What do with my stash (!)

gettingtheresometime

Hi

I'm a long time MSEr who has created a AE for herself for various reasons!

I have a pile of debt that my OH doesn't know about - basically if he found out he would go blastic so firstly can I say telling him about it is not an option......its all being dealt with.

2009 was a really horrible year for me - was dismissed from my job and spent the rest of the year in and out of work, like I guess lots of people. My situation is that I've been working for the last 5 months but I don't feel 'secure' - not surprising I guess with what happened last year.

I've also got an small part evening job and occasionally I get offered extra shifts and what I've been doing is to calculate what I earn in these extra shifts and withdraw it as and when I do the shift - so the extra doesn't get nibbled away at. As a result I've now got £305 in cash.

And here's my problem: there's a little voice in my head saying not to make a lump sum payment to the debts but to continue to hoard it just in case the worst happens again and at least that way I will have some money to make the payments but there's an equal loud voice saying that if I used this money as a lump sum payment and paid it off towards the debt on an as and when basis then the debt would be cleared quicker - so how can I reconcile the two?

yorkshire-lad

Hi,welcome to MSE.

without knowing more about your debts inc APRs and your monthly income/outgoings etc, it will be hard for people to give advice.

if you have a spare 5minutes, it would be worth filling out an SOA, found here http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

beanielou

Just wanted to say hi & welcome to MSE

BeautyandtheBeast_3

split it maybe? half to the debt other half to hoard xx

Tixy

Its a toughie. I think if you are a regular MSEr you'll make the right decision for you. If you think you will keep getting these extra shifts and can build it up again then I'd go for a debt.
Do you have a small debt you could target with it? or a high interest one? do any/all of your debts have defaults? if so would it be enough for a reduced full & final to one of them?

gettingtheresometime

Thanks for the replies.

Some of them have defaults some don't. Those that do aren't attracting interest so I guess those are the ones that can 'wait' and I'm concentrating on the ones that do - so I am being an MSE in that way,lol!

Unfortuantely where I work in the evenings the extra shifts aren't guaranteed....in fact the job itself is not secure so that's why I'm wary of using the lump sum to pay towards a debt at this stage - and unfortuantely its not enough to settle a debt (although it is about 50% of one!) at the moment.

I'm trying to get a higher paid job which would go someway to helping the situation but at the mo everything seems to be full of ifs buts and maybes.

SimbaSimon

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Hi

I'm a long time MSEr who has created a AE for herself for various reasons!

I have a pile of debt that my OH doesn't know about - basically if he found out he would go blastic so firstly can I say telling him about it is not an option......its all being dealt with.

2009 was a really horrible year for me - was dismissed from my job and spent the rest of the year in and out of work, like I guess lots of people. My situation is that I've been working for the last 5 months but I don't feel 'secure' - not surprising I guess with what happened last year.

I've also got an small part evening job and occasionally I get offered extra shifts and what I've been doing is to calculate what I earn in these extra shifts and withdraw it as and when I do the shift - so the extra doesn't get nibbled away at. As a result I've now got £305 in cash.

And here's my problem: there's a little voice in my head saying not to make a lump sum payment to the debts but to continue to hoard it just in case the worst happens again and at least that way I will have some money to make the payments but there's an equal loud voice saying that if I used this money as a lump sum payment and paid it off towards the debt on an as and when basis then the debt would be cleared quicker - so how can I reconcile the two?

Seems like a no brainer to me. Pay off some of your debt and your pay less interest which means you can pay off more of your debt next time, get it snowballing and it'll soon come down! Sit on it and it'll earn 0% interest in your pocket and your more likely to spend it, even if you've promise yourself you won't, all the time while paying more interest.

If the worst was to happen, there are always other options to consider, and your be in a better position because you would of paid off some of your debt so you should have less outgoings.

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi and welcome, I can understand why you feel a safety net is needed but I'd be tempted to pay half a debt off and be done with it :-) good luck either way

gonzo127

hi

if your stash is roughly 50% of one of your debts i would send a full and final settlement to that creditor of about 30-40% of the debt as a initial offer. ok they might not take this and say it is too low and want more to which case you can up it to your maximum 50% and inform them that if they do not accept the offer (within a set time limit 2-4 weeks) you will then offer the money to another of your creditors - this must all be done in writing!

usualy settlement % for full and finals seem to be

when it is with a debt collection company anywehere between 20-50%
when still with the original creditor usualy between 50 - 80%

if the creditor accepts it you will then have less monthly expenditure and you can then snowball the normal payment you pay to this creditor into your other debts to make them go quicker, or you can get it put into a savings account to rebuild your stash