Getting back on track! 28 April 2012 at 3:15PM in Debt free diaries 12 replies 1.4K views

needsakick

I've been lurking for a while, but finally taken the leap today. I've started trying to sort our debt out once and for all. It's come to a head when my current 0% credit card deal has come to an end and the interest rate has shot up to 21.90%

Am going to use this thread as a diary to keep me on track, keep me focused and so we can look back and see our progress. It's going to take time, but we'll get there!

needsakick

My SOA ............income & debts to be added in time

Starting with the credit card debts!
Halifax CC £4860 (21.90% starting this month)
Virgin CC £2374 (0% for the next 12months)

I do have a mint card which I can put £1235 onto at 0% for 12months and am waiting for their transfer department to call me back. I paid the balance on the family holiday yesterday on my Virgin card (£1715) but then called my hubby's Credit card company to do a transfer and they won't because he's with the Halifax too. Now I know they won't do it, I've run the holiday company and explained I'm having a problem. I asked the if they're refund to my Virgin and then recharge hubby's, which means I could get some more moved of my Halifax and the holiday balance will sit on his at 0%. That's the plan so far....it's a juggling act!

Overdrafts
Hubby £575 (Abbey - charges roughly £10 a month)
Joint £1690 (Halifax - £1 / day - £31 a month)

Other debts
Mortgage £92100 (£478 per month SVR Halifax)
Car Loan £14194 (£302 per month - 0% for balance of loan)
No store cards or other debts

needsakick

So this is the worse bit ....the total debt! I've added it into two as the house is a long term debt and I know until we pay the other bits off, we can't do a thing.

28/4/12
Non - House debt total £23693
Mortgage £92100

My plan of attack is to snowball, but to attack the OD on payday this month which should clear it :
1) Joint OD
2) Halifax CC
3) Hubby OD
4) Virgin
5) Hubby's halifax (if holiday company will swop cc)

Wow there it is! Blimey, right am going to do a proper soa. I've tried using the formatting ones, but they just don't fit our circumstances so am having a go myself.

needsakick

SOA........working progress! It's scary that we have the income we do, but where does it go?

Income
Hubby Wages £2334.00
My Wages £ 478.33
Pension £ 181.60
Child Benefit £ 146.03 (based on 12 monthly payments)
DLA £ 224.68 (based on 12 monthy payments)
Rental inc £ 686.40 (our own home, live in rental ourselves)
Interest £ 9.50 (from children's savings bond)
Halifax £ 10.00 (reward from accounts)
Total income £4070.54

Outgoings
Rent £255.00 (hubby employer pays rest inc water and c.tax)
Mortgage £478.43
Car repay £302.84
Gas ins £ 32.73 (for the own house)
Mobile (OH) £22.00
Mobile (me) £8.00
Gas/electric £80.00
House ins £34.15 (2 houses, 1 contents, 1 landlords)
Virgin Med £50.00 (tv,phone and broadband)
Work bill £20.00 (professional costs)
Life Ins £17.11
Charity £17.36 (should canx, but won't as passionate about them)
Pet Ins £13.13
Kids Saving £20.00
Food £250.00
Fuel £200.00 (1 car)
Fam Spend £300.00
OD fees £41.00
Total Outgoings £2141.75
Balance for debts £1928.79

Family spending is everything : clothes, haircuts, birthdays, shoes, school trips, swimming lessons, brownies etc. I always pay for my car insurance in one, but that's not due until August. I just don't know where the money goes! This income has only just changed to this in the last 2months, so we're still adjusting to quite a bit of extra money,

Grumpelstiltskin

Are you sure you have had your LBM yet?

The reason I say that is paying for a holiday on a credit card is not something you do if you are really determined to get debt free.

You can't rely on balance transfering to 0% credit cards for ever, you must stop using the cards and pay off what you owe without taking more debt on.

Sorry to say this but you must understand you can't keep paying for things on credit cards.

needsakick

Thanks for your reply and I'm pretty sure I have had my LBM.

I felt the penny drop 8weeks ago, when our own house needed extensive roof repairs and we didn't have an option but to use the money for from holiday savings. We managed to pay for all the works and repairs in full without adding it to a credit card. I know it was robbing peter to pay paul, but it meant we would get 2extra months without any payments on a card. The holiday has been booked since Nov and we have been saving like mad and would have lost our deposit and the money we've been paying off monthly. It was just too much to walk away from and I know it'll knock our DFD back, but that's the choice we made.

We haven't used our credit cards since Dec and we've been clearing the 'old' debt rather than adding to it.

ani*fan

I think everyone finds it hard at the start, 1 step forward and 2 back. A holiday is a big commitment so I can understand how you wouldn't want to cancel it. Maybe at holiday time next year you will arrange something much less expensive or realise you can't afford a holiday til the debt has gone.

Best of luck.

needsakick

I've had a busy morning sorting out the money we've got in the house and put it all toegther into a shopping purse, wrote and list and dragged OH and kids out in the gusty wet weather. We did really well and only bought meat and the muller yogurts in Sainsburys, managed to get everything else in Aldi. The fridge is stock and we have a meal plan in place.

I've been selling bits and bobs the last few weeks and have got to post an item tomorrow from a sale on Amazon, so thats another £60 towards the CC. OH is owed £30 from a guy at work, but we'll have to wait until next week for that. I've sorted out some old ps2 games and will drop them in the post to music magpie. It's not a lot, but it's another £11 in the pot.

Baby steps, but we'll heading in the right direction. Pay day tomorrow for hubby so will be moving money around and with drawing the fuel and food budget for the month. I think keeping it in a cash wallet will help us focus on our spending more!

needsakick

Whoooo hoooo hubby's pay day! 1st day of the rest of our lives. Have been busy sorting more things to sell and certainly made the most of the free listing day on e-bay.....took 5hours though but will hopefully see the rewards next week.

needsakick

Well just a quick update on my epic selling spree! I've sold a load of old car parts for £430 and I've got two guys collecting them tomorrow morning bringing the lovely lolly.
Since Sunday I've been working from home and I'm so pleased with my progress on my money making plans! I never thought I'd be able to make the amount of money I have and it's taken a lot of hard work, but I'm seeing the money trickle in!

Amazon - Made £70-41 from some xbox games and books and money is still sat in my amazon sellers account. They keep the money for 14days because it's a new account :mad:

Faulty item return - I sent a faulty item back to the on-line shop and they've refunded my £99. The item was bought last August for the garden and it's broken a few times. It was a short term solution and we are replacing it next week and it'll cost us £300. It was money we'd planned to spend so the £99 back means we've only got to find £200.

Gumtree - £46 for some modelling bits given by a faily member. No longer needed and sat doing nothing in the garage!

E-bay - I'm most pleased with my e-bay sales....at the minute I've sold 18 items with a current total of £280.75. It's really motivating knowing that I'm decluttering and making some cash too. Just not looking forward to the wrapping and packing on Sunday and Monday!

I have also made a contact who wants to buy all the rest of the car parts sat in the garage. He said he'd pay £200 for 4 items and there's a stack more bits too...so am keeping my finger's crossed for a decent amount when he views it all in a couple of weeks.

Wow .....it's been a brillant few days and my total made (although waiting for it all to hit my account) is a whopping £1125! I really can't believe it! I'm so pleased. The plan is to pay as much as I can off my Halifax card and pay the £300 for the replacement item. I'm one happy mse'r!

needsakick

needsakick wrote: »

My plan of attack is to snowball, but to attack the OD on payday this month which should clear it :
[STRIKE]1) Joint OD[/STRIKE] GONE!
2) Halifax CC ......have oved £1235 onto my 0% mint
[STRIKE]3) Hubby OD[/STRIKE] GONE!
4) Virgin
5) int £1235
5)[STRIKE]Hubby's halifax (if holiday company will swop cc)

[/STRIKE] They wouldn't swop as it was from halifax to another, hence the mint!

I've not managed to update my progress for a while, as I've been so busy e-baying. I've really enjoyed it, but it's starting to take it's toll! Photographing, listing and posting takesover your life, but the money coming in has helped me clear the joint overdraft and my hubbies overdraft.

At the minute I'm sitting with £7 in credit in my account at the moment but am waiting for £80.22 from amazon to hit my account and £220.36 from paypal. There's no sign of my music magpie yet, but i know it's been processed.

I've still got £1280.99 from e-bay to come and have arranged the collections this next weekend. £920 of this is from my hubbies motorbike, so fingers crossed they turn up! The next thing to attack is the Halifax CC....it's starting to charge interest and it's killing me having to pay it!

Outstanding 21/5/12
1) Halifax £3625 (interest charging)
2) Mint £1235 (0%)
3) Virgin £2374 (0%)
4) Car loan £13892 (0%)

We've managed to save, sell, deal and trade £2265 worth of our debt gone this month. I really can't believe how much there is to be made fro selling old junk, electricals and anything else that's not bolted down! I'm lucky that a lot of the things have been inherited and sat in the garage, but even so the debt is going DOWN!