Reeling from the Reality Check

sweetpea26

Hi HB...popping out of lurkdom to say well done to you. 8.5% paid wonderful progress. Keep going before you know it your total will be in the 40's. Glad to hear you enjoyed your break in France. Well deserved. We all need a break now and again. Cannot live like church mice constantly. Enjoy your diary very much.

Historybuff

Thanks, sweet pea! i'm definitely back on the straight and narrow. I'll be up to 10% paid by December and then the next milestone, as you say, will be in the 40,000s. I just hope the creditors continue to accept the payment levels and keep the interest and charges off. It's review time for the overdrafts this month. Keeping my head down.
Aiming for another NSD today.

Historybuff

Still got £106. The NSD going well. 3 on the trot so far. Aiming for at least 5. Enough diesel left to the end of the week at least.
OH going for it decorating the front room. Will be ready for painting tomorrow! Had a work from home day yesterday, so rested, ready to go and feeling positive. Bring it on!

Historybuff

Successful NSD. £106 intact...now up to £7.06 per day to payday. Going to have to buy a bit of food tomorrow. Will be careful not to go over the £7. Necessities only.
Poor dogs are shivering with fright at the fireworks and bangs! Bless em.

Historybuff

Just been reading an MSE article in the Telegraph about overpaying £150 per month on your mortgage and how it can bring the term down significantly and drastically reduce the interest. I did the calculator and found that for me it would take a whole year off the term and save nearly £3000 in interest. Now I know I have all the debts etc, and really need to save up a decent buffer fund, but I really want to do this. I have to work out how I can get an additional £200 per month.
I've looked at the DDs to see if there is anything else I can cut back on and there isn't. Only the life assurance. I am really tempted to stop paying that - £47 per month - and at least put that towards the mortgage. There is no money coming back from that policy, it only pays out if one of us dies. If anything happened to OH I will carry on paying as I am now. If anything happens to me I have death in service benefits and everything would be paid off then. We have no dependents now...they have all grown up and moved out - well one keeps coming back every now and then - so only ourselves to worry about. I don't know! I will have a think about it.

gallygirl

HB have you been on the Snowball calculator - https://www.whatsthecost.com ? If you put your debts in there, including your mortgage, you'll see that the fastest way to clear everything is to chuck it all at the highest interest rate first. That will knock off more months overall than overpaying the mortgage. You just need to get the first debt cleared and then you'll start to make inroads :T.

Please don't cancel the life insurance, if something dreadful was to happen to your OH the last thing you need to be doing is worrying about money

Fortune_Smiles

Hi Historybuff. Just popping in to second Gally's recommendation of the Snowball calculator. And add a thought... usually your mortgage provider requires you to have life insurance as a condition of the mortgage?


Fortune x

Historybuff

Thanks galley and fortune, you are right. I will keep paying the life assurance. Re the snowball thing. I have got the debts on interest free payment plans at the moment, so only the mortgage has interest added. I'm living month to month at the moment anyway, so paying anything extra on anything is a bit of a pipe dream, but I live in hope!

Fortune_Smiles

You'll get there Historybuff - just keep swimming.


Fortune x

Historybuff

Managed five NSD. V good. Just put £20 fuel in the car today, £18 on food and spent £10 on essentials. Boots vouchers spent on useful toiletries. £58 left. 12 days till payday. £4.80 per day. Getting a bit close to the edge.
Feeling a bit rubbish too. Had a fall yesterday and fractured wrist! Spent this morning in a and e getting x rayed and strapped up. It hurts!