Paying off my debts - so I can afford paternity leave next yer
NinjaLemur
Posts: 19 Forumite
I currently have 3 credit cards all of which I have recently asked about freezing the interest on to help me clear the debts quicker.
I got into trouble through an addiction to gambling which I funded through my cards sometimes using the cc to pay for things as I had used my salary/wages gambling and even the big no no of drawing money out on the cards.
It is not a massive amount of debt and I can meet the minimum payments & am actually paying well above them at the moment, and for that reason the cc companies have advised me that freezing the interest would not be an option they would consider. Although I still have to talk to Barclaycard who have frozen any interest or charges for 30 days until I have spoken to them on the phone.
the current balances of the cards are
Barclaycard £1892
1st Direct £507
Nat West £452
(although I have made payments on all 3 this week that have yet to be subtracted)
(also around 950 of the Barclaycard balance is a 0% balance transfer)
I clear around 1500 per month without overtime.
What I want to do is clear as much of the debt as I can in the following 3 months as my partner is pregnant and the baby is due in early April and with her then being on maternity leave my outgoings will increase as I will have to cover a higher percentage of bills and possibly mortgage payments for 2 months. I would also like to take paternity leave to help with the new arrival. This obviously will be dependant on whether or not I can afford to and if I can then cover the remaining monthly minimum payments with the SPP which if I remember from 2 years back is just below 140/week.
I got into trouble through an addiction to gambling which I funded through my cards sometimes using the cc to pay for things as I had used my salary/wages gambling and even the big no no of drawing money out on the cards.
It is not a massive amount of debt and I can meet the minimum payments & am actually paying well above them at the moment, and for that reason the cc companies have advised me that freezing the interest would not be an option they would consider. Although I still have to talk to Barclaycard who have frozen any interest or charges for 30 days until I have spoken to them on the phone.
the current balances of the cards are
Barclaycard £1892
1st Direct £507
Nat West £452
(although I have made payments on all 3 this week that have yet to be subtracted)
(also around 950 of the Barclaycard balance is a 0% balance transfer)
I clear around 1500 per month without overtime.
What I want to do is clear as much of the debt as I can in the following 3 months as my partner is pregnant and the baby is due in early April and with her then being on maternity leave my outgoings will increase as I will have to cover a higher percentage of bills and possibly mortgage payments for 2 months. I would also like to take paternity leave to help with the new arrival. This obviously will be dependant on whether or not I can afford to and if I can then cover the remaining monthly minimum payments with the SPP which if I remember from 2 years back is just below 140/week.
0
Comments
-
Hi and welcome, you'll need to get a proper written budget together. You'll need to think about how much money you will need before hand too, so you can afford things for baby.
best of luck!Total Debt in Feb 2015 - £6,052 | DEBT FREE 26/05/2017Swagbucks £200 Valued Opinions £100Dave Ramsey Baby Step 2 | Mr Money Mustache Addict0 -
Budget is in place spreadsheets are marvellous aren't they lol
and TBF a lot of the bits and pieces you would need for a newborn we already have from our first child.
Just need to get a parental leave plan set because I understand that we can now do shared parental leave but of course any time that we are both off we need to account for the drop in income.0 -
No idea if this would work for you, but my colleague has just arrange to take vacation (so paid leave) when the baby is born and then parental leave later in the year (at the lower rate).0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 607.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173K Life & Family
- 247.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards