got thinking cap on now!! brilliant

MoneyWaster2007

hey all!! its while since i last posted, but hey....

....in april i had £1000 in an isa. which i transfered into my loan as it is stupid to have savings at the same time as debt (interest rates and all)

so....that took my outstanding balance on the loan from £8000 to £7000. since then i have been paying extra into the loan each month by having an overhaul of my spending. by cutting back and sticking to a budget, i am now able to pay £475 into my loan per month- woo hoo!!!

the loan now stands at £5825, and according to my calculations, i should be debt free in 10 months- this is taking into account extra income- xmas bonus, birthday and xmas money.

so...i can finally see the light!! and i will try my hardest to put extra money in where possible, which could make it even quicker!!!

it is going to be repaid 4 years ahead of schedule- well chuffed!!

my plan then is to pay my overdraft of £700 off, then open an isa and max it out each year, plus a sepearte savings account for when my money starts overflowing!!!

then it will be looking forward to getting together a mortgage deposit!!!

what a plan!! and all of it simply by looking into the subject deeply. and hey, i still have my wild weekends on top of all of this, all in the budget!!!

just thought i would share this with you all, the future is looking bright!!!! :j

got-it-spend-it

Well done you! That sounds like a great plan and you're well underway....

CAFCGirl

YAY for you!

Its really ncie to hear of someone really motivated to paying off their debts, and you sound like you've got a great level of motivation and enthusiasm and its great to still live a life whilst knocking down those numbers!

Good luck to you and keep posting, maybe sharing some tips on how to stick to a budget, how you've managed to fit in your wild parties, controlling your spending etc would help others and promote the same kind of motivation you have in them xx

MoneyWaster2007

Well...heres how i overhauled my spending....

i smoke, which is bad i know, but instead of smoking cigarettes, i now smoke roll ups, which cost me £5 per week, saving me £25 a week!!!

i allow myself £50 per month to get 1 new item of clothing, but instead of going out to the shops, i can get the same quality labeled clothes for a lot cheaper on ebay. (usually costs less than £50, so can save on this too!!!)

on a weekend i always used to like spending time going out to the pub getting drunk friday saturday and sunday, but now i only go out one night a week, on a saturday because it breaks the weekend up evenly. i allow myself £40 for a night out. and thats all i need, because i stick to going out in my home town, which means i dont have to pay for a taxi or club entrance fee.

i set aside £23 per month for a haircut and hair wax. £120 for my mum housekeeping. £174.20 for my monthly loan repayment.

After i have paid all of this out, i still have £440.00 spare out of my monthly wage!!!! i set aside £80.00 in case of emergencies, but manage to put an extra £360.00 into my loan per month. plus the £80.00 spare if i dont need it.

so..... because i am putting extra into my loan per month, it will be paid off 3 and a half years early, cutting out a !!!! load of interest!!!!! i have a chart on my bedroom wall of what my loan o/s balance should be each month, and each month i attempt to beat it.

august is my debt free month and i think i can do it quicker!!! then its a case of clearing my overdraft of £700- which will be easy. and then looking towards building up a mortgage deposit.:money:

debtfreesomeday

Well done Moneywaster2007, that's great progress, and 10 months will fly by!

Can I be nosy and ask you who your loan is with? I ask, because we have two and we're not able to overpay on ours, so would like to swap them to one that allows us to.

Cheers
DFSD
xx

MoneyWaster2007

its with halifax, i didnt realise that i could pay extra into it until recently. i rung them up and they said the only way you can do it is by going into your branch and handing over the cash, they wont let you do it on the phone for some reason, not sure why. have you spoken to your bank about it?

doodledo_2

Well done you are doing so well and bet you bet your debt free date for sure. Keep posting and let us know how you are getting on.

debtfreesomeday

MoneyWaster2007 wrote: »

its with halifax, i didnt realise that i could pay extra into it until recently. i rung them up and they said the only way you can do it is by going into your branch and handing over the cash, they wont let you do it on the phone for some reason, not sure why. have you spoken to your bank about it?

Thanks for that - yes, I spoke to someone in their call centre on the phone ages ago and it was a firm 'NO'! But, I will pop into the bank now and ask a 'real person'. Thanks for the info and good luck with the next 10 months xx

MoneyWaster2007

just another little tip that has helped me.....

i used to have a contract mobile phone, if you have one, GET RID OF IT!!! lol

pay as you go is so much better, because if u cant afford to top up with credit, u do without, as apposed to a contract where u can overspend.

also if u have a car get rid of it, unless it is essential. but if not, sell it and get a bike, much cheaper and healthier :j

debtfreesomeday

Just found out online that they now allow over payments on my loan - thanks MW2007, would never have checked it out again if I hadn't read your post! Will be rid of that loan in 3 years now instead of 6.5!

MoneyWaster2007

DFS, thats excellent news!!! seriously, glad i brought it up for u. its a brilliant feeling to see the numbers going down and to have a clear cut plan....go for it!!!:money: