£100k Debt Free in 4 1/2 years - My Debt Diary

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

Have had a really productive week this week

Finished my application form, having written it over and over and over again ...

On the Money Front ....

1 - Sold my £250 premium Bond Stake - Has already credited our account
2 - Obtained all paperwork on all of our insurances (House, Contents, Life) Have obtained a quote on House and Contents that is £20 a month less than current outgoings - Plus £100 cashback from Quidco - Phoning up companies tomorrow to cancel current agreement.
3 - Sold 4 items on Ebay - Made £40 after expenses. Was hoping to list approx 20 other items but checked Ebay before and other sellers had 'flooded the market' with the items i had, so wouldnt have made what they are worth. Im going to sort out the items for a 'boot sale' where i should be able to sell for more (plus no silly Ebay fees taken off!!)
4 - Cancelled my mobile phone insurance .....

Being a little naughty also tho .. :rolleyes: I ve currently got an 02 XDA EXEC mobile phone but really want the Nokia N95.

Its going to cost £300 to 'buy out' the remainder of my contract with 02. However, i should be able to reclaim most of the cost with the following

* Sale of The 02 XDA on Ebay (going for £150 - 170)
* £60 Quidco CashBack
* £45 Cashback from the Tariff I will be opting for

The Tariff is also £5 /month less than what i am currently paying, with no upfront costs (phone comes free). Im also able to use my 0% credit card to make the purcase so the monies made above can earn a few months interest.

I've also upgraded my current account to a premier plus account (paying £12.50 instead of £25 as im a staff member) Its got included mobile phone insurance and £500 interest free o/draft. Its also allowed me the option of a £10k overdraft at 6.4% EAR; which is really competative with loans on the current market. Im not sure how im going to use it yet, but think it will come in useful in making overpayments on the mortgage

Heres to next week .....

OOPS - Forgot to day, i ;ve also joined up to an online poker website .. I really really enjoy the game, however, being MSE , im only playing the FreeRoles so no money outlayed (but still with the chance of winning )

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

Spent today at my girlfriends mums today....

It became apparent the my girlfriends sister is approx £12k in debt, and paying approx £2.5k a year in interest charges.

After discussing this between ourselves, my Girlfriend and I have decided to utilise our o/draft facility (10k @ 6.4%) and have offered to pay off the majority of her debts....

Basically, instead of g/f sister being charged £2.5k per year, it will be nearer £500. This will be due to us also paying into the o/draft, therefor reducing interest charges even further. Im really proud that we have been able to help her (shes yet to accept but we really want her to).

Not only will it eat into her debt quicker, but we will organise it so she has more spare cash on a monthly basis to use as she wishes. Currently, she is paying near £300 min payments, but being charged £230 or so interest. With our repayments, she will be paying us £200 - £225 and only being charged £50 interest (max) Cutting her interest charged by 3/4 will allow her to be debt free in 6.5 years (prob be more like 4 years tho), instead of the 25 years or so based on full interest!!

Im also going to ask her about o/limit + late charges to see if she could reclaim any? - Could someone please supply a link to the template letter used in ths instance??

It kinda throws our debt free in 4 1/2 year plan out the window, but might mean that my girlfriend, girlfriends sister and I are all debt free in 5 1/2 years(which would mean everythin to all of us!!)

I've heard the saying - "what goes around comes around" - perhaps our share investment will go upto £60k by next year :rotfl:

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

ThankYouAndEnjoy! wrote:

2 - Obtained all paperwork on all of our insurances (House, Contents, Life) Have obtained a quote on House and Contents that is £20 a month less than current outgoings - Plus £100 cashback from Quidco - Phoning up companies tomorrow to cancel current agreement

Cancelled agreements with old companies and am now paying £24.79 /month (£16 less than i used to) I went through Quidco and bagged myself £100 notes (payable June) New insurances are also higher than our old contract (i've won in sooo many ways :rotfl: )

Wish i had found this site years ago! - Would have saved myself so much money

ThankYouAndEnjoy! wrote:

It became apparent the my girlfriends sister is approx £12k in debt, and paying approx £2.5k a year in interest charges.

After discussing this between ourselves, my Girlfriend and I have decided to utilise our o/draft facility (10k @ 6.4%) and have offered to pay off the majority of her debts....

Basically, instead of g/f sister being charged £2.5k per year, it will be nearer £500. This will be due to us also paying into the o/draft, therefor reducing interest charges even further. Im really proud that we have been able to help her (shes yet to accept but we really want her to)

Girlfriends sister has yet to accept our offer. Gonna have another chat with her and go through all her credit statements, with different options and repayment methods. We are really hoping she will accept our offer so fingers crossed ....

On a positive/negative matter (lol) our debts are yo-yo (ing) back and forth at the moment. We are making inroads into the debt (as seen in sig), but cant seem to get out of our o/draft - which is our biggest problem at the moment. A few days before payday, we will be nearly £1k into it!! :eek:

nonsensefactory

I'd strongly advise you to sell enough of your shares now to pay back you non-mortgage debt. The FTSE is starting to look expensive.

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

Hello

Im unable to sell the shares until the S.A.Y.E scheme finishes in 12months time - If i cashed in the investment now, i would only get £13k back. The actual cash investment is risk-free. IF the share price falls below the cash value i have invested, then i can ask to have my investment returned in cash ---- although;

LloydsTSB, whom the shares are for, give a 34.2p cash dividend per year, which based on the number of shares i have, works out at £2k p/annum. So, if the shares did fall to £15k value in 1 year(my investment) then i would get a return per year of 2000/15000 = 13% (which cant be beaten on any high-street/ISA product return)

Believe me, if i could sell now, i would; but im in the lap of the Stock Market Gods for the next year. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that the value remains constant - only in 1 years time will i definately know which option best suits my plans - Until then, im enjoying the flexibility the S.A.Y.E scheme gives me

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

ThankYouAndEnjoy! wrote:

Broadband - £49/month

Having changed some of our insurances (lowering outgoings and getting cashback on Quidco) we decided to look into reducing our broadband/telephone cost /month.

We are currently paying £49 /month on broadband and phone package (with the same provider) Having been back onto their website today, we have 'downgraded' our package and are now only paying £19.50 /month - a saving of £30.50 /month (or £366 /year :j ) -

ThankYouAndEnjoy! wrote:

Being a little naughty also tho .. :rolleyes: I ve currently got an 02 XDA EXEC mobile phone but really want the Nokia N95.

Its going to cost £300 to 'buy out' the remainder of my contract with 02.

Decided against a Nokia N95 ---- Got a K810i Sony Ericsson instead :rolleyes: !! - £40 /month

As part of the package i obtained

* £60 CashBack via Quidco
* £270 CashBack as part of the contact (redeemable over the course of the contact - paid by cheque)
* 'Free' 128Mb Storage Card
* Twice as many minutes and texts as current contact

Instead of 'buying out' my current contact with 02, im going to let it run and cancel in 9months (allows me to spread £300 approx cost over 9months instead of paying it all in one go to cancel) Im going to sell the phone thru Ebay; they appear to be selling in the region of £150 so this pays nearly 50% of keeping the exisiting contact running.

The plus point of keeping the contact running (alongside new contact) - it allows me to use all inclusive minutes instead of using house phone - Based on our accumulative allowances per month, we should have no need to use the house phone so will incur no additional charges.

Things Are Moving In The Right Direction ---> :T

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

I’ve been offered the option of purchasing Partnership shares through work and I'm at loggerheads (with myself) over what action i should take. I think I know the answer - but it’s strange - If I write it here on MSE it seems to make more sense (plus I might get some valuable responses from other MSE'rs)

Basically, Im allowed to purchase £125 of shares /month (Gross Wage). For doing this, my employer will also give me 'Free Shares' up to the value of £30. I’ve done some quick calculations based on the following criteria:

£125 contributed per month
£30 Free Shares Received
Share Price remains at £5.80 per share.

Over the course of the year, i would receive 318 shares (258 Partnership and 60 Matching) - Assuming the share price remains at £5.80, these would be worth £1844.40. On top of these would be the dividend (current yield approx 5.8%)

By not taking the share option I would receive £1500 Gross Wage (£125 x12) which after Tax and Insurance would leave £1029. So, summarising – I’m turning £1029 into £1844.40 per year (79.24% increase taking into consideration all remains equal)

Now, here are a few points to consider.

A – The Partnership Shares only become Tax + Insurance Free after holding them for 5 years. The Matching Shares only become mine after 3 years and again Tax + Insurance Free after 5 years. Therefore, to realise both to their full potential, I would need to keep them for the full term, gaining benefit thereafter on a monthly basis (5th year anniversary of each month Partnership/Matching Share Acquisition)
B – Fluctuating Markets – I have no idea what the future may be in relation to the FTSE – therefore I’m taking a gamble, but possibly one where I may be able to ride any ‘crash’. Based on the difference between £1844.40 and £1029 (£815.40) the share price would have to crash by 44% (at its current value of £5.80 to £3.24) to leave me being no worse of for taking shares over pay
C – No Fee for purchasing shares – BIG PLUS – Share price does not start in negative equity
D – Dividends. I would receive approx £1620 of dividends over the next 5 years

Other than my S.A.Y.E work scheme (which is risk free) this is my first opportunity to ‘play the stock market’
I don’t think I have missed anything out; and as a result, feel pretty confident that purchasing the shares is the best option for my money. Would others agree? – If not; or if I have missed anything important, please comment.

Have other MSE’rs had similar opportunities?? If so what swayed you to choose shares over pay / pay over shares??

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

Okay, so i've decided to purchase my entire quota of shares; £125 from Gross Wage.

Im basically getting £155 of shares for around £85 /month. No Brainer!! Decided to re-invest the shares instead of receiving a cash dividend each year. My brother also works for Lloyds so im thinking of using his entitlment aswell (he doesnt want it) -

On another note, my girlfriends sister has accepted our offer to help her out with her debts. Going over all her statements on saturday; hoping for a plan of action. Obviously, gonna sort her out a S.O.A - propa MSE way!!

FrugalNotTight_2

S.O.A. ???? Sorry new to all this.

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

Statement Of Affairs - See Post 5 on this thread which gives an indication of what needs documenting.

Part of the problem with my girlfriends sister is that she has no idea where a lot of her money has gone (although she does have an extensive DVD collection !!) - By making her sit down and work out a S.O.A she should be able to budget all expenditure and we can work out the best repayment plan to pay us back - one that will not leave her short and looking for more credit elsewhere ....