Debt free by 40 -- 19 Months and counting

maddiemay

Sorry I'm no help either:(.

I understand why you had picked B*rclaycard to be the next to clear, but wonder would it be better to just pay the minimum off everything else for a while and sling every available penny at N£xt to keep them off your back. I hope someone will come along and read who has dealt with them and know how they work.

Keep battling, you are doing great, and blips will happen just to try and trip us up.:eek:

maddiemay

Cross posted with MIZMIR, no I would not sign a new agreement either at this stage (or ever hopefully).

StressedSteph

Thanks for your quick replies guys.


I just checked my YNAB and the child benefit has gone in, so I paid my £192 snowballed amount off Barclayc#rd.

Down to £382 now :T. Nearly there.

I know I should probably have paid that against N#xt but I do hate being bullied, so they can wait abit

Yes guys, think I will sit on that credit agreement for a while. Hopefully a month or two will fly by before they get serious with me and by then I will have a handle on it.

Its not like I haven't avoided their phone calls before

clearmydebts

Hi Steph,

I would be throwing everything at the Next card and paying the minimum elsewhere as Next are the ones putting the most pressure on and sending letters etc.

mfmaybe

StressedSteph wrote: »

Thanks for your quick replies guys.


I just checked my YNAB and the child benefit has gone in, so I paid my £192 snowballed amount off Barclayc#rd.

Down to £382 now :T. Nearly there.

I know I should probably have paid that against N#xt but I do hate being bullied, so they can wait abit

Yes guys, think I will sit on that credit agreement for a while. Hopefully a month or two will fly by before they get serious with me and by then I will have a handle on it.

Its not like I haven't avoided their phone calls before

Sorry Steph but you did make me chuckle there . Quite right too on the bullying. I would from now on ask to communicate only by written correspondence if you haven't already. If it was me - Write back to them to say you spoke to x on y date and agreed z, asking why they are now changing the agreement to include a disproportionate penalty? Do it quickly to show willing, and to avoid giving them any reason to claim you are not sticking to terms etc etc.

It should be said I am FAR from an expert, but I generally apply a policy of stilted politeness, swift responses, a dose of common sense and a tiny bit of well-hidden sarcasm . Good luck with whatever you decide!

StressedSteph

Thank you Clearmydebts and mfmaybe,


Think I will write to them, thins will in the very least stall them for a few weeks.


I have set my heart on killing off Barclayc#rd, so will make any over payments to that during March.


But I HAVE swapped my debts and made N#xt my next debt to bust. As I doubt they are going to go away.


With all the over payments I have done to my Barclayc#rd during March, I have just re-done my snowball calculation and I have bought if forward by 2 months.


Debt free date now September 2015 :T


Got to keep going, want to make it July 2015 in the very least as that's the month I turn 40.

debtfreewannabe321

well done for nearly having that BC paid off! This time next month and I bet it will be gone :T I'd also pay off n3xt before the co-op but you've already come to that conclusion so look forward to seeing that one go xxx

StressedSteph

Afternoon all,


Balanced my bank statement against my YNAB budget this morning and its not looking great. .


Looks like I am over-budgeting on savings pots etc, as I have a short fall of around £200 for debt repayments :mad:


Really annoyed that I am running short. The only way that I can bring in some decent extra cash is to get sewing again and quickly.


I have about four items on order and I also have the shop and a craft fair at the end of March to make things for so if I get going I might be able to make up the shortfall.


I have also had to budget for an extra £20 per week for my son to extra English tutoring as he is struggling abit with his spelling at school. I am abit torn with this. We desperately can't afford it but I also don't want to let him down. We do extra work at home, but he is so reluctant with me and I also question my ability to give him quality tutoring.


Ok.....As I was typing this I decided to call his school and managed to speak to his teacher. she has told me to save my money and have a meeting with her where she will give me some work to do with him at home to save me the expense.
:T Yay that has saved me £80 per month.


Just goes to show though , that YNAB really quickly shows up shortfalls in the budget and gives you time to sort out the problems.


Will still have a shortfall of around £120 but feels abit more achievable now.


Ok ramble over. Off to fire up the sewing machine x

sweetpea26

Thats great news about the tutoring Steph.

Have you some more items that you could list on ebay?

mfmaybe

Brilliant. As I was reading the bit about your concern of a shortfall, I was crafting a response in my head that said "but at least you know!". And when I read on I saw that you'd already got there. Knowledge is power. I'm the same at the moment, still getting caught out without savings pots but I know exactly where I am. This is progress. I think you are doing brilliantly!