Debt Free By 30-ish Diary

bobbie78

Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement

Mrs Sparkle - I failed first time but I begged them to let me try again so they have sent me another test to do. We shall see I guess.

I_was_a_fool - I'm 30 in 13 months and there is no way I will be able to pay it all back by then, but I can hope maybe before I'm 31/32 we'll see.

ali007 - Yes they are the biccies in a posh tin, I got them from tesco in the sale for 2.79 cadburys ones in a vintage tin. Good Idea about the coffee maker, I think I'd need one with pods or something though and that was easy to clean as it is the milk steamer bit I'd need most and I'd probably use it twice and shove it in a cupboard. Actually I think my parents might have one somewhere - hmmmm. :think:

oakdale_minx - Thanks for coming, feel free to put your feet up (you deserve it) I love Bourbons so you can come again.

bobbie78

OK so I realised I didn't say just how much I need to pay off and in what time frame so here is the rough guide till I get get all the proper amounts when the banks re-open and all the BT's go through.

Graduate loan balance (approx) 7.9% 2,137.89
Car Loan Balance (approx) 9% 11329.38
Credit cards once BT's go through 0% 10000.00 (this is the limit not sure if it will be this much or not yet)
Student loan 1 3% 1390
Student loans 2 3% 5619

Working Total 30476.27

These aren't the early settlement figures on the loans, the credit card I think will be more like 8k than 10 but I'll wait till everything has transferred before I count that properly. I got the car as I needed it for my old job as I got car allowance and had to have a certain type of car, now I'm going to be working for myself really I am going to see if I sold it what I'd get for it, and see if it is worth getting rid off and replacing with an old banger for a year or two.

With the settlement money I have coming I should be able to pay off the graduate loan in full. I think even though this isn't the highest apr I've been paying this for years now and just clearing it will give me a boost to attack the other debts more. I can use the money I would have used on payments for that to either sort out the credit card or over pay the car loan. This also depends if I sell it or not, and how much money from work and extra jobs I get coming in. I also have this axa savings thing (Carol Smiley adverts ages ago) which I might see how much I loose if I cash it early as if this works out to be enough to pay off the car (I can dream) then I'll use that or still sell the car for a cheaper one and just clear the loan. You see until I get the figures it is all a bit hazy still.

Now as I mentioned before until the new job settles down I won't know what my income is so I can't budget as well as I'd like too, it is a pay increase but it is unstable so I need to have some emergency money somewhere just in case there are a couple of months in the year I might not work. Anyway I don't need to worry about that right now, I'm just waiting really for old work to finish the payments they owe me, and new work to pay me a few weeks money so I can get used to being paid weekly. Combined with the spending diary and the different challenges that should help reduce my spending a lot at least which will help.

So I have 13 months till I'm 30 but 30k to pay off, that would be over 2k a month, I'm single and right now only have myself to blame for all the spending so depending on how things go maybe I could pay it off before I'm 31 or while I'm 30. I know it isn't going to be easy but I think I'm ready to do this, just wish I had done it sooner and not lurked so long I just had to face up to the fact I'd done this to myself and only I can fix it.

bobbie78

Haven't got as much done today as I hoped but I did some of the flylady new year challenge. I did some washing and hung it out and did the 27 throw away boogie.

The main reason for today being slack though was I ended up deciding to have a bottle of wine to see in the new year before starting a no drinking stint to help with the not smoking I'm already doing. Unfortunately house mates came back at 12:30 when I was watching the secret policemen's ball and forced some cheap champers on me. I really don't like champers that much but had forgotten the real reason why I stopped drinking it, until I was horridly reminded at 4am with projectile vomiting - yummy - I felt it coming though so just about made it to the bathroom in time. So a lesson learned, I really don't like champers for a reason.

I also dragged myself to tesco today (the only place that was open) to get some sandwich stuff for work tomorrow, as I didn't trust myself to just go to tesco by work and not spend half my shopping budget. I have to say it was a real revelation and spending half an hour to end up buying 5 items of shopping just as I had the "do I need it or want it" mantra in my head, and thinking I could buy this cheaper somewhere else maybe, and actually planning what food I'm going to have. It really brought everything together and that reading the boards for the past couple of weeks must be sinking in finally, as before I would have spent 30 quid on random snacks and ready meals without thinking about it. I even ended up beating myself up a bit about spending £1.50 on a reduced ready made salad, but as I was still feeling rough I bought it. I probably saved myself at least 15 quid by thinking about what I was buying and ended up with a really nice seeded organic loaf of bread which was just cheaper than buying any of the normal kingsmill, hovis etc brands.

I ended up being naughty and buying a dvd from the blockbuster sale but it was only 3 quid and I'm taking it out of my moozie Sunday to Friday challenge money so I'm feeling quite pleased about that in a way that I am allowed to have it. I'm going to try and not spend the rest if I can to be good, but at least I know if I have to cave in and get something what the limits are.

So today ended the 3 day run of NSD's but now I have some food I'm going to try and not spend anything till Thursday if I can.

The silkquit smoking program has been a real revelation before, I have tried quiting before in the past but normally start again after a week or so. The part of this I'm finding really useful is not just the money saved part - £21.57 at the last count - it is the number of ciggys not smoked section - currently at 95 after 6 days 9 hours not smoking, put like that it is an amazing figure, 95 ciggys not smoked just all the time it takes to smoke them and everything even though I was smoking 15 a day 15 doesn't sound that big a number but 95 already in under a week. They should start selling them individually the packaging would be horrendous but it would really bring home just how many you were smoking. I know I should have realised this before, and it is just common sense really but I think watching that number increase over the next weeks and months is what is going to keep me on the straight and narrow more than seeing what money I haven't spent.

bobbie78

Well today I've been bad as I still felt rotten this morning so called in sick, but managed to get some stuff done this afternoon so it isn't a total loss.

I took back some impulse buys and ended up getting 5 quid in cash, 10 quid next voucher, and 30 quid in tesco's I had to spend there and then on clothes. I ended up going 3 quid over but have about 50 quids worth of stuff as it was reduced and is all much better than the things I originally bought. So I spent 3 quid but gained a fiver so not too bad.

The other thing I have been doing today is trying to sort myself out as to how to best re-pay things. Basically I have about 3 grand coming this month which is extra money from a redundancy payout. I also have this axa savings thing which I found out today I would get 5866.93 if I cashed it out. So that would leave me with a huge £8800 to chuck at my debts this month.

I've tried putting this in the snowball calculator but can't find a way to add lump sum payments to help me so I thought maybe someone can help.

I have a settlement quote of 9829.95 for the 9% loan (the only way they will cancel ppi is to refinance and when I tried that a couple of months back it was declined as it showed me as having 2 loans and wanting a third even though this was to pay off this one and just get it without ppi anyway that's another issue).

So I have the quote of 9829.95 for the 9% loan
2170.22 for the 7.9% loan

I think I should probably save the money when it comes in so I can increase it by 1k to pay off the bigger loan with the bigger apr and bigger repayments. But it would be nice to finally pay the smaller one off after all these years. I just don't want to end up cashing them in when I've been paying into them for 8-10 years then make a huge mistake and would have been better off letting them run through to 2010/2012.

I think I have answered my own question really but this is reliant on me cashing in these savings, but if I don't my debt free date would increase by a year or so I think.

bobbie78

Well not as done as well as I'd planned today. Made it into work which is good, took my own packed lunch which was good. Had virgin ring me 3 times today to welcome me to the credit card, which still hasn't arrived yet, and keep asking me if I was sure I didn't want PPI on the card - very annoying. Had email from work saying back holiday pay should turn up on Friday, so at least I didn't have to email them first and ask as I thought I'd have to this morning. Remembered to renew library books before they were overdue (a miracle I've been fined the last 3 out of 5 times) very good.

Then it starts to go bad, I was being egged on by Scott Mills on the radio talking about the 5:30 re-tox where at 5:30 every day you have to do a little bit of what you fancy to cheer you up when it is bloody horrid weather and you've just had to go back to work. Then things went a bit wrong, ended up going to starbucks they saw my car pull up so had already got my order ready before I was in the store, I was going to have something else today just a tall version of what I have rather than the large but it was too hard to resist when they already had it made up for me. I didn't crave a ciggy at all though which was weird just the coffee. Ended up charging up my starbucks card too with 20 quid which was just madness. Also went to Aldi thinking that would be a good way to do something MSE friendly but ended up buying stuff I really shouldn't have.

Well I guess I can't beat myself up too much, I'm still off the fags, I did go to work so at least I'll get paid for going in today which counter acts the spending. I just need to figure out what to do with these loans and how best to pay them off. There is a beginners car maintenance evening class starting soon, which I have always wanted to do but have been commuting so haven't been able to till now. That is 86 quid but I think if I do that maybe it will get me over the fear of older cars a bit and make me not so worried to sell the one I have then pay off the debt even faster. I am meant to be going to a business link meeting thing tomorrow night to talk about starting your own LTD company but it is an hour away and if the weather is still this rubbish I'm not sure if I'll go as it also means going to work an hour earlier so I can leave at 4ish to get there in time. I think I just need some sleep and to finish getting better then maybe things will be clearer.

bobbie78

My Money came through woo hoo. I just went to watch night at the museum (not too bad for a feel good kids movie) checked my online banking, which is something I've only been doing this week really. And low and behold I am a stonking 4 grand in credit. :j

There are still things to go out this month like rent and loan payments etc, but if I did cash in that savings thing, and add that to the redundancy/back pay money and just live on beans on toast for this month, I could pay off my big 11k - 9% loan early, only pay 9.5k and knock 11k off my 30k debts in one go. :j

This doesn't include any wages from the new better paid job either so maybe once I get that money, and if I lived off beans on toast in feb too, I could pay off the graduate loan.

OK mustn't get ahead of myself. I don't even like beans on toast.

OK I need help people if there is anybody reading this what would you do? Cash in the savings before it matures and loose out on free 2k extra bonus in 2010 which would make it up to be enough to pay the loan then, or think sod it cash it in and pay off the big loan now so I don't have to make payments of 258 a month on the loan and 80 quid a month on the savings plan any more. I know it might seem obvious to someone else reading this, but if just one person would post yes or no that would not make me feel quite so alone in all this and that I'm doing the right thing.

bobbie78

Well doesn't look like anyone was planning on replying to my post tonight even though the boards are busy and this has been moved to page 4 already. Then Inspiration and the answer comes from a link on Martins Email. So I shall take that as a sign that as no one on here is likely to reply and I'm just talking to myself, Martin's knowledge appears sound so I will cash in the savings plan. Although I have been talking to myself so far this year I will try to keep doing the diary just in hope that one day it will help me, or help someone else when they are starting and see how far they can come.

bobbie78

Well my virgin card finally turned up and most of the balance transfers have gone through ok so I can now finally figure out how much I owe, it has only taken 3 weeks but there were a lot of bank holidays through out that.

So

Virgin card 0% till jan 08 - £8608.80
Graduate Loan 7.9% - £2137.89
Car Loan 9% - £11329.38
Student loan 1999 - 3% - £1353.30
Student Loans 00-02 - 3% £5519.10
tesco credit card £362.76

Total :- 29311.23

So that is the official number, quite bad for just me and no kids or family or anything, and as I said before I can't blame it all on student debt as only about 10k of that is back from when I was a student.

I messed up with the balance transfers so didn't move enough of the tesco card so I had to pay that today as I didn't want to rack up another 2% balance transfer fee or pay 10% interest on it and leave it where it was so I can already cross that one off the list which leaves me with a new total of :-

Virgin card 0% till jan 08 - £8608.80
Graduate Loan 7.9% - £2137.89
Car Loan 9% - £11329.38
Student loan 1999 - 3% - £1353.30
Student Loans 00-02 - 3% £5519.10
[STRIKE]tesco credit card £362.76[/STRIKE]

Total :- 28948.47

That means I really am eating no good food for the rest of the month (even on my birthday) unless some pay starts coming through from the new job, time to actually plug in the slow cooker I got pre-light bulb moment and see if I can make some soup in it I guess. I need to start thinking of some ways to make cash for the Olympic Challenge too.

Tesco really begged me to keep the card open though, it was very hard to convince them I didn't want to keep it which is making me think it was the right thing to do. The only worrying thing is on the letter with the new virgin card across the top in huge bold writing it says "It's Playtime 0.0%" and lots of information about other virgin places you get discount on if you use it there, it is only 3 months 0% on purchase though they don't put that in big writing so they are trying to draw me into spending on it, but not any more. This card is staying at home, I might even freeze it as planned if I can find a tub that won't take up too much space in my tiny freezer. So long credit cards, it is cash or nothing for me now. :A

Seaxwyn

HI Bobbie

I only just saw this. I'm no expert but I would say cash in the savings and do whatever you can to add to them to make the total enough to pay off the bigger loan. Think how wonderful it would be not to have that leaching from you any more. Brilliant news about the settlement money too you are definitely in the debt busting fast track just now.

chevalier

well done on your start. I think Martins advice is sound too. If you have money saved, unless it pays more in interest than you do on your debt, then it is better to pay off the debt. The other thing to take into account, is that you are not just paying off the sum now, but also SAVING yourself all the interest you would have paid too.

Have you done all the usual things like checking that your car insurance is the lowest. It has been a revelation to me. I have been with the same broker for about 5 years. Their quote was for £323 but when I checked on https://www.moneysupermarket.com, I got a quote for the same level of cover for £236!!!! And by going through Quidco I get £80 cash back as well.

Are you signed up with quidco, pigsback etc. They are sites where you get money/points for clicking through to sites. They also as I am finding pay cashback (quidco) for every day things you buy eg insurance.

best of luck with your money saving
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