slashed debt in half on my dinner

brettcta

massive weight off my shoulders today - i've been very close to the limit of my student overdraft (with natwest) for 3 years and today i waltzed in, stuck £2000 into the cash deposit machine and saw my overdraft vanish!

now all i have to clear is my [other] student overdraft with barclays and i'm laughing

well pleased (although i shouldn't have let myself get into this situation)

Newyorkdreams

Well done!

brettcta

barclays overdraft cleared with some money left over from my house purchase, credit card paid of again this month in full.

overall debt has gone from 25% of my annual income to around 3-4% (overdraft on my actual current account).

no phone contract (payg)
car insurance paid for the year
no rent (currently living at home)
credit card paid off in full (current balance around £90 because of petrol & some other bits)
car taxed for another 10 months

just gotta keep my fingers crossed my mortgage application is accepted (applying tomorrow :eek: )

ShootForTheMoon

Congrats!! And good luck with the mortgage application!! Fingers crossed!

I assume the money you used to pay off was savings?
I know people who've had applications rejected because they've paid off debt with gifts from parents etc. I think they like to see some consistent evidence of living within your means.....

brettcta

er, no, the barclays account was a moving out gift from my dad (along with some other money i'm going to put towards an over payment to the mortgage in a few months time.

i did speak to our mortgage adviser yesterday at lloyds and she said it's not a problem as long as they're paid off. i'm starting to get a squeaky bum now that you've mentioned it though


i think i've been tackling debt in an !!!!-about-front fashion - i saved up £2,000 in a safe at home over 6 or 7 months with a combination of wages and tax credits and just walked into the bank with that and cleared the natwest account. with the benefit of hindlegs, i perhaps should have been paying it into a savings account so there was a paper trail

brettcta

we have a save-to-buy account with nationwide, so we've been sticking in 6-650 a month into that and our mortgage payments won't be that much (quoted at around £490/month).

I have only been in solid employment for just over a year and my financial situation has gotten a lot better in the last 12 months. now that the bigger debts are paid off, i'll have sufficient funds to be able to put savings away to help with bills etc.

ShootForTheMoon

Good on you mate - wasn't saying that it was a bad thing, just that I've heard many similar stories of people in similar situations.

£490 per month?! Wow... Where are you living?? Unfortunately even 1-bed flats where I live are £175k+ so I still have some way to go!!

I know that there is money there from my parents, but I really want to aim to save myself to prove to myself, my family and the mortgage company that I can do it before accepting what I view as a bonus to top-up my own savings.

Best of luck!! When do you hear back??

brettcta

Find out soon. The survey has been delayed because they couldn't get hold of the vendor, but it's being arranged today

My IBS, which has been fine for 4 years, has made a re-appearance, so I know how it's effecting me.