Debt free in 16 months...?

LittleMissDetermined

I had my LBM finally...

I have made myself a monthly budgeting spreadsheet and calculated all outgoings and it seems to be keeping me focused on reducing my debts. I have been taking some tips from others who post and give advice on the MSE forums and I really can’t thank you all enough!

So, shamefully on to the outstanding amounts:
Loan with my bank - £4037.94 (£448 per month) 9 payments left to go
C-Card #1 - £4570.56 (I pay £220 per month which is about £100 more than min p/ment)
C-card #2 - £1475.44 (I pay £75 per month which is about £50 more than min p/ment)
Storecard - £1023.18 (cancelled min DD and now pay £60 a month)
Total: £11,107.12 (wowzers!)

I recently applied for a B-T card for 0% as one of the cards interest has just increased, but was declined which I was disappointed with as I always make my payments on time and have not applied for credit for years… not sure what the issue is there.:mad:

I take home £2200 per month but for the past 18 months have been supporting hubby who returned to Uni following redundancy. The course complete, he has now found work and starts in 6 weeks time which will take the pressure off somewhat, although he has his own c/card to pay off too.

Mortgage & utilities - £650 (I pay this to hubby’s account)
Phone - £34.00 (contract til November 2013)
Food - £300
Car Insurance (both cars) - £72.04
Petrol - £140
Pet health plan £11.95 (covers mandatory vet visits and medication)
Pet insurance £14.33
Contact Lenses £12.50
Bank account £13.50 (includes phone insurance and breakdown cover)

Total: £1,248.32

Monthly debt repayments:
CC#1 £220
CC#2 £75
Loan £448.48
Storecard £60

The budget planner I have put together includes saving a little each month for ‘emergencies’ – my car has a tendency to play up when I least need it to, this also covers MOT time, car tax and any other emergency bills such as vets fees. This seems to be working OK so far and I still have about £40 per week available.

So, my target is to get the £11,107.12 completely cleared by October 2014. When I first worked it out I felt it was too far away (I am rather an impatient person!) but realistically this is achievable and if I manage it any sooner I will be so pleased with myself! :T

I can't wait to be Debt Free and I know that by using this forum I will keep focused and motivated to get there!

fatbelly

LittleMissDetermined wrote: »

I recently applied for a B-T card for 0% as one of the cards interest has just increased, but was declined which I was disappointed with as I always make my payments on time and have not applied for credit for years… not sure what the issue is there.:mad

Worth having a look at your credit file to see if there is anything unusual but it may just be the total amount of available credit that you already have.

Then have a look at Martin's article

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards

and look for those that have a pre-application eligibility checker. This will give you a good idea about which are likely to accept you but it will not leave a mark on your file.

Pollycat

LittleMissDetermined wrote: »

I had my LBM finally...

Well done! :T

LittleMissDetermined wrote: »

So, shamefully on to the outstanding amounts:
Loan with my bank - £4037.94 (£448 per month) 9 payments left to go
C-Card #1 - £4570.56 (I pay £220 per month which is about £100 more than min p/ment)
C-card #2 - £1475.44 (I pay £75 per month which is about £50 more than min p/ment)
Storecard - £1023.18 (cancelled min DD and now pay £60 a month)
Total: £11,107.12 (wowzers!)

Rather than overpaying both credit cards, you might be better throwing all 'overpayments' at the debt with the highest interest rate until that is cleared and then move on to the next highest.

LittleMissDetermined wrote: »

Food - £300

If there's just the 2 of you, this is quite high.

Maybe check out the 'Old-Style' board for tips on cooking in bulk, menu planning etc.

LittleMissDetermined

Hi Fatbelly

Thanks for this, I did do the pre-checker and it gave 80% chance of acceptance which I think just added to my disappointment, was gutted.

Oh well, onwards and upwards... a colleague has just said they have been declined because our employer has failed the credit check (?) not sure how that happens...

LittleMissDetermined

Pollycat wrote: »

If there's just the 2 of you, this is quite high.

Maybe check out the 'Old-Style' board for tips on cooking in bulk, menu planning etc.

This is the most we would spend across the month (allowing for 5 week months as we do our food shopping on Fridays) we usually spend about £60 a week.

I bulk cook wherever I can and then freeze but will look for some more tips, thanks!

sourcrates

I don't think £300 a month for food for two people is that extravagant, especially if the op lives in a small village as we do without a car and only the local coop to shop at, sure they do have some bargains, but otherwise the prices are approx. 30% higher than a supermarket due to the location and the fact its the only shop for 10 miles, yes you can eat for less but I suffer from hypertension which requires me to eat a healthy diet, nothing processed and no added salt, I cook everything from fresh, and this can be expensive.

Pollycat

sourcrates wrote: »

I don't think £300 a month for food for two people is that extravagant, especially if the op lives in a small village as we do without a car and only the local coop to shop at, sure they do have some bargains, but otherwise the prices are approx. 30% higher than a supermarket due to the location and the fact its the only shop for 10 miles, yes you can eat for less but I suffer from hypertension which requires me to eat a healthy diet, nothing processed and no added salt, I cook everything from fresh, and this can be expensive.

Maybe, but you'll find that a lot of people who post on here do so on less than £200 per month for 2 people.

And we don't know if the OP lives in a small village (but we do know she has a car) and we don't know if she has health issues that means she has to buy certain things.

I appreciate that in your situation it may be impossible to eat on less than £300 per month but it was just a suggestion that it was an area that the OP may be able to cut down on.

LittleMissDetermined

The £300 includes our dog food too, forgot to mention this in the original post.

It does seem that eating healthy costs far more than junk food too!

ilovelondontown

Congratulation on having your LB moment, it feels both exciting and scary at the same time!

I'm posting to reply because your debt is almost identical to what mine was back in November last year, and I'm now down to £4900- it's been a slog and I've thrown every spare penny I have at it, but seeing the numbers tumble really keeps you going.

I also wanted to mention that your food bill is quite high, I used to have mine at about £200/£250 a month and since educating myself I've realised Wa!trose really is more expensive. I now do alot of yellow label shopping in Tes(o and spend about £30 a week now and I don't feel like I cut back at all. Go down a brand for cleaning product- I used to spend a fortune on washing powder and now I spend about £1.80 on own branded powder and neither my husband or I have noticed the difference!

Good luck on your DF Journey!

LittleMissDetermined

Thanks so much, I will certainly have a look at where I can reduce my weekly shopping bill. As I said this does include dog food which is an expensive brand as she has irritable bowel with anything else.

My challenge will be spending as little as I can down at Tes(o's as possible!

LittleMissDetermined

Just an update on checking my credit file, nothing out of sorts on there, all payments up to date and on time...no incorrect addresses etc, I'm on the electoral role. Still stumped, perhaps amt of credit is the reason.