The amazing shrinking debt!

dreamdreamer

I'm thinking of moving banks to First Direct - OH is with them and has been for about 15 years. He doesn't have a bad thing to say about them. I'm sicking of having to go into branch for every minor thing because their phone banking staff are so incompetent and they just seem SO much more "with it" than Lloyds. We had an "issue" with a fast payment between our bank accounts (as in, it disappeared out of his and didn't arrive in mine!) - FD sorted it in a 10 minute phone call, apologised profusely, recalled his money and redid the transaction successfully. Lloyds totally screwed it up, putting random amounts in my account then taking them away, spent about 3 hours on the phone in total then lost my temper and went to the branch and had a rant. The difference in customer service was quite gobsmacking!

Plus their regular saver at 8% would be a nice little earner when I have my £300 loan payment to put somewhere. And then there's the £100 welcome bonus, and I *think* OH could get £50 for "referring" me but I'd have to look into that one...

Anyone have an experience of them?

saorsie

I bank with First direct Dreamer, have done for years and I love them!
-s-

dreamdreamer

I can't really find any negative reviews of First Direct, not without trawling through hundreds of glowing ones anyway. I think I've decided to wait until the loan is paid off in September, just because I've got all my DDs and SOs neatly arranged between current account and savings account date-wise for repaying this and overpaying it. Once it's paid off it's just the standard DD's (mortgage, mobile, utilities, CT, house insurance) all of which should be easy to switch.

Quidco is looking good today - the £80 cashback from switching to EDF has FINALLY been received (tracked on 18th Nov!) so that should be paid on 1st March. Which will help with what is going to be a tight month next month. Did so little overtime in Jan (paid 25th Feb) that it's going to be very awkward through March - good job it's only 28 days until March's substantially larger paycheck! Love the short month.

dreamdreamer

3 days til payday yaaaaaaaay! Down to £35. No more food shopping required but off out for a few drinks for a friend's bday tonight. :beer:

PollyBanwell

Hi!

Your diary is great and I have subscribed! Very inspiring! Well done you

I think working out when you will be debt free must be such a motivator! I'm going to try and work it out for my debt and hopefully it will continue to spur me on! I have found writing a diary on here really helpful and great way to keep me focused.

Keep up the good work!

Polly x

dreamdreamer

Thanks Polly, just had a little read of yours too! We seem to have a fairly similar approach! The debt free date is a massive booster for me, already dreaming of what I can do with the extra cash!

Well, last nights "few drinks" turned into "many drinks" and wound up crawling in sometime around 3am (not literally!). That's the first time I've been properly drunk in a long time, probably a couple of years, and I am seriously feeling it today! Still, only myself to blame!

Now down to a whole £4 until payday, hehe. Good job it's only 2 days away. I'm at work tomorrow through to monday, got tues off and then on wednesday through to sunday so won't be spending anything other than maybe a can of coke or two for the next 10 days.

dreamdreamer

I am SO annoyed. The Post Office just randomly decided to take my direct debit out on the 23rd instead of the 30th this month for my savings account, god knows why, but it was 2 days before payday and put me £200 into an unauthorised overdraft, which is going to cost me some ridiculous amount of money. I'm going to speak to the bank and see if they'll waive the charges since the direct debit date clearly says 30th on my internet banking, and will threaten to leave them (which I'm probably doing anyway!) if they don't waive them. Then I'm going to write a VERY strong letter of complaint to the PO! Idiots!

On the bright side, it's payday, loan payment has gone out so debt now stands at £4977!!

I'm quite excited to be under £5k and so happy to see it finally coming down in big chunks now the interest is getting lower and lower.

dreamdreamer

Another £400 overpayment to loan today so debt now stands at £4577. (71% paid)

I have worked out that after all bills etc I'll have £408 in my account and I have £40 in my wallet. OH is away this week until Friday so I'm doing some overtime, and then I'm on nights on Fri & Sat so won't be spending more than £10 this week on a few perishables etc. Then next week I'm off down to Cornwall to help my dad with some work and he'll repay me for this in food all week! So next week should be a cheap one too.

I don't envisage having to touch the £408 in my account until the weekend of Feb 12th, when I'll have to do a grocery shop. Should be able to easily manage on the £40 until then.

jonjamie1970

Great thread and good luck in reaching your DFD this year !!! I'm hoping to shave mine by half but not sure on where my personal life is taking me at the moment.

dreamdreamer

I got bored this afternoon so I did a projected SOA for what life will look like in October when the debts are clear. It also includes my incremental pay rise and the new mobile contract I'll be on.

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1462
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 400 (OH contribution to house)
Total monthly income.................... 1862

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 550
Council tax............................. 116
Electricity............................. 32
Gas..................................... 34
Water rates............................. 30
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0 (OH pays)
Internet Services....................... 0 (OH pays)
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 5
Other travel............................ 10
Buildings insurance..................... 24
Contents insurance...................... 9
Life assurance ......................... 0 (OH pays)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 200
Total monthly expenses.................. 1262


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 160000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 160000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 116000...(550)......3
Total secured & HP debts...... 116000

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,862
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,262
Available for debt repayments........... 600
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 600

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 160,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -116,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 44,000

Makes for pretty reading! Even after "play" money is out (the £200 for "entertainment") I should be able to save £600 a month without doing any overtime at all! Given that I usually do £200-£400 worth I'm going to be rolling in it! :rotfl:

Edited to add: Just done a joint one with OH's finances on there and if he sells his other house as planned - we'll have a surplus of £1468 a month between us! Finally the light at the end of the tunnel, we can get on saving for a holiday, a wedding, and a maternity fund.