58k in debt to frugal living..

debtfreeoneday

Unexpected day at home with an upchucking child..

Done a few OP's and up to £7.25 on there, really surprised how fast it increases.. Another youg0v survey done and I reckon three away from payout - we usually keep this money to ourselves, but it's going towards debt repayment from me.. Will let DH keep his as it's the first time he's done surveys and he probably deserves the reward after the 6 months it will take him to get to payout..

Looking forward to the first of our paydays this weekend so I can move some money around and pay off some more! January has been a looooong month!

debtfreeoneday

Bit of a lightbulb moment today.. if we paid our loan off now, it would be £7,700.. I have money saved for the little people that I'm thinking whether I should pay it off the loan, leaving us about £4000 to pay.. I'm reckoning with a real bit of focus this year, we might be able to clear that.. regular payments would be £1968 so about £2k to pay off.. instead of starting on the mortgage overpayment this year, I could fling every spare penny at the last of the debt..

We would still have the blasted credit card to clear, but I could focus on that next year making minimum repayments this year as it's interest free for 18 mths

Then and only then, do we start on the mortgage repayments sometime next year..

The little people's money is for them when they are a lot older, so after paying off the mortgage, I could resave their pot in 6 mths of mortgage payments if I keep a log of what their pot would be.. plus the interest they would get.

I'm thinking that sounds like a plan.. Am I right to clear the debt first? I know their money is safe, still a little bit of me feeling wrong for touching their money.. despite al lteh debt, I've never touched it..

debtfreeoneday

I've done it.. impulsive I know, but that's me really.

So £3352 sent to the loan, I've got £5085 showing as the balance and that's a slight over estimation as we'll get interest refunded.. so it's more like £4,500.. Payments will be just under £2000 so I have to fling £2500 at this debt to clear it this year.

Having a real tangible goal like that which is achievable this year is really motivating.. I'll need to request a settlement figure every month to see how we are reducing our interest and how close we are to clearing, but I never thought we would clear this debt THIS year, so I'm chuffed.

Emergency fund and mortgage overpayment can wait.. I will move the £40 in the emergency fund to the loan I think and then I can proper focus on just everything going at this loan.

I did apply for another credit card today to see if I could move the loan balance onto interest free - it's a 23mth one, so we will see.. though not sure how I pay off the balance from a credit card to a loan - does that make sense?

debtfreeoneday

Yet another post from me, that's what you get when I'm at home with poorly people!!

All the spare pennies I have have been sent to the loan leaving a balance of around £4253.. have requested settlement figure from the bank so I can get a true picture for February.

I've plotted out what I think we can pay off each month on YNAb and it could be clear in December.. but we're not going to settle for that!

I'm aiming for October and then November and December's payments can be Christmas money..

With what I've paid today, we have paid a whopping 92.6% of our debt off.. I will literally scream when we have paid off this £58k!! ( I know I have the small matter of that credit card.. but...58k paid off will be a momentous occasion here in the DF1D household)

Am due £6ish from t0pcashback in next few days so that will be on the way to the loan.. apart from that, roll on payday for sorting out money for the month!

Pepperoni

I think thats a wise move personally. I know for us, we haven't started saving for our child yet - but once our debt is clear we will. I might even suggest to OH we clear mortgage then save - like how you are (make sure we save to cover the months we missed etc).

MallyGirl

debtfreeoneday wrote: »

I did apply for another credit card today to see if I could move the loan balance onto interest free - it's a 23mth one, so we will see.. though not sure how I pay off the balance from a credit card to a loan - does that make sense?

In order to pay off a loan from a credit card you would need to apply for a Money Transfer card (MBNA do one) rather than a 0% Balance Transfer card I am afraid. There is almost always a fee but it is usually less than any loan APR you might be paying.
The alternative is to get a 0% purchases card and do the 'slow stooze' where you pay for absolutely everything on the card and use the 'liberated' money to 1)pay the min monthly repayment AND 2) overpay the loan. You need to be very disciplined to do this otherwise you just end up building up a new debt.

debtfreeoneday

Thank you Mallygirl - that explains it perfectly!

I will wait and see if I get the card first and then work out what I can do with it.

debtfreeoneday

DH's wages have come in and I've entered them in YNAb, not moving any money till next week when I get paid as I've got pay rises due this month and I've not idea what my take home will be.. it's not going to be a massive increase, but hopefully enough to make a little difference.

Payment from t0pcashb@ck came through at £6.46 so that's gone off the loan!

betsycat

Hello! Have just read through and subscribed too

Sounds like you made a good call with the money off the loan! It'll be another weight off your mind when that's gone. Well done! I never really think of paying the occasional leftover £s to my debt but it makes a lot of sense!

Did you end up going to see the house boat last year?

debtfreeoneday

betsycat wrote: »

Hello! Have just read through and subscribed too

Sounds like you made a good call with the money off the loan! It'll be another weight off your mind when that's gone. Well done! I never really think of paying the occasional leftover £s to my debt but it makes a lot of sense!

Did you end up going to see the house boat last year?

We did and really liked it.. our only issue was it was situated in a working boat yard and not on your typical house boat mooring.. with two young kids and no real 'arrangement' with the boat yard, we were worried about security of mooring.. Had it been in a more traditional mooring, I think we might have gone for it..