Snowballing calculator

Strawb1980

Hi all

I've been lurking around on this site for months but have made minimum posts.... i had started to get my debt under control but fear that its now about to spiral again :mad:

Just been looking at the snowball calculator (am fascinated!). But just wondering if anyone has used the snowballing method to pay off their debts, and if so how you found it?? did you go for interest order or balance order, and did it work?

Really hope to hear what you have to say xx

MrsTinks

I think everyone has their own preference for paying things off - I love seeing the balances reducing but it also feels great to finally pay 1 off and tell them to go stuff themselves The ultimate MSE way is to do highest APR first obviously - but sometimes you need something to encourage you and spurr you on - for me that's paying something off

Strawb1980

Hey MrsTine - that was one quick response! thanx for that.
I'm undecided what to do at the minute - part of me, like you wants to see one paid off so i can get the feel good factor of seeing a £0000 balance, but then the other side thinks the APR order makes more sense... thought i'd see how people have gotten on with it... at moment i'm just making random payments to each! x

MrsTinks

Ofcourse you could help it all by moving as much as possible to 0% apr if you can

Strawb1980

I'm saving off doing that at minute - flakey blonde (that'd be me) missed 2 payments recently for about the first time in 2 years! (i'm still kicking myself) x

poorandindenial

I love the snowball calculator but really love the feeling of a balance going to zero. I have tended to sometimes push through on balances when they get low just so that I can tick another one off the list. I sort of do a strange hybrid thing where I make up the rules that seem to make me feel best while the debt heads in the right direction but might not be 'technically' the most efficient way.

doodledo_2

I used the snowball calculator and paid mine back based on the APR's. It took a while to see the balances go down and the temptation to pay the smaller ones off first was great.

I did it this way as it gave me some satisfaction to know that I was limiting the amount of interest I had to pay, rather it be in my pocket than theirs.

poorandindenial

Doodles, you are so disciplined!!! I don't have the patience and get overexcited - lol

Katy83

I'm trying to do it based on the APRs - although I did pay my next bill first because it was the smallest!

Have you tried playing about with the snowball calculator to see how much longer it would take paying them off in a different order? Can't remember how you do this, but I think there is a way.

Good luck!

Strawb1980

Hi all
thanx for your comments, i've had a little play with the calculator during my lunch break today - i'm definitely going to take this on board instead of making random payments! Good luck to all of u x

ExNicotineQueen

Another one here for paying off the highest APR cards first. I did use the snowball calculator to see how much more interest it would be if I paid off the smaller balances first and it was something like an extra 1k in interest if I did it that way! :eek:

Now if a balance is nearing zero, I will try and sell something or raise the extra funds necessary by other means so that it doesn't affect my normal repayment schedule in order to clear the balance.