Driving Down Debt

ThatKiss

Good news today in that I’m getting paid for some unused holiday entitlement which will ensure the current target card is paid off in December. Not sure yet if it brings forward clearing the next card from March, but every little helps.

ThatKiss

D’oh! Transpired my pension contribution wasn’t taken from last month’s pay so I have to double up this month - which leaves me around £100 short on paying off the target card in December.

Spending account is tight for the next week as I’ve still a couple of Xmas presents to buy and need to stick petrol on the car to get to my parents and back. I might be able to reduce the shortfall on clearing the card depending what I don’t spend but budgets really go out the window for the next week!

Been paid a week early so transferred to a savings account and will transfer back next Friday when I would normally have been paid.

ThatKiss

Xmas survived! “Payday” has been and gone without dipping into the money in advance, and it transpires the shortfall on getting CC2 paid off by year end after the pension contribution issue is about.. Ooh, £35. I could pay this off with money gifted at Xmas, but I’ve been passing every “extra” pound to cards all year so it’s nice to put a gift aside for once. For now, it’s making my emergency fund look that bit more respectable.

Because of all the bank holidays, I’ve no idea if my direct debit will be taken For this card or not, so I’ve held the value of that back until after the statement is generated in addition to the £35. However, the remaining balance will be paid off in mid-Jan, and the first overpayment to CC3 will be paid then too.

CC2 will be closed out in February once I’ve had a statement confirming 0 balance, and CC3 is still on track to be paid in March.

I’ll be back over the next few days once I’ve updated my spreadsheets with a year-end review and a look at the targets I set when I started posting again back in April.

ThatKiss

ThatKiss wrote: »

The Present

So come the end of 2018 and a review of the situation. Roughly £1k had been paid off each of the 0% cards to leave ~£10k debt as of December's statements, split across four end dates. Roughly speaking:

£3.5k - end June 2019
£500 - end August 2019
£3.5k - end December 2019
£3k - end May 2020 (May need to check this!)

And so came the challenge to myself. The debt was split roughly 70/30 across the two cards, with the earliest 0% expiry dates across the larger card. Could I pay off the £7k from CC1 before the end of 2019? And although there's a bit of leeway in terms of expiry, at a stretch could I pay off the £3k on CC2 by then too?

The Future

By my estimation, CC1 should be cleared in October so although I don't think I'll be able to pay off CC2 in full by year end, I should be able to make a dent in it and have it paid by around Feb 2020.

Financial goals after card paid:

• Increase permanent emergency fund to £500
• Save towards replacing kitchen
• Increase permanent emergency fund to £1000
• Save towards replacing bathroom
• Increase permanent emergency fund to a months salary
• Save towards replacing windows
• Refinance Car 1 to keep beyond end of PCP period - pay off over 18 months
• Pull Car 2 from it's hidey-hole and get it restored!

So, 2019 is now in the rear-view mirror and much progress has been made. I'm pretty much on target, though there have been some changes to the above.

At relatively short notice, I was landed with a stag doo and wedding I couldn't get out of. I ended up building the stag into a week-long holiday and took out an interest free spending card to pay for it.

This was intended to be part of my financial future in any case, and from my projected figures I've extended my DFD to March from Feb. There are always bumps in the road, so at least this was minor.

CC1 has been paid in full. CC2, which I initially suggested would be paid off in February 2020, is so, so close to having been paid off. With the festive bank holidays I'm unsure whether my DD (due 2/1/20) will be taken or not so have held £80 back. Beyond that, I'm £32.03 short of having it paid off. That'll be done in mid-January, and the card will be closed once paid off.

Between the two original cards, I've paid over £10.5k off over the year, (Including around £500 of spends this year) which is quite frankly insane.

My spreadsheets tell me the (new) third CC will be paid off in March, so to be just a month behind is not bad work, I think.

In terms of what's ahead:

• Save towards PCP Balloon payment
• MT to cover balance (2% fee)
• Pay off MT ASAP (by end of year!)

I have kept CC1 as this allows me money transfers and the fee is way better than any interest rate I could achieve with a loan (2%). I should be able to pay whatever gets MT'd onto this by the end of 2020, and also increase my EF to £1k.

Looking pragmatically my goals for 2020 would be:

• Pay off CC2 :rotfl: & 3
• Emergency fund of at least £1k
• Quote in place for kitchen, bathroom and windows. 25% of cost saved
• Car 1 ballon payment refinanced by MT, and paid off by end of year
• Car 2 moved closer to home (additional cost for storage!) and work started to recommission.

ETA: How frustrating is £32.03?!

ThatKiss

ThatKiss wrote: »

CC2, which I initially suggested would be paid off in February 2020, is so, so close to having been paid off. With the festive bank holidays I'm unsure whether my DD (due 2/1/20) will be taken or not so have held £80 back.

DD wasn’t taken so I’ve waited until the statement was generated and paid that £80. The final £32.03 should be next week, and then focus switches to CC3!

ThatKiss

£32.03 now paid so CC2 paid off. Will close the account once the next statement is generated confirming 0 balance.

First overpayment to CC3 made, end of March is still the target for this card.

ThatKiss

Payday at last! Big chunk paid off CC3 and with February being such a short month, I’m hoping to have a little bit more left over to pay at the end of next month. Everything is on course for CC3 to be gone at the end of March.

I need to call my broadband provider as I’m out of contract and have a cheaper deal advertised for renewing but the website keeps failing when I try to sign up. D’oh!

Also need to review my current account to see if it’s worthwhile now. It’s a packaged account and is about to go up by another £2 a month. Need to price up the individual elements and look at switching if there’s a saving to be made.

ThatKiss

Something that worked for me for a while in the past was deleting fast food apps, Dominoes, JE, Deliveroo etc. Discipline here slipped rather a lot so I’ve this morning deleted them all again in the hope of removing temptation.

ThatKiss

ThatKiss said:

£32.03 now paid so CC2 paid off. Will close the account once the next statement is generated confirming 0 balance.

Statement generated and card cancelled. 

CC3 still on course to be cleared in March, and then it’s saving hard to minimise how much of the car balloon payment gets refinanced.

ThatKiss

And a productive hour on the phone reducing broadband and mobile costs. Saving is less than £15 but hey, better in my pocket than theirs!