Pay ALL your debt off by Xmas 2013

Fleurlur

Unless you're like me and working bank holiday weekend cause it's extra pay! All of it going towards my credit card!

amr547

That's one downside of having a salary haha

SpagBol

rogueylawyer wrote: »

Someone put me on the naughty step. I'm not quite sure what happened (no, that's not true, I know exactly what happened. I had a week off work and spent far too much money) but my debt has spiralled. I'm not just back at the beginning, I'm worse off!

I've transferred everything to the 0% until Xmas 2013 card, examined the future finances and had a very difficult discussion with the OH. Once the balances clear on the card I will update on here for the new total.

Essentially the plan (there's a spreadsheet) is as follows:

1. Take credit card that now has a 0% balance on it, put it in a drawer out of sight.
2. Reduce my contributions to our joint expenditure by £200/month for the next 6 months
3. Set up standing order to balance transfer credit card so that £200 goes straight towards my balance
4. When my overtime payments start coming through (monthly as of next week) transfer £200 to one account and remainder to a second account. First account is for holiday (non-negotiable and the only way we're going to get through this) second account is to hold overtime earnings and gain interest on them.
5. Make large payments to credit card when overtime builds up, but ensuring I still have a cushion of emergency money.

This should ensure I clear my debt by the end of the year, so long as the overtime keeps coming (and there's no reason why it shouldn't). I've found I'm very good at paying off the credit card, but will generally too much and then have to use the credit card again when a big unexpected expenses come up. Much as I love making constant payments off the card, I need to pace myself.

Thanks for listening to me!

Ah roguey don't beat yourself up too much...you know where you are going wrong which is a start and having OH onside is fantastic. Keep coming back for the support here, we are all here for you

amr547 wrote: »

F5 refreshes the page

Hmmm doesn't work for me! Do I have to set it up or something?

NewLeaf_2

32b3in2013 wrote: »

You have done really well so far Newleaf. Even if you don't manage £3802 per month, imagine how far you would have got by the end of December if you carry on as you are

Thanks for the positive vibes. I am going to do all I can to get as close as I can xx

minicooper272

rogueylawyer wrote: »

1. Take credit card that now has a 0% balance on it, put it in a drawer out of sight.

I once saw a lady on SuperS who takes out cash once a week, and then sticks all her cards in a food container, fills it with water, and sticks it in the freezer. I thought that sounded like a good way to stop any impulse purchases, as you have to wait at least a few hours for the card to defrost.

Fleurlur

amr547 wrote: »

That's one downside of having a salary haha

Ah I'm agency though, so though I do have upsides like weekend/bank holiday pay and can choose when I work I also don't get holiday or sick pay I have been working 8 days in a row with one day off between to pay off my stupid overdraft. It was so worth it!! I'm calming down a bit now though.

Evangeline-x-

Hi this is my first post:j so fingers crossed I am on the right bit lol.

After opening Hubby's credit card bills ( he doesn't ever open them) I have found that we had £8576 on credit cards with high interest :mad:

So far i have used all our savings to pay off £4000 off one card. Transferred £3500 to a 0% card.
I have started sorting out bills. . .
Tv/phone/broadband £65 now £30
Pet insurance £19.50 now £9.50
Car insurance £370 now £217
Cancelled phone insurance

Trying to convince hubby to stop gym membership (£30) he goes once or twice a month.
Found boiler cover for half the price got to just get hubby to swap. Hubby doesn't understand that you get nothing for loyalty.
I have started shopping in lidl for some food.

For April I am going to put our cards away&put £400 in a jar to be used for food/going out/take aways.

I don't work as i have a 5mth old baby but want hubby to pay £500 off card a month which will be very tight. We really need to become debt free by end of the year so that we can save to move :-)

I just need to tay motivated and avoid buying my kiddies pointless things especially in the holidays.

Newlywed_Saving_Ninja

ok, so I am back after a very long absence (bet you all thought I had given up!). Sadly my mother-in-law totally unexpectedly passed away February 7th, so everything has been up in the air since then, and we have only just tied up the loose ends (practically speaking) to do with that this week. Now the emotional side of things comes in to play which is far more complicated. But we will get there. Terrible start to married life though, and I will miss her terribly. I feel so sad that she will not see what we become.

Consequently, we were unable to pay much at all off in February, but I am ok with that as I wanted to get flowers for her and give her a good send off etc.

On the upside, financially speaking, my loan is now completely paid off (last payment was 1st March), so that is £242 a month freed up. I have also cleared Kays and Very.co.uk accounts, so we are slowly making inroads in to our debts.

We have also used the little bit of money we received after mother-in-law passed away to buy a new far more economical car for hubby (not sure if people remember that hubby's car was costing us a whopping £350 in petrol just to get to and from work), and this should almost halve his petrol bill to £200 a month and that includes more trips than just to and from work which was all the £350 a month covered before. So this new car will have pretty much paid for itself within 3 months with the saving we are making on fuel.

I hope everyone has been ok and is having a good year, sorry I haven't been around for ages so I am not even going to attempt to catch up on what I have missed!!!

armchairexpert

Oh, so sorry for your loss (and your new DH especially), NSN.

And welcome to the new people! Evangeline, do you want a number from Spag Bol? You'll need to tell her your payoff total. If you just want to join in informally you're more than welcome to do that as well, of course.

SpagBol

Fleurlur wrote: »

Ah I'm agency though, so though I do have upsides like weekend/bank holiday pay and can choose when I work I also don't get holiday or sick pay I have been working 8 days in a row with one day off between to pay off my stupid overdraft. It was so worth it!! I'm calming down a bit now though.

Fleur when I used to do agency work you were entitled to annual leave after 13 weeks I think it was, a proportion of whatever the minimum amount is. Check with the agency that you are getting what you are entitled to!

Evangeline-x- wrote: »

Hi this is my first post:j so fingers crossed I am on the right bit lol.

After opening Hubby's credit card bills ( he doesn't ever open them) I have found that we had £8576 on credit cards with high interest :mad:

So far i have used all our savings to pay off £4000 off one card. Transferred £3500 to a 0% card.
I have started sorting out bills. . .
Tv/phone/broadband £65 now £30
Pet insurance £19.50 now £9.50
Car insurance £370 now £217
Cancelled phone insurance

Trying to convince hubby to stop gym membership (£30) he goes once or twice a month.
Found boiler cover for half the price got to just get hubby to swap. Hubby doesn't understand that you get nothing for loyalty.
I have started shopping in lidl for some food.

For April I am going to put our cards away&put £400 in a jar to be used for food/going out/take aways.

I don't work as i have a 5mth old baby but want hubby to pay £500 off card a month which will be very tight. We really need to become debt free by end of the year so that we can save to move :-)

I just need to tay motivated and avoid buying my kiddies pointless things especially in the holidays.

Hi Evangeline (this is one of my favourite girls names ever thanks to House of Elliott!) and welcome :wave: I have put you down as #164 and a target of £3500 as the rest of the card but just let me know if you'd like to change that

Newlywed_Saving_Ninja wrote: »

ok, so I am back after a very long absence (bet you all thought I had given up!). Sadly my mother-in-law totally unexpectedly passed away February 7th, so everything has been up in the air since then, and we have only just tied up the loose ends (practically speaking) to do with that this week. Now the emotional side of things comes in to play which is far more complicated. But we will get there. Terrible start to married life though, and I will miss her terribly. I feel so sad that she will not see what we become.

Consequently, we were unable to pay much at all off in February, but I am ok with that as I wanted to get flowers for her and give her a good send off etc.

On the upside, financially speaking, my loan is now completely paid off (last payment was 1st March), so that is £242 a month freed up. I have also cleared Kays and Very.co.uk accounts, so we are slowly making inroads in to our debts.

We have also used the little bit of money we received after mother-in-law passed away to buy a new far more economical car for hubby (not sure if people remember that hubby's car was costing us a whopping £350 in petrol just to get to and from work), and this should almost halve his petrol bill to £200 a month and that includes more trips than just to and from work which was all the £350 a month covered before. So this new car will have pretty much paid for itself within 3 months with the saving we are making on fuel.

I hope everyone has been ok and is having a good year, sorry I haven't been around for ages so I am not even going to attempt to catch up on what I have missed!!!

Sorry to hear of your loss Newleywed(s) xxx