No More Procrastination..DFW is my Destination!

nellis10

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Lemanie - by sending your daughter off to Uni with "enough" and the knowledge that she can always come to you for help with finances/budgeting etc, you're doing absolutely the best thing for her. She'd learn very little about real life by always having enough for whatever she wants, as opposed to whatever she needs, wouldn't she?

Nelly - we've been OP'ing on our Mortgage since 2008 - started small, and have now built up to the level where we've been OP'ing by over 60% each month. As a result we're on target to pay the thing off inside 14 years, rather than its 25 year term. Stick with it, you WILL get there, and it really is worth it, even when it feels that you're making little difference! As you say, one thing at a time - we too had a loan to pay off when we started on here - that went in 13 months rather than the 2½ years it was meant to be. When the motivation bites, it REALLY bites!

lol I'm counting on it! I figure if I can find £330 a month extra I can get rid of both loans (depending on interest etc) by Dec 2015!!

lemanie

nellis10 wrote: »

Yep! Very similar but I only have one son who is 10
Get rid of the 2 loans (Divorce and Car) by December 2015, then tackle the Mortgage!!

Ooh yes, very similar

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Lemanie - She'd learn very little about real life by always having enough for whatever she wants, as opposed to whatever she needs, wouldn't she?

Thanks for the encouragement; just disheartened that we find ourselves here 9 years on (as Nelly pointed out:p) and she really will only have 'just enough', ie we will only top her loan up with the minimum that the gov says she needs, and not what the uni recommends. Fortunately if she gets the grades she will be well catered for and only have to pay rent for the very short terms. She is a very sensible girl and works very hard but...

EssexHebridean wrote: »

When the motivation bites, it REALLY bites!

I'm just finding that out, I've been recently bitten and it's good to know that the dreams are possible.

nellis10 wrote: »

lol I'm counting on it! I figure if I can find £330 a month extra I can get rid of both loans (depending on interest etc) by Dec 2015!!

I think the http://whatsthecost.com/login.aspx snowballing calculator is great and love seeing the predicted DFD come slowly forward. Conservative estimate is Nov 2015 but I should be able to manage Aug 2015 barring any disasters.

nellis10

Morning all!

Just been to Lidl for a Psuedo-Weekly shop...I haven't meal planned but have an idea what I will be making.

DS is down with a viral throat infection at the moment and thus only wants plain pasta and cheese for any meal!

So that was £18.72 in Lidl and my fridge is full again of nice salady stuff to keep me going. I confess to buying a £2 bar of Dairy Milk (cheaper than Galaxy) for this evening's Eurovision song contest, and instead of getting wine in, I got a bottle of white grape shloer! Yes I know how to par-tay!! :rotfl::beer:

nellis10

OMG...when you add up ALL the debt you have it is a freaky number!!

Mortgage, Plus Car Loan, Plus Divorce Loan = £85,062.11 owed to three banks!! :eek::eek::eek:

I've put them all into YNAB and frightened myself!! BUT it will be good to see them going down each month, even if it's only with loan repayments!

I want to start clearing the divorce loan first then the car loan and finally the mortgage, but would like to start making small payments off the loan even if it's just to bring it down to round figures each time!

EssexHebridean

The number of folk who don't think of their mortgage as any sort of debt is just scary though. Mind you, I know any number of folk with loans for things like cars too who, if you asked them whether they were in debt, would look horrified and say "Of COURSE not!" errr...no, right!

Good shopping there, poor DS, hope he's feeling better soon, nasty things throat infections, they do leave you feeling utterly wretched don't they.

Enjoy your Dairy Milk - personally we'll be avoiding Eurovision completely!

elfy1807

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Mind you, I know any number of folk with loans for things like cars too who, if you asked them whether they were in debt, would look horrified and say "Of COURSE not!" errr...no, right!

I am one of those people that doesn't see my car finance as debt.
I don't know why, because I know it is, but I just don't.
I see it as another bill, like my mobile phone contract.
Like I'm maybe "hiring" the car - the money I pay lets me drive the car round for the month and then I pay again next month to drive it around again.
Maybe because I had a car on finance before?

I'm very aware I have a car on finance, and would love to get it finished way before the 5 year term, but I'm having difficulty deciding where to prioritise my money - into overpaying the finance monthly, saving up a small lump sum and chucking it at it, saving up the full amount and paying it off in one go or just to continue paying the finance as it is for the 5 years and saving all my extra money for a house deposit (which, I know will be affected by the finance and I'll have to sort the finance before being able to get a mortgage) and my future like a retirement fund. I'm overwhelmed with options and which route to take.

Sorry for butting in. Just wanted to say that I was one of those people

nellis10

elfy1807 wrote: »

I am one of those people that doesn't see my car finance as debt.
I don't know why, because I know it is, but I just don't.
I see it as another bill, like my mobile phone contract.
Like I'm maybe "hiring" the car - the money I pay lets me drive the car round for the month and then I pay again next month to drive it around again.
Maybe because I had a car on finance before?

I'm very aware I have a car on finance, and would love to get it finished way before the 5 year term, but I'm having difficulty deciding where to prioritise my money - into overpaying the finance monthly, saving up a small lump sum and chucking it at it, saving up the full amount and paying it off in one go or just to continue paying the finance as it is for the 5 years and saving all my extra money for a house deposit (which, I know will be affected by the finance and I'll have to sort the finance before being able to get a mortgage) and my future like a retirement fund. I'm overwhelmed with options and which route to take.

Sorry for butting in. Just wanted to say that I was one of those people

Yep I kinda feel the same. But I am trying to look at it as debt so I can get it cleared sooner!!

I too am overwhelmed as to where I put it all and how I make the best of any overpaying I do!

nellis10

So...I've been doing a LOT of viewing videos on YouTube...mainly from Dave Ramsey, and also started listening to his 3hr Audiobook on total Money Makeover HERE

I've decided here and now to clear my Amazon Credit Card (paid off £304.45) and that is it gone...forever...sod the bloody points I was accumulating, because to be honest as Dave says, you can't get rich on points!!

I'm also going to close it tomorrow along with another CC I took out in store, mistakenly thinking it was a bloody loyalty card!!! Anyway it has a zero balance and is gone tomorrow...again...sod the 2000 points on it...!!

So that now leaves me with my Divorce Loan and Car Payments...I'm going to tackle the divorce loan first (adding £25 from the CC minimum payments to the overpayments) and start snowballing it down!

I'm going to budget £300 a month to snowball into my loans, starting with this one which was an outstanding amount of £4250 plus interest....

I figure I can get this cleared mostly by Christmas (and use bonus at Christmas to finish it off!!)

Then I get the car payments killed in a year (again using snowballing so will throw £450/month at it).

THEN, I need to get the real Emergency fund created of 3-6 months of salary.

After that...I kill the mortgage with an over pay of £600/month.

Need to work out dates etc, but I should be able to start getting the mortgage overpaid at a decent rate within 2-3 years, with a view to clearing it within a further 8 years.

So my aim therefore is to be totally debt free within 10 years!

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Good girl, I listen to Dave's podcast every day if I have time and although the convenient God stuff annoys me sometimes, overall it is the first plan that has made sense to me.

What is the interest rate on your divorce loan v the car?

EssexHebridean

elfy1807 wrote: »

I am one of those people that doesn't see my car finance as debt.
I don't know why, because I know it is, but I just don't.
I see it as another bill, like my mobile phone contract.
Like I'm maybe "hiring" the car - the money I pay lets me drive the car round for the month and then I pay again next month to drive it around again.
Maybe because I had a car on finance before?

I'm very aware I have a car on finance, and would love to get it finished way before the 5 year term, but I'm having difficulty deciding where to prioritise my money - into overpaying the finance monthly, saving up a small lump sum and chucking it at it, saving up the full amount and paying it off in one go or just to continue paying the finance as it is for the 5 years and saving all my extra money for a house deposit (which, I know will be affected by the finance and I'll have to sort the finance before being able to get a mortgage) and my future like a retirement fund. I'm overwhelmed with options and which route to take.

Sorry for butting in. Just wanted to say that I was one of those people

:T well admitted! I think car finance is slightly different to a bank loan taken out - normally on finance it is in effect a hire purchase agreement is it not? You stop paying, they will come along, remove the car, and fail to give you back a penny of what you've paid. That IS rather different, as you won't get the finance any cheaper by paying it off ahead of the due date. what I was thinking of with a "loan" was what I've done in the past - gone to the bank and borrowed money over a set term - 30 or 36 months usually - and then bought the car outright with that money.

Nelly, the points you have on those cards now - do they have any value right now? Could you cash them in for something useful, practical or at least pretty, without having to add any more hard cash to them?

:T:beer: well done on getting the Amazon card cleared - brilliant progress, and very - ahem - decisive, too, may I say!

Brilliant aim to be completely DF inside 10 years too! :j