2014 and we're on the up(finally)!!!

medusasmummy

Hi all
thanks in advance for taking the time to read to my ramblings.


I have had many light bulb moments over the years, I get stuck it to tackling debts whenever money is tight, then after a few months the stress lifts and I return to my old ways!


THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT!!!! thanks to some recent changes in our situation we now have an extra £300 per month to tackle debts with so I've come up with a plan so we can be debt free by December 2015 :j This guesstimate is without snowballing, so is a date that can be beaten (hopefully by June 2015 if not sooner). I have tried to explain it to my OH (who just nods along when I ramble at him) but I feel if I write it all down it might make more sense. here we go


DEBTS (highest APR first)
Capital one £750
Barclaycard £2250
Halifax £2300
K and Co. £1850 inc BNPL




My plan!
I know it isn't strictly snowballing at first, but I want to clear K and Co as its the highest minimum payment freeing up more money to pay the rest off. should be paid off by September 2014, the extra £200 per month going to capital one paying it off by December 2014, then extra payments snowballing to £280 to pay Barclaycard by April 2015, and finally £400pm to Halifax by June 2015.


After this Key date we will be sinking an extra £100pm in to our mortgage and hope be completely debt free in 10-15 years (we currently have 18yrs left so it will vary depending on interest rates)


The last stage of the plan will be to save our mortgage payment each month to build up a kitty for retirement and travel the world!!


It may seem I've got rose tinted glasses on, but I find focusing on the LOOOONNGGG term goal helps me to focus more and not get me back in to my old ways. I'll be 31 this year so I've got nearly 40 years til I get my state pension(if there is still such a thing then) and I don't fancy working til I'm 70 before I can retire comfortably.


We've drawn up a list of things we'd like to do when we're debt free (from credit cards and the like) and have a few quid extra each month. No big life changing goals but simple things like a new sofa, new windows at the back of the house, and a log burner are all things for us to look forward to in the coming years.


Anyway thanks again for reading

mfmaybe

Good luck on your journey! A log burner and new windows are on our list too (along with a new septic tank - all the glamorous things :rotfl:) so I think having long term goals are very important. I will subscribe to your diary.

beanielou

Shiny new diary
Keep posting!

medusasmummy

Hi to all,
thanks for the support so far


My plan was put in to action a couple of weeks ago, so unfortunately its going to be another week before I get my statement from K and Co and I can see how much it has come down too.
I have paid more than the minimum on the Halifax, statement is also due next week, so I will get a sneak peak at my progress by about Tuesday (fingers crossed). the other 2 credit cards aren't due til beginning of next month so bit longer to wait before


mfmaybe- I cant wait for the day when i know i will be able to pay with cash for a LARGE purchase like windows. My brother recently had some alterations to his house including a log burner and although initially secretly jealous i found out he took out a secured loan which will take 15years to pay back! i will have mine 3-4years after him but will have the satisfaction of knowing I've earned the money to pay for it and he will still have 12-11 years of payments HAHA!

medusasmummy

Hi all,
pleased to report, my Halifax statement was emailed this morning and is now £2037.86 :j (extra payment made with some overtime)
£262.14/£7150 paid off = 3.67%


I'm absolutely jumping for joy to have my first few % chipped away. I realise it will creep up fast at first then steady off but it's still exciting. By the time I have all new statements in I'm hoping to be around 7-8% (fingers crossed)


We completed the Barclaycard PPI claim form back in January, and hoping to hear back from them in next few weeks(8 weeks it says) hoping for a lovely pay out as we've had it 8yrs!!


Have a great weekend all

ragstoricheswannabe

Good luck with your ppi claim!

And good luck on your debt free journey!

medusasmummy

Hi all,
Got my K and Co statement today and my balance now stands at £1662.67.
I have paid off 1 of 4 BNPLs and chipped away a little bit more away from the interest free, this has also lowered my minimum repayment by £22


Grand total
£420.58/7150 5.88% paid off

medusasmummy

Hi all
Its march already can you believe it! it will be another week until I have anymore balances to update with but thought I'd pop in to tell you I sent off my CCP compensation forms today. We had 2 between us I know 1 was for egg emergency cover, and the second I think is for the Halifax cover but I'm not entirely sure. I know its definitely not capital one as we took out no optional extras with them.


If I remember correctly the premiums were about £25-30 PA when we originally took them out so
we could be getting £200-300 + interest for each


Have a great week all and speak to you soon

National_Debtline

Hello there,

Good luck on your reclaims! You might be able to use the money to offer a creditor a full & final settlement, perhaps to Capital One? Here's more info on those: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers

Best of luck with your journey.

David.

kindofagilr

Good luck with your journey you are doing great so far

Hopefully you will get a nice big sum from barclaycard too

medusasmummy

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hello there,

Good luck on your reclaims! You might be able to use the money to offer a creditor a full & final settlement, perhaps to Capital One? Here's more info on those: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers

Best of luck with your journey.

David.

Thank you so much for this I never knew there was a recommended formula for working these things out. I thought maybe there was a certain % that they would accept. but I suppose most would be willing to negotiate as a portion is preferable to years chasing people and getting nothing back. At the same time they must love people in our situation who are rarely below 70% of their limit


We haven't had an defaults or missed payments it just feels like we're treading water at times and whenever we make a dent in the debt life gets in the way and something goes on a card to tide us over. we have no saving pot, but we have no saving pot as we're paying off credit.


If truth be told we have £400 extra a month but we've decided to put £100pm in to a building society account so it cant be frittered away and its there if we need it instead of using credit cards