Driving Down Debt

ThatKiss · 1 October 2013 at 1:49AM

So, the last few weeks have been (potentially) beneficial. I had a bit of a clearout and realised that my Tax Code has been wrong for the last three months, so I've been overpaying. Hopefully that has now been sorted, and I should have a rebate headed my way.

I've had a slight pay rise and there's the potential to take up overtime which would add £3k a year to my salary, all of which will be directed straight to debt repayment.

While a couple of these things are "potentials", it's more a case of they will come, but when is yet to be determined. Either way, it's much more positive than my last update.

No overpayments in September (this was expected), but I should be back on track during October.

ThatKiss · 11 October 2013 at 1:44AM

Barclaycard payment taken reduces debt to ~£7k (again). We'll see where we are at the end of the month for additional payments. Hopefully be able to get a fair bit under the £7k!

Confirmed this week I'm taking the overtime option, so will see how that ties in. If nothing else, it'll speed up dent repayment which can only be a good thing!

ThatKiss · 28 November 2013 at 11:16PM

Update time! No sign of tax rebate as yet and it will be 2014 before the overtime kicks in, so playing a waiting game at the moment. Not where I wanted to be, but c'est la vie.

October unfortunately brought no additional payments over and above DD, but I've just made an extra payment for November. Sig updated to reflect:

Barclaycard now £6277. Bank of mum still £250. Total debt £6627

ThatKiss · 29 November 2013 at 12:16AM

As I've not been on here too much of late, I've not really been too MSE over the past few months. I need to get into the habit of popping in regularly again, as it provides some useful focus.

The extra payment this month was after splashing out on the old man's Xmas present, so I'm going in the right direction again. Need to keep this progress up and avoid spendy excesses!

ThatKiss · 10 December 2013 at 8:41AM

Barclaycard direct debit came off yesterday so figures adjusted to suit. Hoping to make an extra payment this month which would take me to over £2k paid off this year, and take the debt below £6k. Looking good so far :-)

ThatKiss · 28 December 2013 at 3:34PM

Cheeky rounding payment to end the year, which means credit card debt for 2014 will start at exactly £6000. Nowhere near where I hoped it would be, but given there have been a couple of setbacks over the year and the new year looks far more positive, I'm happy enough with that. The downward trend can only be a good thing.

Onwards and upwards!

ThatKiss · 29 December 2013 at 12:39PM

The old man tells me he's been bored of late so has started counting my the money in my change tins (I have three old Roses tins full of change to the point they can barely be lifted!)

He's sorted two of them into silvers and coppers, and reckons that the silvers alone are worth around £180-200. The downside being that they'll need to be sorted into bags and taken to the bank slowly over a period of time, or I can lose 9%(ish) at the coinstar.

Both options have an associated cost (time/money) which is most offputting! Any thoughts?

apple_muncher · 29 December 2013 at 1:16PM

ThatKiss wrote: »

The old man tells me he's been bored of late so has started counting my the money in my change tins (I have three old Roses tins full of change to the point they can barely be lifted!)

He's sorted two of them into silvers and coppers, and reckons that the silvers alone are worth around £180-200. The downside being that they'll need to be sorted into bags and taken to the bank slowly over a period of time, or I can lose 9%(ish) at the coinstar.

Both options have an associated cost (time/money) which is most offputting! Any thoughts?

I LOVE counting coins! It's much better to put on the time and effort to count and bag them than use coinstar. Why not do it while watching telly? Then take them to the bank all at once, so only one trip. If they do add up to £200, that could be 3% off your debt. How many hours would you have to work to earn that? And then you have the coppers on top of that...

Sorry, am rambling on, trying to make sense while dd is questioning me in depth about the whys and wherefores of the Grinch! Hope you can follow my train of thought. Good luck with the debt busting in 2014.