Onwards & Upwards in 2014

Midgie

Hey everyone,

I am a debt free wannabe and I am starting a diary to motivate me and make me more accountable in 2014!

Very long story but I'm a single mum with a good job and enough debt to stand in the way of my dd and I having a better life.

2014 is the year were I'm really going to concentrate on changing this by tightening my belt and focusing on paying off as much debt as possible.

Any suggestions or tips welcome!

Thanks
Midgie

Loan £8330 - currently repaying £282 per month and outstanding balance is going down.

C/C £5200 - currently repaying £150 per month but majority of this goes towards interest so outstanding balance is going down very slowly so this is the debt I want to attack first.

Soworried

Hi Midgie


Can you transfer your cc to a 0% deal?

Midgie

I don't think I'd get approved so I'm too scared (at the moment) to try.

I spoke to my bank about remortgaging and they said that they would be able to put it through in about 6 months and that would clear about £8500 of my debt and then I could take a smaller loan out for the rest.

The reason they advised me not to do it now is because I got two charges on my account (which I very rarely get but it was a bad month) in November and they think I'd be declined.

I'm scared to try for any credit until its more manageable.

And I am aiming to repay as much as possible so that if I do remortgage (though would like to avoid if possible) then I don't need to take the loan and could work towards building up savings to compensate for remortgaging.

I don't know if that makes any sense.

Midgie

Aims

1) Reduce bills
- Gas/Electricity (asap)
- Contact Lenses (asap)
- Sky (cancel in April when deal is up)
- Mobile (reduce in April when deal is up)
2) Cut down on spending
- Batch cooking
- No take outs

And
3) Lose weight (not strictly to do with money but I have a wardrobe full of Size 14s that would save me from buying new clothes!):rotfl:

Midgie

Wow! I just did the Snowball Debt Calculator!

I had no idea how much I would be paying in interest if I remortgaged!! Its something like £11,000 in comparison to the £1,800 I would pay if I just sucked it up and got myself out of debt properly!

Non_compos_mentis

Midgie,

I was just about to post a reply saying beware of converting unsecured debt into secured debt and also whilst the interest differential between the credit card/loan rate and the mortgage rate seems substantial, the interest on a mortgage over the long term can be very, very high. However, you seem to have realised it yourself and therefore, my post is redundant.

Good luck with the debt busting journey.

NCM

LAM2011

Non_compos_mentis wrote: »

Midgie,

I was just about to post a reply saying beware of converting unsecured debt into secured debt and also whilst the interest differential between the credit card/loan rate and the mortgage rate seems substantial, the interest on a mortgage over the long term can be very, very high. However, you seem to have realised it yourself and therefore, my post is redundant.

Good luck with the debt busting journey.

NCM

hi Midgie

I agree with the above. good luck in your journey.

When I started in 2011 I had about 5 credit cards with £10k worth of debt - I knocked off the highest interest one first and slowly and surely attacked the rest. Its hard - don't get me wrong but it can be done. one of the tricks is to stop spending on them and keep chipping away at them.

I love the snowball calculator - its motivational in itself

Midgie

Today I had my first NSD!

Feeling pretty good! I can do this!

Midgie

Mrs_Cheshire

Midgie, why don't you post an SOA so we can see if there are any areas where you could cut back to enable you to hit the CC hard!

Ali-OK

Hi Midge and welcome,

Am in a similar position to you - 1 CC (well 2, but 1st will be paid off next month) and 1 loan, also a single Mum but with a DS.

With contact lenses, have you thought of buying them online? I buy monthly wear ones and the solution, but they stretch to 3 months wear and I see my optician once a year for sight test and contact lens check. Stretching the wear of the lenses hasn't damaged or deteriorated my eyes in any way and it's much cheaper than buying from my optician. I use vision direct - good prices and delivery/service.

Of course, they don't like it very much giving the prescription out (I have to ask every time!) but grow that thick skin and do it!

I'll follow your diary if you don't mind

Midgie

Thanks Mrs Cheshire - I'll give it a go and post it up today. Any tips/help appreciated!

Ali-ok, well done on paying off one of your credit cards!

I had thought about buying online but I'm prone to cysts in my eyes (sorry if tmi) so was worried about not getting the correct aftercare/check ups etc. Maybe I could supplement with online ones to reduce the costs?

Oh and thanks for following me - its encouraging!

Looks like another NSD! Dd is sick so we're in the house today.