Smash These Debts - The MR2Jay debt busting mission

slowlyfading

Well done! :j :j

This is just an idea, and tell me to shut up if you want but I'd be really tempted, next time, to try and pay off the water bill in full, just so it's one ticked off? Not sure how possible that is, but just an idea You're doing great, well done!

mr2jay

I am going to pay extra on that one next week with the intention of clearing it the week later

What I am trying to do is work all this around the existing bills we have to keep up to date with, by referring to my spreadsheet each week, I can make sure we don't fall behind with the current things

mr2jay

Been sat here thinking and one thing that is really getting my goat is the credit cards. It is these that are bringing the figures paid off down each month

But...

I am in a catch 22 situation. The bills (water, council tax, gas) are the priority bills which now I have set up a payment plan with each are at least covered. Once these are gone off the list, then I can hit the cards hard bringing them down properly.

The water one, according to my trusty spreadsheet, should be paid off on the 3rd August, freeing up more each week. Technically, it is only an extra £20 though.

Emphasis will then shift to the NPower bill which should be paid off by 14th September with the council tax finishing 2 weeks later on the 28th..

That seems like an age away

So, a fortnight to clear the water, 8 weeks to clear the Gas and 10 weeks to clear the Council Tax........

I suppose, looking at the flip side, that will mean, ignoring the cards and the overdraft, I will have cleared £2736.82 off the balance and have 4 bills crossed off the list.

Just wish I could bash the cards as hard as well.....

mr2jay

Here we go again - yet another Friday

NOW OVER 10% paid off

Today has seen...

£107.56 Off the Council Tax
£25 Off the Virgin Credit Card
£25 off the LLoyds Card
£40 off the Water Bill
£30 off the Npower debt

Total paid off today - £227.56

Said it was ramping up

mr2jay

There has to be a quicker way of doing this....

I have been reading dome of these other diaries and one thing that strikes me is how quickly the debts seem to be coming down. I know I have been averaging £125 a week (or £541.66 per month for all those that understand monthly payments) but i would like to get that up to an average of £200 per week (or £866.67 a month).

I have 2 reasons for trying to do this...

Firstly (rather obviously) it means that the debt will come down faster. If I can crack the average of £200 a week, that means that my existing debt will take roughly 60 weeks to clear off so effectively by the end of August 2013, I'll be debt free

The second reason is that if I can get into the habit of not having that £200 per week as it is going elsewhere, then I can then switch that direct to savings come the end of the debt busting mission to build up approximately £10,000 per year in savings.....

I think I need to sit down and work through the spreadsheet a second time now I have got into the swing of things to retwist the priorities and bring this down as quickly as possible.

As mentioned above, my biggest issue is paying interest on the cards. The amount is obviously determined by the balance on the cards. If I can start attacking these properly, then the quicker I can reduce the interest payments and the bigger the dent each month.

I really do bow down to your experience on here. Being a new convert, I am still trying to play the balancing act and fine tune our debts....

My next target to hit is getting it below £10,000 so I need to find another £1847ish to break that milestone......

mr2jay

Another Friday, another hit

Today's totals
Council Tax - £100
NPower - £30
Water - £20
Lloyds CC - £25
Virgin CC - £25

Nice round total of £200 paid off taking us over £1500 paid off now.

Having reworked the finance spreadsheet, there is no way I can up the payments, especially if I want to keep up to date with the regular bills. Having said that, I am gradually working on the weekly average which has now gone up to £132 a week since I started this journey 12 weeks ago

mr2jay

OK, just been through the spreadsheet to make sure I know where I am with it all. One thing I have just noticed is that I SHOULD be able to wipe out the Anglian Water debt in 2 weeks From there, I will then switch the emphasis onto the NPower one keeping up with slightly above minimum payments on the credit cards and the £100 a week minimum on the council tax.

NPower SHOULD be cleared by the 21st September with the Council Tax debt cleared a week later (28th September). This then frees up at least £150 a week extra to hit the cards hard. Then we'll see some BIG improvements to the debt as the interest charged will start to come down dramatically.

Looking through the spreadsheet, it does look like I have managed to work an average figure of over £200 a week going onto the debts so it looks like I have managed to hit the target I was looking for.

My target by the end of the year is to have cleared £5000 off the debt (which I am also doing on the Pay As Much As You Can By The End Of 2012 Challenge) - Well on track to hit that goal

pogg000

Have you tried moving your credit cards to a lower rate or even 0% cards.

Now you have a grip on your previous overspending it would be good to know that every penny you pay goes to paying off the balance rather than interest.

mr2jay

I can see the logic there but, in all honesty, too many years of living too excess has kinda scuppered that chance. We have to accept that this is what we have got to pay back, sit back and dig our heels in....

We'll be fine once the utilities and council tax are gone as we'll be able to hit the cards hard

mr2jay

A bit later updating this thread this week as I have had to go to Devon as my Grandfather is dying - only has a week left tops

But, still haven't laid off the debt clearing. Cleared off

Council Tax - £100
LLoyds CC - £25
Virgin CC - £25
NPower - £30
Anglian Water - £26.28

So paid of another £206.28 this week