Elmer's moneysaving mission

ElmerFudd

OH is onboard with the debt, although is currently unable to up her income. It's possible she may be able to get a 0% deal (worth a try!) although I doubt the credit line would be very high.
We've already cut back as far as we can on things, so this is definitely something we should look into.

ElmerFudd

I have calculated that I'll probably not be able to pay in £100 a month to the Lloyds however I will be able to make payments of around £80 a month which should mean it will be clear by October time (since the last loan payment is September - things would have been easier if the other Lloyds minimum hadn't shot up to £340 a month). I'll carry on overpaying and see how it goes.
I have also calculated that if I can't get my student loan deferred again later this year then my complete DFD will be March 2017 - if I can defer it my complete DFD will be much earlier. I have a 5 year plan. I'll make this work!

LianneH

Hey Elmer! Well thats good "clear by October", that will be one down then. How come the Lloyds min shot up? did they just change the way the calculated it or was it a special offer you were on? any luck with the OH's possible 0% credit?

Dunno, if you have thought about ebay or car boot sales? I know not everyone is up for it and tbh sometimes I get a bit fed up, but I tend to try and list say 2 things a week and anything I make I try and keep in a wee pot for a treat, nothing extravagant but just to take the edge off being a DFW! I have to say tho sometimes I have had to use it to pay for an "emergency" but always been thankful that i didnt add to my debt! and by the looks of it yours IS coming down so its going in the right direction! x

ElmerFudd

It doesn't feel like it's going down sometimes though! Had a thought about the 0% card and as silly as it sounds I find the fact that it's currently at 24.9% is actually motivating me more to get the debt down. Knowing me if I transfer it to a 0% deal I'll get lazy and not overpay as much as I should do and miss opportunities to kick the debt down. I've done it before so I know there's a risk it will happen again. I've thought about ebay and car boot sales but I don't really have anything to sell. I gave most of my gear away a number of years ago so we don't really have anything.
I haven't even found any "roadkill" in a long while.
If I stick to the plan the debt will be gone in about 5 years all being well.

LianneH

ElmerFudd wrote: »

and as silly as it sounds I find the fact that it's currently at 24.9% is actually motivating me more to get the debt down.

not silly at all, thats what I mean about what the advice on these websites give and knowing your own behaviours when it comes to money. Think the important thing is... whatever works!

ElmerFudd

Our phone contracts are up for renewal, so chancing my arm I haggled some good deals - saving us £15 a month! So we now have £15 more to go toward the debt hopefully. I'll hold off on sending the money to the credit card though until the mobile statement arrives!!!
Seems like there is a very good chance that the Lloyds CC will be paid off completely in September rather than October (even with the extra interest each month). I've pretty much cut down on all the outgoings now. The only way I will be able to pay these things off quicker is if I sell things (which I don't really have - apart from the old phones once the new phones arrive), get a payrise, or find some money!

LianneH

ElmerFudd wrote: »

Our phone contracts are up for renewal, so chancing my arm I haggled some good deals - saving us £15 a month!

:j Whoop Whoop!! thats great - I love it when that happens - thats fantastic news!

Do you have kids? Cause its due to my little girl that I end up making money on ebay, her clothes gives me an endless stockpile! I get less than a £1 per item sometimes but every little helps!

you should get an ok amount for the mobiles if they aren't too old. Last time I upgraded, I kept my old phone and sold the new one and got a few hundred pounds. (the phone was a "free" upgrade).

have you tried posting a SOA on the boards to see if folks can come up with some other ideas?

Oh and by the way, i noticed you saw my post on the DF board - thanks! I'm so pleased, just trying to stay DF now!

ElmerFudd

We don't have kids yet although we are planning for them.

I'll probably trade in the old phones and see what we can get for them. I've already done a quick check and it looks like we may be able to get at least £60 for them!

I've already cut things down a lot. I suspect I've covered all bases with my SOA, although I haven't posted one for a while though.

Good luck staying DF and building up a savings pot

ElmerFudd

I've recently had to pay for my travelcard so things may be a bit tighter than expected next month. I am hoping to have about £80 extra to go towards the Lloyds (bringing the payment to about £100), but I may have to put this towards the Old Lloyds instead to make sure I have enough in there to cover the interest - I don't want to go overlimit. Probably just worrying for nothing since the interest wasn't too bad this month - but then again the month before it was something like £300, whereas this month it was £240 and there was no rhyme or reason for it. Better safe than sorry.
The other thing about this is that I can afford to wait a little on it since I have only just received this months statement - I can wait to deal with it in the first week of April.
Still eager to pay this "small" Lloyds off though, but can't run before I walk...don't want to trip.

ElmerFudd

Pay day is soon and I still have a bit of cash in my pocket (although none in the bank currently). I have worked out that, once all the payments have gone out in the next few weeks my total debt (not including the student loan) will be back under 25k. That's a real milestone for me, and shows me things are going back in the right direction.

Edit: I should also say that so far this month I have had 25 NSD's. I have also had a couple of big payments to make for the year this month which I have been able to do without going too much over my budget - not to mention the fact that I am hoping to get a bonus from my work in the next few months which should bring the debt down even further.