Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

catriona79

Well, good news from me. I applied for another 0% balance transfer with Virgin this time and I've been accepted! Woo hoo!
Thats a grace period of 26 months, by which time I should not have that much to worry about. All good.

And Christmas is coming too! Amazing! Time for some thinking about what happened in the year and where I was this time last year.

Time for sleep now though! X

dktreesea

That's great news about the zero balance transfer card! Good on you for getting that. And that you have something to look forward to for Christmas. I'm not one for total austerity when it comes to paying down debt, and I am glad you are avoiding that dark and dismal path too. Well, as long as the total keeps going down every month :-)

catriona79

Thanks Debbie!
As you can see from the sig, very little has changed debt wise from last year, yet I'm in a better place. I've got savings to tide me over and must now look at what I spent all that money on. My debt was already down to loads less, now almost back to square one. But I'm not despairing.
There's a possibility of VR at work and so I had better get my cv up to scratch! Night night

dktreesea

Hi Catriona,
But you can't just look at the amount. You also have to consider the interest rate, which is greatly improved to what it was when you started out. You should give yourself a big pat on the back just for the way you've restructured the debt. AND , not only paying £20 to £30 off the principal amouunt every week, but also getting some home improvements in place. At least you can see and experience what the money went on.

catriona79

Well, I am a little late to the party, given it's almost end of November and I will be getting paid next Thu. But even so, I fell like I need to get back into the habit.

Here is November's resume:

Barclaycard 1 - £0 – 0% until November 2013
Barclaycard 2 - £0 – 0% until March 2014
First Direct CC - £0 – 0% until January 2014
Tesco CC - £2730 – 0% until October 2015
Virgin Card - £6437 – 0% until Feb 2016
Homeowner Loan – £12849 - 3.4%
Savings - £6445

The total is :eek::eek::eek: £15570 :eek::eek::eek:

catriona79

dktreesea wrote: »

Hi Catriona,
But you can't just look at the amount. You also have to consider the interest rate, which is greatly improved to what it was when you started out. You should give yourself a big pat on the back just for the way you've restructured the debt. AND , not only paying £20 to £30 off the principal amouunt every week, but also getting some home improvements in place. At least you can see and experience what the money went on.

You are very kind as always, Debbie. I suppose I have done the back and front garden and also I relaxed a little over the last few months. Also, I had a tough month when my ex moved out, paying for everything while looking for a new lodger. Now though, I need to introduce a bit more planning and discipline. At least without a partner, Xmas should be cheap this year!
I need to start looking for bargains for the family. Which should be amazing and exciting. It's been forever since my last X,as with grandma, possibly about 8 years. I was still married then, life was very different.
I am determined to try and do present shopping on a budget - I'm usually way too extravagant! And this year I just cannot be.

There's also a possibility of a voluntary redundancy from work with an ok payout, poss about £14k, so I am seriously considering that. Would really make a difference to my debt and also would make me search for a job and maybe stretch me. So all could be quite exciting, if only I play my cards right.

In this spirit - it's time for some work on the CV!

How have you been Deb? How are Christmas preparations coming along?

catriona79

Morning ladies and gents,

I thought I'd get back into writing on here, as it did always focus me and I need to focus now!
I've been awake since 5 as my friend texted; she's going through a v difficult patch and I understand as been through similar, so been trying to soothe/ console.
A long day at work today, but then I will go to see my friend for dinner and maybe pop into H0meSense on the way to see what nice Xmas decorations they have there for cheap;)
I need to have a look at my budget now as well for 5 minutes and work out spends for next month. I'll get my front garden finished which I expect will cost £500 so there will not be any savings next month, although it's only going to be a short month, I suppose!
Let's have a look at this budget then!
Have a lovely day everyone!

catriona79

I've been quite good recently - not going out much and not spending on clothes. But I had to buy a new phone today, as my 3.5 year old one is slowly giving up the ghost, and I finally took the plunge and forked out for a new one. Here's to another three years without having yo buy one now.

In other news, it's pay day on Friday! Whoop whoop! Need to plan my budget!

catriona79

It's payday tomorrow! Woo hoo!!

catriona79

It's payday - it's payday - it's payday!!!

Wouldn't it be lovely if payday came twice a month?;)

Here are this month's totals.

First Direct CC - £700 – 0% until January 2014
Tesco CC - £2670.78 – 0% until October 2015
Virgin Card - £5612.95 – 0% until Feb 2016
Homeowner Loan – £12682.59 - 3.4%
Savings - £6507.53

The total is :eek::eek::eek:£15007.79 :eek::eek::eek: