thrill of being organised and making a dent in the debt is countered by the monotony of it all and the realisation that I'm less than a fifth of the way through money wise and a quarter of the way through time wise.
I've made the standard payment of £100.00 plus an extra £50.00 off my credit card. The extra payment is from money left over in my current account at the end of January which was a pleasant surprise.
The credit card balance is currently £2,308.62 from a high of £3,352.62 which means I have now cleared over £1,000.00.
The current state of play is £11,455.30 remaining which breaks down as £2,308.62 on the 0% credit card and £9,146.68 remaining on the loan.
I am expecting the payment from my contribution to the published book sometime this month and think I will pay that off the credit card once it arrives. I am also due some back pay for some overtime at work. It has been delayed by two months which is kind of a pain but also means the figure will be higher when it does eventually arrive. I think I will throw that at the CC too in an effort to get it down ASAP.
Cheers for reading and good luck in your endeavours.Starting point Aug 2016 - £13,853.38
Current total May 2018 - £0.00 - 100.00% paid off
Debt free date (worst case) - December 20190
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