Debt free for my birthday (May 2015)

Tony_S_3

So, currently 29 and have the following debt as a result of spending too much through my 20s as well as well-intentioned but extremely poorly executed debt consolidation (several times):

Loan - £9,510.90 @ 12.8%
CC - £4,359.82 @ 27.9% APR - Barclaycard
CC - £4,574.88 @ 1.4566% / 1.5976% per month - Virgin/MBNA
CC - £950 @ 0% until Dec 14 (BT card just taken out) - Halifax
Loan - £1,174 @ 0% until Aug 2015
Overdraft - £3000 used 90% every month.

Total - £23,569.60


I'm lucky enough to run my own company and over the next few months I can either give myself a 25% pay rise (for at least 4 months) or pay myself a larger, one-off bonus. Either of which I plan to start paying down my Barclaycard as much as possible this year.

My first goal is to pay off the three credit cards and the large loan (a total of £19, 395.60) in 12 months, by my 29th birthday.

If I can I'll then pay the overdraft and 0% loan off as well.

It's a lot to pay back in a short time, but I'm hoping that once I've paid off one of the credit cards, I'll be able to move some of the debt around on to better interest rates and have a few more options open to me which may help along the way!

Aphidgirl

Good luck with it! I also made the well intentioned mistake of getting a loan out to consolidate and pay off my credit cards. Guess what, I spent on the cards again!

Getting a bit better with money these days but still have about £6500 to pay off. I'm hoping my debt-free date will be around the same time as yours.

Happy debt-busting

djr_fox

I too would like to be debt free by my birthday on 22nd May 2015.


Credit Card - 10,261.46
Loan from parents - 4,500.00
Student Loan - 2,292.22


I would like to be able to clear the credit card fully and only have to pay 2,000 back to my parents. But once I have paid off my Credit card, I am hoping one more month to pay back the parents.


The Student Loan is at 1.5% so it is not a priority at the moment.

Tony_S_3

And how did we all do?

I failed miserably, but I have a health excuse!

SnowL

Sorry to hear that you didn't do so well, but don't give up! What're your plans now, Tony_S?

I have debts in 4 places, OD's and CC's, and I'm currently attempting the 1 debt in 100 days challenge. I'm paying off a CC (I calculated how much I needed to pay and divided it by 100 days, giving me an amount I need to save a day, by making cheaper meals, or selling items on eBay etc.), while skimming my bank account to make daily payments to the other card. When I've paid off the first card, I will then pay off the second and skim off my bank account to pay an overdraft. When that's paid, I'll move on to the next (I'm sure you get the picture).

What do you think you could do to reduce your debts? What were your original plans?
I thought I'd have to get a loan to consolidate my debts, but not doing so is the best decision I've ever made. It actually becomes quite fun if you like a challenge.

Good luck!

Snow x