No more Shopping......

laurag89

Also forgot to mention, that usual practice for me when I got really low in my bank account would have been to start using my credit card for things I didn't need but just fancied buying.....
That Person has gone now, and the credit card is also frozen .... Don't know if its the fact I have fully changed or the fact the card is frozen... but either way no credit card for me from now on

laurag89

This morning I have been having a good think about how to clear all this debt most cost effect and also the quickest way possible.... So I have an idea that I would all of your opinions on......

My barclaycard which is 0% has about £1200 on it which was my car I have a standing Order to it to clear it in it's 0% period! The limit on that card is £5200, so Barclays will offer me 0% on transfers to my bank account with a fee of 1.95% the maximum they will let me transfer is £3400.

So I have this Natwest loan the amount to repay early is £9500, I'm paying £266 a month to it..... The apr is a huge 13.7% with 45 payments to go. Should I take the 0% deal with barclaycard into my bank account and repay £3400 to my loan which will reduce my monthly payment down to £171.88 a month on my loan which frees up £95.09 which I could pay straight to the credit card! What I am thinking is once that loan amount is on a credit card I can keep it on 0% by balance transferring! What do you think?

laurag89

There will be approx £6100 remaining on my loan if I do the payment and £171 will still be going to it every month so I will still be clearing the remaining bit on my loan too!

CosmicCathy

I feel like I will never clear my debts, always just paying off the bloody interest!

laurag89

Yeah exactly!! I pay £266 to my loan a month and £100 is interest!!!!

laurag89

In reference to my message earlier barclaycard can actually transfer £5900 to my current account which i could take off my 13% loan and put onto 0% for 9 months then balance transfer.

Really would appreciate people's thoughts on this?

laurag89

Update:

So I decided to go ahead with getting some of my expensive loan onto the 0% credit card by doing the money transfer. I worked out how much interest I would save and the fees I would pay and worked out in a year I would say myself £1200! Well worth the switch. I am going to pay everything off that credit card that I physically can!!! I will have it paid off before the loan term which would have been another 4 years!!!

My aim now is to clear that credit card and then pay off the last £3000 or whatever is left on it next may in the same way and then get that cleared.

There is no way I am prepared to be in debt for another 4 years!!! I am about to look all through the challenges, and see what I can get involved in to pay this off quicker.

NSD's are getting better and better, and I am spending nothing all week until the weekends even then I am trying to do it on a budget!!!

laurag89

Things are going well........ Have been living on a budget all month, have even been to shops with the boyfriend and not spent anything. I have picked up the odd thing, carried it around the shop and then put it back.... because I have thought about the debt I need to pay off.

My Priority is the Barclaycard which now holds £5000 odd of my loan, and my car. Once that credit card is paid off, my debts will be half of what they are now. So every single little penny in my bank account is paid into the Credit card now. I am keeping my bank account at round figures and paying the odds to my credit card!

I have done a couple of Mystery Shopping Tasks .... Adds up to £8 so far, and I will keep on going with them, everything I make will be going onto the Credit card until it is finally gone
Although I'm not updating my diary daily, I am still following my spending diary and I have created a new database of my debts so I can see exactly what I owe... and see it coming down month on month!

I haven't updated my Signature in regards to not smoking - But I am still not smoking, I deleted my phone APP because I had that silly slip up on 31st July But I think I will download it again and start counting my smoke free journey from now. All I know is I am saving soooo much money, and I feel so much better for it. I can actually go to the gym and not feel out of breath within a couple of minutes.

My plan for the rest of the week is to go to the gym as I have paid for that this month, do some more mystery shopping tasks and also I have signed up to Quid Co so I am going to do all the free trials etc on there to get some extra. I have exhausted Top Cashback so it is nice to use another site now

Struggling to find anything else to sell apart from my Iphone, but I am certain I would be lost without it! I have made a deal with myself that I can hang on to my phone, but In December when the contract is up.... I am going to keep this phone and swap to a Sim only deal.... I have worked out I can save approx £312 a year if not more by hanging onto my handset

Until next time.........

xx

catriona79

Hi Laura, just read your diary. You have a lot of will power and you're sticking to your plan - congratulations and well done.
I think re the money transfer, it was a good thing if it's less than it would have been in the old arrangement.
Did you have to pay an early repayment fee? When will you have to switch the 0% card to another deal? What was the transfer fee in the end?

Maryland_Cookie

Morning Laura, you're doing a great job, well done. The NSD's can get very addictive in a funny kind of way can't they?! It's also funny what you can go without, when previously it would have been a must have! X