Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

catriona79

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Ooh yes debt neutral sounds like a good plan too.

Aww you sound like you've had an amazing time away, well deserved too. And we'll done on the weight loss. :T:j:T You definitely sound brighter than you did the other day. I think she should have yourself another weekend with your friend :beer::)

Woohoo, lovely post

Woo hoo indeed! It is so good to be around nice and lovely people!

Next time I see her will probably be at the end of October, as we have got tickets to see a show with Nicole Kidman in it. Exciting stuff!

On the dating front, I have a few dates set up and am trying hard to get excited about them:) they are actually all interesting men, so we shall have to see. It always feels a bit hopeless and then you meet someone nice.

I stupidly woke up at 5.30 this morning, but as I went to sleep at 11, it's actually not that bad. I think the key is to remember ear plugs! Also, I need to buy an eye mask! Been listening to this audio book, Nigh School, about research into sleep. So interesting!
So at 5.30am I took more Kalms in the hope of catching a few more winks, but didn't and now feel slow and sluggish! There has got to be a better way. And I shall find it!

catriona79

beanielou wrote: »

Good day indeed :j

Thank you, thank you.

How is life in Beanie Land?

catriona79

Cheekily, it may be a sort of pay day today, as my lodger may pay her rent. She should pay on the 25th of each month, but due to some personal stuff, she pays me a couple of weeks later, which is not a biggie. I might ask her to do it today, as it's convenient for us both, we are both off work!! Xx

catriona79

So, it's part pay-day! It's nice to have them scattered all over the place. Got £200 today and have £225 to come still, but not desperate for it. I used £110 of it straightaway to pay off the rest of my hsbc card, which is my everyday credit card, which I'm not going to use from now on. It's all gone now and I'm happy.
The remainder has paid for coffee out this morning and a lovely eye mask!!! Got the eye mask, the ear plugs and my sleeping tablets - tonight is the night, I just know it!!!!! :T ::rotfl:

catriona79

So, just to cheer myself up I will say that I now have three pay days, 28th, 14th and one dat at the start of each month (like today). So there's always something to look forward to! Which is great and will help see the back of this horrid debt sooner!

I snowballed my debts for the first time today, using the mse link. I was going to pay off the Virgin card first just so that I get rid of it and psychologically get a boost. There's only £950 on it. And it will be the first card EVER I don't just transfer, but actually PAY OFF!
But the snowball calculator tells me to pay off the Santander card instead. Not sure why, there must be a method to it. I'm not sure that with Xmas and studying I will actually be able to do pay them all off without having to move them on a new card, but I should be able to pay off the two small ones, and see about the big one.

Virgin currently has £950 and needs paying off by jan 2016
Santander £2835 / May 2015
Halifax £6100 / March 2015

I can pay off about 1k each month, given that I'm also saving £385 each month (regular savers that I want to keep).

So I was thinking virgin first, then Santander and close both before it's time to apply for a new BT for Halifax in March. But maybe that's not the way to do it.
To avoid the fee, I'd probably have to either get a 0% BT or get a 0% spending card!
Not sure how I feel about getting another card, may be better to just bite the bullet and balance transfer, even if there is a fee. A small fee would be ok anyway.

Decisions, decisions!

cwal

Hey Catriona!
Love reading your posts, I find them motivating as have £12.3k of debt to clear myself. Started at £15.6k at the start of the year so feel like I'm getting their slowly.
Just a quick thing I noticed, the dates above say santander ended may 2015? Could that be why the snowball is telling you to pay it off first as it thinks you are paying full interest on it?
Hope you have a lovely weekend :-)

Orange_Ena

catriona79 wrote: »

Woo hoo indeed! It is so good to be around nice and lovely people!

Next time I see her will probably be at the end of October, as we have got tickets to see a show with Nicole Kidman in it. Exciting stuff!

On the dating front, I have a few dates set up and am trying hard to get excited about them:) they are actually all interesting men, so we shall have to see. It always feels a bit hopeless and then you meet someone nice.

I stupidly woke up at 5.30 this morning, but as I went to sleep at 11, it's actually not that bad. I think the key is to remember ear plugs! Also, I need to buy an eye mask! Been listening to this audio book, Nigh School, about research into sleep. So interesting!
So at 5.30am I took more Kalms in the hope of catching a few more winks, but didn't and now feel slow and sluggish! There has got to be a better way. And I shall find it!

Woo hoo, yes it's nice to surround yourself with people like that.

Well if nothing comes of the dates you're getting out there and meeting new people. That's always winner :T

Hope you've managed to get some better sleep. For years I slept with the telly on which is total madness to me now. No wonder my sleep was poor. I wear an eye mask which is brilliant and I don't put the telly on in my bedroom at night at all. I go to bed when I'm tired and fall asleep straight away. I do have the fan on every night as the gentle hum helps me to sleep. I have become reliant on it but if I stay in a hotel, I'm ok, I don't need it. When I stay with my brother, he has the fan ready for me though :rotfl: You will find your way, definitely

Orange_Ena

catriona79 wrote: »

So, just to cheer myself up I will say that I now have three pay days, 28th, 14th and one dat at the start of each month (like today). So there's always something to look forward to! Which is great and will help see the back of this horrid debt sooner!

I snowballed my debts for the first time today, using the mse link. I was going to pay off the Virgin card first just so that I get rid of it and psychologically get a boost. There's only £950 on it. And it will be the first card EVER I don't just transfer, but actually PAY OFF!
But the snowball calculator tells me to pay off the Santander card instead. Not sure why, there must be a method to it. I'm not sure that with Xmas and studying I will actually be able to do pay them all off without having to move them on a new card, but I should be able to pay off the two small ones, and see about the big one.

Virgin currently has £950 and needs paying off by jan 2016
Santander £2835 / May 2015
Halifax £6100 / March 2015

I can pay off about 1k each month, given that I'm also saving £385 each month (regular savers that I want to keep).

So I was thinking virgin first, then Santander and close both before it's time to apply for a new BT for Halifax in March. But maybe that's not the way to do it.
To avoid the fee, I'd probably have to either get a 0% BT or get a 0% spending card!
Not sure how I feel about getting another card, may be better to just bite the bullet and balance transfer, even if there is a fee. A small fee would be ok anyway.

Decisions, decisions!

Jealous of all your paydays :T;) Haha that's brilliant though, you're busting that debt good a proper. Boom! Crash! Kapow! :rotfl:

I think the sensible way is to pay off the most costly card first but some say pay off the smallest balance to give yourself that boost. It's all a bit confusing really. Have you tried that soft search thing on mse? Where it gives you an idea of which card you can get. I found it helpful when I applied recently for my Ll0yds CC cause not only it gave me an idea of which card I could possibly get, but it lays out the lowest fee, longest interest free period etc. I wanted a long period and a low fee and I think I got the balance right. Depends what you're after really. I didn't get as much credit limit as I needed but it's all a help. Good luck with your decision making!

Just think, you could be debt free / neutral in less than a year :T:D :beer::j

catriona79

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Jealous of all your paydays :T;) Haha that's brilliant though, you're busting that debt good a proper. Boom! Crash! Kapow! :rotfl:

I think the sensible way is to pay off the most costly card first but some say pay off the smallest balance to give yourself that boost. It's all a bit confusing really. Have you tried that soft search thing on mse? Where it gives you an idea of which card you can get. I found it helpful when I applied recently for my Ll0yds CC cause not only it gave me an idea of which card I could possibly get, but it lays out the lowest fee, longest interest free period etc. I wanted a long period and a low fee and I think I got the balance right. Depends what you're after really. I didn't get as much credit limit as I needed but it's all a help. Good luck with your decision making!

Just think, you could be debt free / neutral in less than a year :T:D :beer::j

Hello hello

Just tried the card checker on your recommendation Ena (thank you!) and it's come up with a couple of strong options - MBNA and Barclaycard at 95 and 90%. The rest are so-so, at 60%, maybe because I've already got those! and maybe because my credit history isn't that great anymore.

So it looks like there are options and maybe there is no need to worry. I was once in a bad situation where I couldn't get another BT but my wonderful ex helped me out, even though we'd broken up by then. Without him, things may have spiralled out.

Not heard at all from the mortgage people and wondering what is going on. Perhaps I should try and get an appointment directly, I'd get a better deal with NWide than the deal I got through the broker. £15 a month better, so not much, but still better. I might see to that tomorrow.

I can feel myself relax a bit more, about money and my worries in general. Which is good.

catriona79

On a personal note, I met a friend of a friend last Saturday who, when introduced to me, held on to my hand for eons too long!! He was likeable and has FB messaged me since. I am playing it cool, so will take some time to get back to him, but in have to say it's been a while since I've met a man who is so interesting and easy to talk to. Positive.

In other news, another internet date tomorrow.

And my Sunday Internet date cancelled on me on Sun morning! The cheek of him not feeling bitter, but it looks like there are people out there who are not ready to date. Maybe he's inbetween relationships? Who knows. But it looks like he's after a bit of validation.
His message said that he had to work on a presentation so I wished him good luck with it, and said it was no problem, but in reality am not going to get involved with someone who has unfinished business or is half hearted.
After my last relationship, I need to pay attention to men trying to bust my boundaries.

Man from Saturday is nice though, and has given me a little hope that not all is lost.

Hope you are all plodding along in your lives and enjoying the moment.
I've been listening to Oli Doyle's mindfulness podcasts online as I drive and they help so much. I am slowly getting into the mindful way of reasoning and it helps to deal with my recent breakup and my ex's not too great behaviour. I don't get worked up any more, where before I definitely would have! What advice change.

Also, my eye mask and ear plugs are ace! Though I did wake up at 2 this morn, convinced it was time to get up