Life begins at the end of 41k debt

rachelww1

Hi Olderbutnotwiser. That's a fantastic amount you've cleared, and in under 3 years too :T. Any tips?? I always seem to come to a bit of a standstill halfway through the month. Too much month left and not enough money scenario. I'll be pleased at the end of this year when the dreaded Barclaycard will finally be paid off (I've had it for over 20 years :eek:), and the o/d will have reduced significantly. Good luck with the new job, I'm hoping to maybe go part time when all this is cleared, but we'll see.

chevalier

I completly understand about how you felt after a few beers. I have just lost my dad in the last month, and I didn't think that I was close to him either, but I realised that I was more than I thought. So don't be surprised if you feel a bit directionless as your mum grows frailer. As for your DS it is a tough one. I think that letting him spend time with her is important, and you have to be truthful with him. I told my DSage 10 and DS age 7 that my dad was very ill, and that was why I was going to see him (i don't live in the UK anymore), and when they asked if he would die I said that he might. But I guess that if there is such a bad prognosis, then that makes it more difficult, if there is little hope. Lots of cuddles and sympathy.
chev

Olderbutnotwiser

rachelww1 wrote: »

Hi Olderbutnotwiser. That's a fantastic amount you've cleared, and in under 3 years too :T. Any tips?? I always seem to come to a bit of a standstill halfway through the month. Too much month left and not enough money scenario. I'll be pleased at the end of this year when the dreaded Barclaycard will finally be paid off (I've had it for over 20 years :eek:), and the o/d will have reduced significantly. Good luck with the new job, I'm hoping to maybe go part time when all this is cleared, but we'll see.

Better than 3 years - only about 19 months really it helps when you sell a car and then remortgage- I didn't borrow any more when I remortgaged but I did extend the time, as we were paying £1200 a month and struggling with the other debt at a much higher interest rate........ my long term plan is to pay off my debts then attack the mortgage with approx half of the money that this would free, and enjoy the rest
The thing to remember when you attack a big amount like £41k (still makes me want to :eek:) is not to be too hard on yourself when you slip up, recognise the need to still have a life and just re-jiggle the numbers when you need to- I look at any reduction as a good thing but life might not be worth living if I had to give up diving completely;)

rachelww1

Thanks for your kind words chev, and I'm sorry about your dad xx

Last debt payment just gone out this month, making the total paid so far £13,187.67. Its been quite an expensive month so far, what with half term, inset days, and the dishwasher, so I've not quite reached my target this month. Also got the gas bill through for the quarter, £95 :eek:, and I had budgetted for it to come out next month. Doh.

DebtFree2012

Hi hun

How's things? I haven't been around properly for a while as been too busy with work and things but back on now.

Will be nice to hear from you

x x

rachelww1

Hi DF, nice to see you back x

I've decided to concentrate my efforts on reducing my overdraft, as i'm now paying more interest on that than on the barclaycard. If I can stick to the budget, we will be o/d free by november. I'm still going to make overpayments to barclaycard, but just not as much. At the moment the minimum is just over £50, with a balance of £2700, so I'm going to pay them £100 a month til the o/d is gone. The o/d hovers around £4500 o/d at the end of every month, so I think this is a better option, as the APRs are quite similar anyway.

I just feel a bit safer this way, as the credit cards are all closed, but the bank could revoke the o/d at any time, and then we'd really be up the creek without a paddle.

Most of the debt d/d's have gone out already this month, so I need to work out my new total.

DebtFree2012

Hiya

I'm after advice on veg growing. I have salad leaves which seem to be doing well (put in late) but is there a rule to when you can eat them? I don't know if I take some leaves off will they grow back or do you take the full root out?

Re your O/D that sounds like a good plan! It is scary as you say, to think they can revoke it on a whim. What's your budget to allow this then, very tight?

You'll have to post your new figures once you have done them.

I've started a new strategy of paying everything that needs to be paid on pay day and waiting until the day before next pay day to make my overpayments. This is because then I will know how much I have left to overpay rather than educated guess and also I have found myself stuck when have made overpayments but an emergency has come up and had no cash for.
The only downside is that I hope I am not tempted to use it - I may have to transfer it to savings account in the interim.

Is your DFD may 2013 still?

x x

rachelww1

I've just tried to apply for a 0% credit card to do a balance transfer but the computer said no . Oh well, I will try again in a few months time.

Seems to have been a bit of an expensive month again, what with DH's birthday and my mums' birthday only a week apart.

Sorry I didn't get back to you before DF, my salad leaves have finished now, but we were just picking the leaves off as we needed them.

Right. So totals for now are as follows.

Dec 10 July 11

Natwest MC £2724 Nil :T
Barclaycard £7338 £2629

Natwest O/D £4900 £3945

Natwest Loan £9825 £8226

MBNA CC £4209 £4012

Barclaycard Loan £1476 £766

Abbey Loan £8560 £6968

Egg Loan £2015 £1299


Totals £41047 £27845

As I said before, I am concentrating on getting rid of the O/D at the mo, and hopefully this will be gone by the end of the year. I'm still making overpayments to barclaycard, but not as much.

Just need to get the holiday season out of the way now so I can get focussed again. Weeks holiday booked to Dorset at the end of August, it's only in a tent but I can't wait.

rachelww1

Not done an update since July...oops. But still plugging away at the debt. New totals are as follows:

Dec 10 July 11 Feb 12

Natwest MC £2724 Nil :T
Barclaycard £7338 £2629 £2101

Natwest O/D £4900 £3945 ££3700

Natwest Loan £9825 £8226 £6593

MBNA CC £4209 £4012 £3745

Barclaycard Loan £1476 £766 Nil :T

Abbey Loan £8560 £6968 £6577

Egg Loan £2015 £1299 £439


Totals £41047 £27845 £23154

I got the figures wrong on DHs Abbey Loan, so that is why that one doesn't look like it has gone down a lot.

The bank have offered us a £5k loan at 8.9% to clear the overdraft which is at 19.89%. This will also clear most of the Barclaycard (19.9%). If it goes through (depending on credit score) then we are going to accept and have the overdraft closed for good, so no chance of ever getting into the red with them again. Hopefully will know in the next few days.

rachelww1

Again it has been an age since I last posted on here, but an awful lot has been going on (most of it not great). Sadly my dear mum passed away at the beginning of April, so debt busting has not been at the forfront of my mind. But I still have to get on with things and have been keeping check of my finances, but not making any large overpayments. However I now need somthing to focus on again, so in July this will change.

So, here are the updates for June 2012.

Dec 10 July 11 Feb 12 June 2012

Natwest MC £2724 Nil :T
Barclaycard £7338 £2629 £2101 £1839

Natwest O/D £4900 £3945 £3700 £3700

Natwest Loan £9825 £8226 £6593 £5718

MBNA CC £4209 £4012 £3745 £3520

Barclaycard Loan £1476 £766 Nil :T

Abbey Loan £8560 £6968 £6577 £5540

Egg Loan £2015 £1299 £439 £106 (will be gone in 2 days )


Totals £41047 £27845 £23154 £20423

So a bit of catching up to do as my DFD has now been pushed back to October 2013.

But the good news is that in 2 days I will have halved the original debt, and by the end of next month, it will be sub 20k:T Oh, and I have also maintained my target at slim world for the last 6 months (still smoking though...hmmmm )