Newbies' 10K in 2010 Challenge!! :)

scoobylicious

Hi everyone :hello:
I'm still working hard at reducing my debts but don't want to post as have just done a few balance transfers. It will be much better for me in the next 6-12 months as have managed (after a lot of phoning!)to get nearly 20k of debt down to between 0% & 3.9% interest! It will make a huge amount of difference as I'll be able to concentrate on lowering the more expensive debts. The only slightly depressing thing is that my debt has currently gone up again due to balance transfer fees, so not posting totals til they go down again which I hope to do by next month, otherwise I might feel too demoralised!
Just thought I'd let you know I'm still working on it
Scoobyx

brokemedic

Well, I am another one who hasn't posted on here in ages so just thought I would provide an update. I have managed to pay off and close two credit cards and am now working on the third one - Barclaycard - which charges a whopping amount of interest. I have already paid off half of the card which is a great feeling. However, the most enjoyable part of this challenge has been seeing my interest payments coming down. At the start of this year, I was paying £60 per month on all the interest for my various debts - I have now got it down to £30 a month which is still a lot, I know but half the original amount. I really want this debt paid off by the end of the year.

Anyway good luck to everyone else who is continuing with the challenge... am off to update my signature.

BM

loumac

I've made one more payment for the month which brings my new total to £6978.80.

However, have just transferred OH cc balance to mine as it's 0% interest and 0% on transfers and there will be a charge incurred. Just trying to keep tabs on things I think helps to keep them in check though.

Wish I could make everyone see how it can be done...have just been chatting to my dad to discover he has £17K on a cc. Oh to win the lottery and for everything to be ok. x

brokemedic

I have just had a long hard look at my finances and realised that I am not going to meet my target of paying off my debt this year if I don't do something drastic. Part of the problem is my degree and that when I need books or am on placement my money watching ways go out of the window. The other part is lack of motivation as I don't really have anyone supporting me. I haven't told anyone about what I am doing (except maybe on here LOL:)). So I don't think that is helping me either.

What can I do to get that kick up the bum I need. :mad:

t4mof

£465 paid off Virgin today.

Was hoping to pay an extra £300 to MBNA this month but need to stick to a fairly tight budget. Think I might be able to do it if there are no unexpected surprises and I can stick to a shopping budget of £60 for each of the next 2 weeks.

lamarsi

brokemedic wrote: »

I have just had a long hard look at my finances and realised that I am not going to meet my target of paying off my debt this year if I don't do something drastic. Part of the problem is my degree and that when I need books or am on placement my money watching ways go out of the window. The other part is lack of motivation as I don't really have anyone supporting me. I haven't told anyone about what I am doing (except maybe on here LOL:)). So I don't think that is helping me either.

What can I do to get that kick up the bum I need. :mad:

virtual kicking coming your way!!! I'm at uni at the mo doing my nurse training so i'm also on placement alot which makes earning exra to pay off my debts sometimes a real pain but i look at my friend for inspiration.. when she was at uni she broke up with her b/f and had to buy him out of the house to the tune of 50k, her mum and dad paid off all her debts to the tune of 30k but she then ran them up again to the tune of another 40k, she is now on a pay plan and her basic wage doesn't cover her outgoings so she HAS to work overtime and bank work every week but she's now got herself preggers so will be on maternity pay :eek: thats my kick up the bum every time i think off her! So with that i off to do a 14 hour shift in the taxi! I hate it but so far since i started uni in sept I've cleared almost 10k of my debts and when i do get a job (hopefully) I can ease back and enjoy it

brokemedic

Thanks lamarsi,

In a way it's good to know that it's not only me in this situation, studying and working to pay off debts. It can get really de-motivating at times. I thought I would have paid off a lot more when I first embarked upon this challenge. I have decided that I am going to try and make a payment a day, even if it's only a pound a day to keep my debt paying at the forefront of my mind.

I trained as a nurse first time around - which branch are you going into? How much longer do you have left to go??

bm

museumworker

lamarsi and brokemedic, my (virtual) hat goes off to you both, studying and paying off debt - a tremendous achievement which should help set you up once qualified.

£1,110 to add this month - which I believe takes us over the £10k mark!!! :j:j:j

Incredible, OH and I really didn't think we'd do it in 12 months, let alone 7. We have had two people around to look at loft, hoping to get it done this year, a year before schedule, especially now there is a 20% VAT looming.

Nottoobadyet

museumworker wrote: »

I believe takes us over the £10k mark!!! :j:j:j

Amazing!!! Fantastic, you're way ahead of the curve :j:j:j

Any tips for the rest of us?

loumac

lamarsi and brokemedic - well done with all your efforts and keep it up! I understand where you're coming from, when I retrained as a teacher I was completing my PGCE full time, including placements in schools and was living alone with a mortgage to pay. I worked as a driver for a car rental company, a cleaner on nights, I made sandwiches in a shop and worked for a friend in his suit hire shop.

Where there's a will there's a way!

I've had a bit of an awakening this week, following my previous post about my dad's cc debt of £17k I've discovered that barely skimmed the surface of about £60k worth of debt he;'d been hiding from everyone. Debts can cause such trouble....

It's made me and my OH look more carefully at what we're doing and have recalculated and moved a few things around so we know exactly what's what. Officially this year we've paid towards debts and savings £7278.80.

However, we've had to borrow more and I wasn't counting overdrafts last time so it's really only £5029.84 towards clearing debt.

Just got to keep on trying...... :cool: