soa & How do you pay off a loan?!

mophead

Hi Scaredycat only just caught this thread, well done with everything you've achieved upto now since your lightbulb moment.

You really need to see if you can live without using any credit at all whilst being able to service you debts if not then please ring CCCS or Payplan asap don't leave it a minute longer it is scarey at first and very humbling to have to justify what ou earn and spend to a complete stanger but it is also libertating too. I spend a lot less than i ever have yet enjoy life a whole lot more.

Claire.

P.S. Do check out Aldi and Lidl i've saved £200 a month changing from Sainsbury and Tesco.

scaredy_cat_2

Hi, thought i would do an update, since my lbm and first postings i have had up and down moments. I know longer feel sick all the time but do have my moments.

This week i said no to a meal out with friends - would be expensive £50+ and i was sad about it but know i would feel worse if i went. I also explained to some of them why rather than just letting them think i didn't want to go and have arranged for them to come here for coffee and cake and for children to play instead (some of them coming home from away) so i get to see them too and will make the cake - ingredients in cupboard!! :T

We have reduced our o/d from always going over our limit - so around £3300 to end of january £1750 - this was through taking a mortgage holiday for 4 months but it is worth it to stop the charges and get this to a more manageable amount, but i also did some part time teaching supply work and we got our bank charges back :T

On top of that i have been doing tondellas thread on dfw the flylady way - although not posting everyday i have been following it, also have been doing moozies sun - fri challenge but making sure i dont just go mad on saturdays - i am actually enjoying trying to see how many nsd in a row i can do!!

i have also been visitng the o/s thread and have been working hard on meal planning and food budgeting. Way back in july i spent over £800 in supermarkets in one month and from 23rd dec (payday) to 25th jan we reduced that to £400 which included some christmas food spending. this month i am aiming for £350

I also have worked 2 days supply teaching to clear my next directory account which i will do any day when the statement appears and i will then close it. I also have £200 or so left over from my bank charges which i was trying to decide what to do with it. My o/d interest rate is 10.9% so am thinking will put it to o/d but over the weekend think will do the snowball thing to check.

so i also have 2 months of mortgage holiday to decide what to do with - i wasn't sure if able to pay off bits off loan but people seem to or do you save it til you have enough to pay off the whole thing?
i do not want it to just be frittered away obviously

well sorry for such a long post - but i really appreciate all the help i have been given

scaredy cat

miggy

Hi Scaredy cat,
good to hear from you again, and you sound as though you're doing really well! Half the food bill you had a few months ago, and almost ready to close an account! Wow! You have certainly made a significant improvement.
I don't know what's the best thing to do with the mortgage holiday - perhaps someone with more experience will have some ideas.

scaredy_cat_2

hi thanks miggy

i wondered how people pay off bits of loan - do your lenders just accept higher payments or lump sum payments - and then do you just take this off the resettlement figure? thanks

crawley_girl

Hiya

Some lenders will accept overpayments, others will not. Best to check out the agreement you signed or phone and ask them.

scaredy_cat_2

so i suppose if they don't you would either make a lump sum payment once a year or save until you've got the resettlement figure. I found this whole debt thing tricky in understanding how to clear them with small bits of money!! so am trying to get my head around what i can do when i have bits of money saved from other things!

miggy

scaredy_cat wrote:

hi thanks miggy

i wondered how people pay off bits of loan - do your lenders just accept higher payments or lump sum payments - and then do you just take this off the resettlement figure? thanks

Eek, no idea, sorry.
Anyone?

tesuhoha

I paid off a loan early once in a lump sum and was surprised how much interest it saved. Dont know if you can do it in bits or pieces though. It might be an idea to save it up until you have enough to pay it up in full.

miggy

Well, I am more awake today and I'm going to second what Crawley girl says - check first if it's okay to make odd payments.
If it is: I'd go for it. After all, every bit you pay off is another bit you aren't paying interest on. Then every bit of interest you aren't paying (IYSWIM) is money that can go to pay off more of the original debt, which in turn means less interest, etc. etc.
If they won't let you pay it off, and you can afford to set the money aside, why not put it in an ISA or high interest account so it's doing something useful until you can pay off the debt with it?
What a nice postion to be in! I'm not there yet!

scaredy_cat_2

not sure i'm quite in that position yet miggy!! have o/d but am totting up interest rates at mo and think my o/d will be cleared in next 2 or 3 months but am also swapping to a&l so interest free for a year!

so am just forward planning rather than doing it just yet - feel i need to be in control more of what will happen rather than sitting around and then it arrives - if that makes sense - so i can at least have a vision of what will be paid!!