Is it time?

elantan

ohhh that is such a tempting offer to take up

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

The vouchers are collected from Valued Opinions (slow) and Consumer Pulse (quicker accumulation).

I have been know to save up to £100 worth then buy a guilt free pair of leather boots!

I'm also 5foot 1 inch (and a quarter) - it's hard to find clothes that are the right proportions. I took a dress making course this time last year but don't find the time to make much. I'm a dab hand at alterations though but resent paying full price for trousers only to hack a few inches off the bottom!

elantan

Oh you know my pain lol ... I too hate paying a fortune for trousers only to have to pay more to get them taken up ... Maybe i need to look into a dressmaking class

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

If you already have a sewing machine, get a book out of the library and you can teach yourself alterations easily. I self-taught alterations then wanted to be able to do more and wanted an evening class to socialise with other women. OH started calling it "stitch and !!!!!". I learnt loads but I also had it confirmed that my approach to alterations was the right one, I did pick up some extra tips though.

Maybe_its_because

Hello and Happy Friday to you - and what a beautiful one it is out there!

So, looking on track for a 2nd OP this month in the pre-payday sweep. Unsure of the amount as I have friends visiting this weekend and, it will be an expensive one as lots of socialising to do.

Other great news is that OH has proposed to me and we've set the date for our wedding later this year. How very very VERY exciting.:)

So, there will be a lot of money being spent over the next few months. We're so fortunate and grateful to have two sets of parents who have been hoping and saving for us to get married so there'll be lots of financial support there - and our savings will remain mostly in tact for our future house deposit.

Also I have just been approved for and MnS 15 month at 0% credit card so lots of it will go on there then we can keep a wedding savings account topped up throughout ready for paying off in full when its due. As we're getting married in OH's country we'll be racking up lots of Euro payments - must check the fees etc for this.

Off for another internet browse for wedding planning ideas.

MIB

Maybe_its_because

So, time to pick the thread back up to keep focus on paying off the credit cards.

Have been religiously checking up on the MSE forums but not really participating.

Focus has shifted from buying the house and planning the wedding last Autumn to paying down the credit cards.

Only £1,300 of the debt is from the wedding (our wedding rings). The virgin card is for the stooze I did last year to pay down my BTL mortgage. The rest is all new debt setting up our new house so we can enjoy living in wedded bliss.

All the debt is on 0% credit cards;
Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Apr 13 = £4,163. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Apr 13 = £1,935. 0% period up Jun 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up May 2013
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 Apr 13 = £4,924. 0% period up May 2014
Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Apr 13 = £805. 0% period up Sep 2013

It's all been a bit of a juggling act - we've put the money we received as wedding gifts into savings and have been putting between £600 and £1,000 in savings every month.

As little as the current ISA savings rates are, we've bought on 0% credit so incurred very little costs in balance transfer etc.
The standing orders are set to pay just over the minimum payment so there has been little progress on getting the balances down. It's just a matter of sitting tight til each of those 0%s comes to an end and I can transfer the savings over when its needed.

THAT is the tough bit.

We've had a lot of house expenses over the last 6 months, and will continue to. Its just about tracking the progress and staying focused. My spreadsheet has forecast our expenditure for the next 12 months and also our anticipated savings.
Our savings:debt ratio is still good - just need to keep it that way.
OH completely trusts me with the money management and lets me get on with it. He has had bad experiences in the past of debt - all behind him now but left scarred and has a bit of a fear of money matters. I'm conscious of that and don't want to take too many chances and mess it up.
I've read some stories on hear of how stoozing got out of control and when all awry.

So - I promise to my hubby, myself and MSE that I won't get too carried away with all this 0% debt vs savings malarkey.

Maybe_its_because

Maybe_its_because wrote: »

All the debt is on 0% credit cards;
Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Apr 13 = £4,163. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Apr 13 = £1,935. 0% period up Jun 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up May 2013
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 Apr 13 = £4,924. 0% period up May 2014
Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Apr 13 = £805. 0% period up Sep 2013

Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Apr 13 = £4,163. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Apr 13 = £1,935. 0% period up Jun 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up May 2013
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 Apr 13 = £4,924. 0% period up May 2014
Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Apr 13 = £874. 0% period up Sep 2013

Slight miscalculation on the Argos balance so the total debt is £12,584

Maybe_its_because

Low spend weekend. But booked in a few tradesmen for house jobs over the next few months. So spending plan & budgets updated to reflect the quotes/timescales
It looks like when we pay off all our debt/tradesmen - we could still have a £5K balance in savings. That is a pure estimate at the moment but a decent estimate and not too wild.

Opened an ISA for 13/14 - the Coventry 2.6% one. A decent comparable rate and allows spending, as didn't want to get tied down to a locked in rate with no withdrawals.
Think OH is going with the usual halifax one as he likes all his accounts in one place. Rate is rubbish but I'm just so happy he is trying to manage his money better.

Monday morning - urgh. But happier now the spreadsheet is up to date

Maybe_its_because

So payday been and all on track, particularly with the extra few quid from the tax allowance. Nice.

Plan to pay JL credit card next week once I've checked the final balance. Taking £688 of the Debt side.

Trademan1 is going to cost us £1,250
Trademan2 hasn't yet given us a quote but we anticipate £450.

That's a total extra spend of £2,388. Hopefully we can absorb the extra £88 from our misc spends pot and just use £2300 from savings.

That would leave us with £11,986 of 0% debt and a savings balance of £15,271.

The £650 of planned direct debits going into our fixed savings accounts will adjust this to £11,986 v £15,821 debt v savings with one debt gone and two major jobs ticked off the house list.

Of course if we have wildly underestimated the trademan2 quote, I'll have to have a replay with the spreadsheet..... must chase him, he's messing with my MSE numbers!!

Maybe_its_because

Maybe_its_because wrote: »

Plan to pay JL credit card next week once I've checked the final balance. Taking £688 of the Debt side.

Trademan1 is going to cost us £1,250
Trademan2 hasn't yet given us a quote but we anticipate [STRIKE]£450[/STRIKE].£540

That's a total extra spend of £[STRIKE]2,388[/STRIKE] £2478 .

The trademan2 quote has come in £90 higher than we anticipated but a stroke of good timing means we have sold some unused foreign currency to a family friend.

We wont need to take as big a hit on the savings - withdrawing £2,000 instead of £2,300. :j

So 0% Debt v Savings (after our monthly savings DD) will be £11,986 v 16,121