Joining in DFW

girlsmum

been lurking here for ages and although not posted have been following with interest.
I am not in the worst situation as some i do have a good credit score still as do not default etc, but still owe about £6k (will update exact later) this is on 3 CC 2 are interest free and 1 is only about £500 and is a 3.9apr for life, I have a sofa on interest free (DFS) which ends in August. (don't like it mind, it was my ex's choice, but i ended up paying for it :mad:)

I don't spend on CC's any more and want to clear these for good. I have made attempts over the past 3 years, but always ended up adding to them in the end. i think it did not help that i was paying too much off and not leaving myself anything to live on at the end of the month, so using a CC to live (yes stupid i know.)

I am a single mum of 2 so I would like to get it cleared up so i can spend it on doing the occasional fun thing with my children. By paying a sensible amount i estimate it will take 19 months to clear. but if i can afford to i would like to pay more occasionally
I hope by writing it all will keep me on track it makes it real somehow

thanks

thecassman86

Hi girlsmum :wave:

You're right, it's a controllable amount of debt and i'm sure you'll be able to clear it quite comfortably provided you stay focused on it .

Firstly, the 2 CC's that are interest-free, when does that period end on them? And what are the limits on them? How much do you owe on each? If possible, it might be worth transferring the £500 of CC3 onto one of them and closing it; that means all of your debts will be interest free; which is a great start

The DFS finance ends in August so when it does you can then put that money into your other 2 cards. Usually, it's best to plough as much money as possible into the one which has it's interest-free period ending soonest and just pay little over the minimum on the other card.

If you haven't already, try putting your debt figures into the snowball calculator here: http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx. This will allow you to see how quickly you can pay off your debts by paying off the smallest amount of interest (which in your case is already in a good way).

The trick is to try and get everything interest-free and then keep ploughing money into it; as soon as something is about to start accruing interest then look at ways to move it around to keep it interest-free until it's paid off.

Good luck, you'll do it!

girlsmum

thecassman86 wrote: »

Hi girlsmum :wave:

You're right, it's a controllable amount of debt and i'm sure you'll be able to clear it quite comfortably provided you stay focused on it .

Firstly, the 2 CC's that are interest-free, when does that period end on them? And what are the limits on them? How much do you owe on each? If possible, it might be worth transferring the £500 of CC3 onto one of them and closing it; that means all of your debts will be interest free; which is a great start

The DFS finance ends in August so when it does you can then put that money into your other 2 cards. Usually, it's best to plough as much money as possible into the one which has it's interest-free period ending soonest and just pay little over the minimum on the other card.

If you haven't already, try putting your debt figures into the snowball calculator here: http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx. This will allow you to see how quickly you can pay off your debts by paying off the smallest amount of interest (which in your case is already in a good way).

The trick is to try and get everything interest-free and then keep ploughing money into it; as soon as something is about to start accruing interest then look at ways to move it around to keep it interest-free until it's paid off.

Good luck, you'll do it!

I did think about putting the £500 onto the others but it the interest is tiny at moment it would have cost £15 transfer fee and I am clearing it first so the interest will be less than the fee, I have a Tesco CC for £1,437.38 paying £100 per month the term ends June 2015 so it will be paid prior to incurring interest, and a santander CC for £4,530.78 which I am paying currently at £165 (min payment is about £45) what i am planing is as you say once i pay off the sofa and other loans i will put that money into the other ones. I have used the snowball before, but forget to update so keep it on an excel sheet which i use to log all my expenditure.
The M&S one is in fact £486.30 this is the one i will clear first as it is currently set at min amount and i have left it as last month the interest was £1.62 so ignored, but at min level of about £13 it will take a long time.

thecassman86

Sounds like you've got a good plan together there!

Yes, if the transfer fee is more than the interest then it's obviously not worth it; always worth checking though.

I'm assuming that the Santander CC has an interest free period which ends later than June 2015? You didn't specify. If it is, then by then you'll have your Tesco and M&S cards paid off, as well as your sofa, and should hopefully only owe around £2300 on the Santander CC (I'm going on the theory that your payments will increase to around £200/month when the sofa is paid up but it may be even more than that. At that point, getting another 0% card shouldn't be a problem; your payments can then increase to £300/month as your Tesco card has gone. So, from then, it's a quick 8/9 months to debt-free happiness. Winner! :beer:

thecassman86

If you're keen to free up as many funds as possible to push on with your debt clearance then feel free to post up an SOA and we can try and save even more money each month for use on debts.

The form can be found here (http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php) but it's down currently but hopefully not for long.

girlsmum

thecassman86 wrote: »

Sounds like you've got a good plan together there!

Yes, if the transfer fee is more than the interest then it's obviously not worth it; always worth checking though.

I'm assuming that the Santander CC has an interest free period which ends later than June 2015? You didn't specify. If it is, then by then you'll have your Tesco and M&S cards paid off, as well as your sofa, and should hopefully only owe around £2300 on the Santander CC (I'm going on the theory that your payments will increase to around £200/month when the sofa is paid up but it may be even more than that. At that point, getting another 0% card shouldn't be a problem; your payments can then increase to £300/month as your Tesco card has gone. So, from then, it's a quick 8/9 months to debt-free happiness. Winner! :beer:

Thanks for your reply, yes the santander is a 30 month 0% runs out May 16 so plenty of time, just snowballed again and DFD based on £350 per month is
Nov 15 although the last payment is about £41.34 i hope to clear earlier but Nov 15 is not that far away in the whole scheme of things, I hope to get about £170 back from CPP (when they pay it) too so that will go straight off the CC

girlsmum

Where have I been going wrong in the past? its pay day tomorrow, I have made all the payments towards my debts (slightly more than i was planning towards one), managed to put something away into an emergency fund and still have a small amount of money in my bank account...
amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it..

NHS_worker_bee

Excellent news, it sounds like you have a plan and you're putting it into action This is the first month I have succeeded in doing that too, it feels great doesn't it. Keep us updated on your debt free progress

Little_Miss_Moneypenny

Hi girlsmum

It sounds like you're already on the journey to success, good luck!

girlsmum

No wonder i am skint....just realised its been a 5 weeks month between pay days this month, and there has been a half term school holiday in there... ...don't you just hate it when that happens. I won't get caught out with that one again, still managing only because i had to dip into my savings at least my OD is now paid off. next is the M&S card .