Debt free in 15 months, the clock is ticking!

FatVonD

Hello all,

I'm posting this as I think 'going public' might help me (for 'help me' read 'shame me'!) into reaching my goal! I can become obsessive about most things given half a chance and the time is long overdue when I become obsessive about saving money instead of spending it...

Last month I transferred my credit card and part of a store card balance onto Virgin's 16 months interest free account so my debts are now as follow

Virgin £6,730 (0% interest)
B&Q remainder £425.14 (0% interest rate ends 26 March)
Overdraft £1,200

I kind of know the theory of what order to pay it all off so have paid just the minimum amount on the Virgin account this month so that I can pay more off of the B&Q one before they start levying interest. I'm hoping to have paid B&Q off in full by next pay day and then plan to set about paying off the Virgin card before the interest free period runs out :eek:

I think I can comfortably manage £300 a month but that won't do the trick and it really is time I got out of my comfort zone and started feeling UNcomfortable and stopped wasting money so I pledge to cut down on takeaways and bring my lunch to work every day (I've just completed my first whole week of not buying lunches :T ) so I can pay off my debt in the next 15 months.

I realise my debt situation is not as dire as some people's but I'm also a lot older than some of the people here (though not wiser!) and really need to crack this and then hopefully start overpaying on my mortgage so I can retire early enough to enjoy it!

Thanks for reading and good luck to all!

FatVonD

FatVonD

Okay, I'm clearly quite rubbish at this and since my first post I've added another £500 to my old CC. (Second instalment on a holiday. *Cue excuse* Long story but we took my son on holiday last year and couldn't afford to take the step kids and promised them we'd have a holiday with all of us this year.)

I started out quite well and paid £300 off of the store card but unfortunately I did it on a Saturday when the counter wasn't open and one of the reception 'dollies' in the bank paid it in for me to the wrong account (apparently B&Q bank with HSBC and she paid it to their main account and not the customer collection one) and with the wrong reference number. It took until last week to get it back and then when I did I spent it on my car tax.

Luckily I'd already signed a DD with B&Q so they had collected the minimum payment so I didn't get charged a missed payment fee and HSBC have offered to pay any interest incurred by the non payment of the £300 but I've not got around to claiming yet.

So basically all I've done since I started this diary is pay the minimum payments on everything. (And I've stopped making lunches though I have reduced the amount I spend on lunch to about £2.25 per day.)

I'm hoping to pay off around £500 worth of debts this month but since the name of (my) game is shaming myself into doing something about my debts I thought I'd better 'fess up. If nothing else it might make someone else feel better amid all the success stories!

FatVonD

I've paid £400 off the B&Q card (which is no longer interest free and has a higher interest rate than the old CC.) Adding that to the minimum payment they took last month what's now left will be less than this month's minimum payment should have been so they should take that lesser amount which should clear the lot

I'll only have enough left now though to pay the minimum payments on the 'old' CC and 0% CC this month but the grand plan is to pay off the 'old' one in full next month.

Keebs

Good luck with the plan!

I'll admit to a little chuckle at the car tax incident (hope that doesn't offend), but at least you spent it on something useful.

Will check back at the end of the month to see how much your debt has shrunk

FatVonD

Thanks for the good luck wishes, Keebs.

I've now paid the minimum amounts for this month on the two CCs and am still £100 or so from my overdraft limit and hoping for another bank charges free month

FatVonD

First the bad news... I added 3 tickets to see the Faces at Goodwood plus the cost of a night in a Travelodge to my (high interest, not 0%) credit card.

The good news... B&Q is totally paid off, I've paid the minimum amount again on the 0% credit card and £500 off the high interest one This does mean I have very little to spend for the rest of the month and may have to use the credit card towards the end of the month but my thinking is that I'll spend less that way than if I still had the £500 in my current account and if I can pay the stuff at the end of the month off in full I won't pay interest on it but I would definitely be paying interest on the £500 I've paid off it.

Not sure if that makes sense or is indeed correct but fingers crossed!

I'm in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do about the rest of the holiday payment which needs to be paid at the end of August but I'll post that elsewhere...