Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

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  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    Hi Catriona,

    Hugs to you. Sorry to hear about your bf, but maybe he doesn't deserve you? The thing is with moving in with someone, when you already own the place and would be paying the mortgage in any event, sometimes they don't see why they should pay any rent. A kind of "why should I help you pay the mortgage when I don't get any of the capital gain benefits of owning the house?" attitude.

    HSBC. Mmm, some thoughts on them. Their branch staff are awful and their telephone staff delightful. You probably should have just extended your mortgage over the phone. Plus the woman who dealt with you has a real cheek. Though having said that, I do agree with her about the joint account with your ex. But not because you have split up. What happens (I have long experience with this particular bank, as a business and private customer!) is that even though the account is joint, they probably made him the primary acount holder. This has real implications for you when you want to change your borrowing arrangements with them, because they will be thinking you are changing things without his permission. Seriously!

    I can't even begin to describe to you how shocked and annoyed I was, several years into having a credit card with them, querying something one day to be told that my husband would have to enquire, because my card was a secondary card on his card! We had been living in countries where that kind of thing is a strict no-no, i.e. a person's credit card is their own and no such thing as a secondary account holder was allowed. I was so insulted. It's all sorted now, but it surprised me how long they took to get with the programme, so to speak.

    So you turning up without your ex in tow probably set alarm bells ringing for the person you were dealing with. Even if they grant you a mortgage, they will probably send out documents requiring both you and your ex's signatures. Maybe it's time to set this idea aside until you get the ownership issues and the names on the mortgage sorted out, and maybe look to other financing options in the meantime. My worry would be once he writes to them and asks them to remove his name from the mortgage, that they get antsy (they shouldn't, given your earnings but they might. If you deal with them over the phone you don't have to risk anyone taking exception to you as an individual) and give you grief.
  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    catriona79 wrote: »
    Well, some news from me. I applied for the Tesco 0% for 27 months card, got accepted with a credit limit of 3000, BT limit 2850. I've transferred the whole of my Lloyds card and 1250 of the FD card to it now, and for a fee of £90, that will be paid off in 27 months. Which is good! I may even pay just over the minimum payment for a few months, while I clear the FD card.
    I'm going to finally be able to close the TSB card, woo hoo!! That's really good - the credit limit/ exposure on that is a killer, it's £6k, I'm sure it's been stopping me getting 0% cards elsewhere!
    What remains on the FD card now will be realistically ok to pay off too, within the 0% period. Or so I think! Off to play with the spreadsheet! Ah, exciting times! I'm glad I've sorted this out, it's made me feel better!

    That's good news. Though I was a bit surprised you transferred your Lloyds and First Direct balances to the Tesco card rather than your Barclays 1 account, becayse doesn't the barclays one have a 0% period that expires this year, in Nov '13, rather than next year, in jan/Feb 2014?

    I hope you are going okay. It's good to keep close firends close, even when you are in a relationship. They can be more reliable.
  • Hi Catriona,

    I was drawn to your thread as one of my closest friends is called Catriona and was born in '79!

    You are going great guns lady - hows it going with the boyfriend/ex? Have you made any decisions on the loan?

    Anyway, you sound lovely - looking forward to watching your journey.

    Good luck
    MBNA = £4,000 / Next = £925 (approx. tbc on 19/8)
    Tesco = £2,910.11 / Smile overdraft = £500
    Bank of Scotland = £2,782.83
  • Hey Catriona! Back in the land of the debt-busting after holidays. Sorry to hear it's not been a great few weeks for you, but it will get better and you will be fine. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
    KC
    Total debt: [STRIKE]£9473.62[/STRIKE] £7,384.87 22% PAID
    TAF #25 NSD 8/12 | Food £43.45/£50 | eBay 0/20 | Exercise 5/18
    :T Proud to be Dealing with my Debt :T
    DFD: June 2015
  • catriona79
    catriona79 Posts: 855 Forumite
    Hello everyone,

    How have you all been? Hope you've been enjoying the weather?
    I've been MIA, as been busy and enjoying my gorg new garden, but also because I've been a bit naughty! Well, not that very naughty, but I have run up a big bill on my HSBC card! It's the building materials for the garden, car insurance etc. 2k at the moment! Never mind.
    I have also applied and been accepted for the homeowner loan and am in the process of getting that. Towards the end of the month perhaps. I do have plans of how to do it, will share them another day when I'm nt quite as tired!
    Also I've had some fantastic news re my post (which is a maternity replacement at a higher grade) - the woman I am replacing is coming back in a couple of months, but my contract with the team has been extended and at the higher grade too, which means I will keep getting £300 a month more than I would otherwise have got! Very happy.
    Boyfriend situation complicated... I know I should cut him off. Will I? I hope so! I know that in the future I will look back and think it was the right Ning to do.
    Ill update my sig another time... See what the damage is on the card...
    Chat soon x
    * * * Catriona's Credit Card Countdown * * * from -£16k to debt neutraldom - for my debt diary click here
    Barclaycard -£5,867.52;
    mbna1 - 3,009.22
    mbna2 - 1,755.70
    Savings £5,017 MFiT #25 £2,627/£10k; daily interest £5.04
  • catriona79
    catriona79 Posts: 855 Forumite
    Yet another payday... And I have no drop in debt to report. In fact - a rise!

    Total debt is currently at:

    Barclaycard 1 - £200, new total £2400
    Barclaycard 2 - £150, new total £5750
    First Direct CC - £100, new total £1250
    Tesco CC - £0, new total £2939.78
    HSBC CC – £21 new total £2290

    The new total is :eek::eek::eek:£14629.78 :eek::eek::eek:


    The credit card bill is
    - some of my holiday - roughly £400
    - car insurance - £450 (now saving monthly for this!)
    - garden materials - probably about £500
    - garden furniture - £270

    The rest is just bits and pieces, mainly frivolities!

    My main bit of news is that I have been given a 13k homeowner loan at 2.79%.

    Now, I will pay off with that
    1) the HSBC card, as that will have an APR of 18%
    2) Barclaycard 1

    Then I will put 6 times monthly outgoings into a savings account (easy access) - that will make me feel much more secure.

    The rest I will have to think what to do with. Probably put towards one of the cards.

    I have a busy weekend planned painting my front door! Very exciting.

    Also, now that the bf has moved out, I have had a couple of viewings but pretty much decided that for now I want to live alone. It has been great!

    Time to go to sleep now.

    Pop in guys and say hello - hope you are all doing better than me!
    * * * Catriona's Credit Card Countdown * * * from -£16k to debt neutraldom - for my debt diary click here
    Barclaycard -£5,867.52;
    mbna1 - 3,009.22
    mbna2 - 1,755.70
    Savings £5,017 MFiT #25 £2,627/£10k; daily interest £5.04
  • if it make you feel any better, I went backwards on this months pay check too! Maybe it was a kick up the bum that I needed though . . .

    Keep going, you'll get there in the end.
    KC
    Total debt: [STRIKE]£9473.62[/STRIKE] £7,384.87 22% PAID
    TAF #25 NSD 8/12 | Food £43.45/£50 | eBay 0/20 | Exercise 5/18
    :T Proud to be Dealing with my Debt :T
    DFD: June 2015
  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    Hi Catriona,

    That's good about how you have arranged your finances. Yes, the debt went up, but you only have to walk outside to see what it went on, and holidays can be happy memories to store away and savour if you get a "down" day. Plus your interest bill is going in the right direction - down. It's really important to have a nice home, especially when you live alone. I lived in a nicer place (well, on the inside, at least) 20 years ago than I do now, and sometimes I wonder about the series of decisions I have made re housing over the last couple of decades and have realised, in hindsight, that being thrifty created environments, every now and then, that felt too stark/austere to really feel like my home...
  • Wells. It is pay day tomorrow!
    I should get my loan through in the next couple of weeks too.
    Will update my signature when cash gets to the acc ;)

    Hope everyone has been well?
    * * * Catriona's Credit Card Countdown * * * from -£16k to debt neutraldom - for my debt diary click here
    Barclaycard -£5,867.52;
    mbna1 - 3,009.22
    mbna2 - 1,755.70
    Savings £5,017 MFiT #25 £2,627/£10k; daily interest £5.04
  • Yep so good to see pay day isnt' it? Although I seem to have just been treading water this month. At least I haven't go backwards.

    I've been busy! Work has taken off and so I don't get as much time to browse the forums during the day ;) Not been keeping up with my diary or anybody elses. But then it's the summer -lots of people are away and everything goes a bit slower.

    Hope everything is good with you.
    KC
    Total debt: [STRIKE]£9473.62[/STRIKE] £7,384.87 22% PAID
    TAF #25 NSD 8/12 | Food £43.45/£50 | eBay 0/20 | Exercise 5/18
    :T Proud to be Dealing with my Debt :T
    DFD: June 2015
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