My Story towards being Debt-Free!

pugzy

Now it's cleared, should I cancel it or keep it open for my credit rating reasons?

mustmakealist

It might be worth hanging onto it for a while to see if they offer you a 0% deal - I've been offered this. However it depends on whether or not you can be trusted not to use it and rack up further debts.

I also find it useful to keep one card for use if ordering goods over the internet, but with a dd for the full amount. Some cards (inc barclaycard) also offer cashback.

pugzy

Forgot to add that it was only a BT card deal, not for purchases so I definitely won't be using it for purchases as I don't even know the pin for it lol! I have a Tesco credit card with 0% for purchases if in desperate. I really don't need this barclaycard account but thought it might affect my rating if I cancelled?

QueenB.

Congratulations on really throwing yourself into you DF journey, hold on to what is motivating you, especially in those more difficult moments.

When we paid off our CC we kept each one for a little while and then canceled them. We did keep one, for emergencies but it is kept frozen in the deep dark underbelly of the freezer.

pugzy

I'll take your advice then and hang on to it for a couple months and then get the pleasure of cancelling it at Christmas...it can be my little extra Christmas present to myself! lol

Now that this is out the way, I plan to throw £275 p/m at my loan to get that cleared in a few months (currently around £118 but then remove the interest so reality is around £100) which will clear the debt with the APR. The remaining then will be the full £300 getting thrown at the MBNA money transfer.

I also had a payrise last month due to currently running the restaurant until January when my new manager begins, plus, I hit my last quarterly bonus targets so should be getting a few hundred extra in the next payslip which is all going towards my debt!

My wife has also said that she will help clear my debts by throwing a bit at it after Christmas as she understands that the sooner this is cleared, then the sooner we can both throw this "debt" cash at the "savings" pot and save for a house and babies! not massively keen on her helping as it's my problem and not hers but do want the same thing long term so it's probably the most beneficial way of tackling it!

LSD_2

Congratulations :beer: on your wedding, debt reduction, job!

I wished I had my light bulb moment at your age, but hey , at least it come eventually :j

Such an inspiration and will be subscribing (got to set me a 5 year goal:cool:)

All the best, Lou :):)

pugzy

I'm glad I can help, I know how I felt reading others debt free diaries when I started out and it really inspired me to push on and get a grip with reality instead of burying my head in the sand

It's tough but I enjoy seeing the cash going towards something useful, even if it is fat cats credit card companies as I really feel like it's an achievement, and like I said at the top, the snowball website I use really helps you visualize your situation so you can react effectively if you feel you can stretch the repayments each month that bit extra.

Everyone should snowball, it's awesome I shall be doing it for the rest of my life I think as it's a fantastic tool!!

pugzy

Barclaycard - CANCELLED! :):) (couldn't resist!)

Bonus of £500 this month being thrown at my Lloyds loan next Tuesday, along with two months DD repayments of £115 each and also it's my 26th birthday Saturday so any cash from that will hopefully clear the remainder of my debt with Lloyds!!!

I've turned myself into a hardcore debt-buster in the space of a year!

curlytop12

fantastic!

and happy birthday for saturday

pugzy

Well...

I've had my bonus of £500 last month, been keeping hold of it tight until this month as I really pushed the boat out last month with scrimping to pay off as much debt as poss without touching credit elsewhere and it was the right decision as I did need to use some of it. However, just been paid again today and am defo in the position to pay off the remaining £800 or so of my Lloyds loan :):)

Taking the advice of others on here though, to avoid the early repayment charges, I plan to pay off around £700 at the bank of it and then the final payment that the DD next month will take will be really small et voila...PAID!!!

All before Christmas!!!

Funny how when I first started out my journey, my DFD was November 2012, now it will be around April 2012!!