Elmer's moneysaving mission

LianneH

ElmerFudd wrote: »

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.

whoo hoo!! fantastic news on that milestone :j. I know it hasn't technically happened yet but it wont be long!

25 NSDs - wow - how did you manage that, thats impressive!

remember when you get your bonus, a small celebratory bottle of wine or something, makes it all the more bearable! well it did for me!

ElmerFudd

25 NSD's by keeping spending down to just weekends, not having any cash on me and not purchasing anything online during the weekdays. Many a time I was tempted to grab a coffee etc on the way to work when I did have a little cash on me but I managed to fight the urge.
Looks like the debt (not including the student loan) has now dropped under 25k - I've winged a payment off to one of the cards. With the interest however it will be back up in the middle of next month. Once I have paid all the other bills off it will be solidly under 25k. I can't wait!
Today will be a spend day, since I need to do some shopping later so I figured I would put some money to good use as well. I've also paid 3 bills.
I may have to wait on paying £100 into the old Lloyds card this month. I've put £30 to it but I want to wait til closer to the next statement to make sure I have enough money on me for the month to cover everything first. I'll have a better idea at the beginning of the month once most of the bills have been paid.

ElmerFudd

Oddly, despite keeping a good track of all the money spent on shopping and bills at the moment at least it does not look like I will be able to overpay on the old credit card (more than the extra £10 I put in - was hoping to put another £70 on it). I'll have to look at everything once I get paid again at the beginnning of the month but I expect I won't have anything after all the bills, cards, and groceries are paid for. I'll need to go through my accounts with a fine tooth comb.

Edit: one good thing though is that I only owe £1150 on the loan (only 6 months til it gets paid off!!)

LianneH

has the amount that you currently pay to the loan factored into the snowball calculator? 6 months isnt long!

ElmerFudd

Yep. All included. Still about 5 years til DFD unfortunately

I've also been thinking over things a little more and I think I'm going to work harder on the "little" debts rather than the big debt with the massive APR. Although it will take a few months longer to pay off I feel that psychologically I'll feel less dragged down by a single debt (even if it is massive) than I am by multiple "little" plus a massive one.
I'll probably still overpay the big one but I'll put more of the "spare" cash toward paying off the little ones.
I also spoke with my bank manager today who seems to think I may be able to get a loan with a much lower percentage than I'm paying on the card. I told them I'll wait a couple of months. I don't really want to get a loan out as I feel I may well be able to pay it off faster the way I'm doing it. A set payment a month I may well be able to pay (all being well) but I know for a fact I'll be prone to spending the "extra". Better off just overpaying on things as I am now and things may get paid off quicker.

LianneH

I totally understand wanting to pay off the wee debts first, I think whatever helps you should try!

why dont you put the big card on the loan and then anything you are "saving" you pay against the smaller cards/debts and then you are still paying debt off, but the big card is now at a lower percentage rate?

ElmerFudd

I'll definitely do that but I need to wait a few months before I take another shot at a loan or 0% card deal (otherwise I may not get it or the rates will be much higher).

ElmerFudd

ElmerFudd wrote: »

Based on the snowball plan I have the following targets to meet:

1. September 2012 should be my last payment on my loan
2. October 2012 should be my last payment to old Lloyds
3. Dec 2014 (should try and get this date closer) - last payment to new Lloyds
4. March 2015 - last payment on overdraft (may pay this off before the new Lloyds)
5. Apr 2015 - last payment on Barclays
6. Jan 2016 - last payment on Halifax

Slight rearrangement of above switching Halifax and Barclays, and date for paying off New Lloyds brought one month closer.
May be able to do this sooner if all my money plans work out in the next few months. Either way from April 2015 I should only have the student loan and the Halifax left to pay! Student loan should be paid off completely by January 2017!!

Edit: at the end of this month the amount I have left to pay on the loan will be less than 1k!!! I can't wait.
If things go according to plan I may well be able to pay off the old Lloyds faster than expected since I may have some money coming my way. I need to wait til next month though.

ElmerFudd

The loan has finally dropped to below £1000. It's an amazing feeling being able to see the end of the tunnel on it. I can't wait to start using the money that's currently going to that toward the other debts!!

LianneH

ElmerFudd wrote: »

The loan has finally dropped to below £1000. It's an amazing feeling being able to see the end of the tunnel on it. I can't wait to start using the money that's currently going to that toward the other debts!!

whoo hoo!! :j fantastic!!