Following another night of purgatory feeling sick about MY debt..

Cat_girl_2

Thanks so much for your replies. The advice is so good.

I have a savings account attached to my Current account and will pay a set £10 mnth in there.

The shopping bill his that high as I have animals to feed and related expenses to that, I have managed to cut down substantially by changing brands and buying in bulk. I tend to spend 250 a month on food for us and the rest goes on the pets....:-))))

The mobile bills include data that I need on the phone and iPad and DH phone so I can't really cut that back.

DD has had some good work news recently so I am hoping she will be paying some chunks off later on in the spring. I have told her I want at least £50 a mth min towards what she owes. I've mentioned MSE to her and when the time is right I will sit with her and show her what I've done I have put a serious embargo on me giving her anymore or using my credit for her. That ends now....

That is very interesting about the Facebook selling thing I will look at it and maybe try it to shift some stuff. I decided that anything I get on top of my normal income will be saved towards expenses like Christmas and birthdays, also emergencies etc.

I was nervous about divulging all my details on here as I feel very embarrassed at both not telling my DH about it all and for be so stupid in the first place.
I will spill the beans at some point...hopefully when I've made a real dent in it.
Until then it would be too stressful and at the end of the day it's my stupid fault not his....

Oh, one last thing, I ordered some more next sale stuff the other day.... A couple of Xmas presents for next year I will keep as a long term investment and the rest I will send back.

I think I will tackle the MBNA first. The payments on that are going to go through the roof when the 0% runs out whereas the next payments are much lower. Psychologically it's the credit cards that are giving me the most anxiety.

Thanks you lovely people xxxx

Doris17

You have been busy today Cat girl., well done. Think how good you will feel when the first debt is paid back, focus on that thought. Take small steps on your journey, there will be pot holes and you may fall down one, pick yourself back up and keep moving forward. Planning i think is going to be the key. You are doing amazingly well. xx

Cat_girl_2

Hello Doris !!
I am getting there. Everyone says focus on this one step at a time and aim to pay one at a time so that's what I will do. Can't wait to update this at the end of the month saying what I've paid...
Xx

Eager_Elephant

Well done on completing your financial statement - the good news is that you can afford all your outgoings and debt payments.


I agree with you that a credit card should be cleared first as you are still using the Next account.


How does your MBNA account split down? How much have you got on different interest rates and when does the 0% end?


All credit cards now have to put your payments to the highest interest debt so hopefully you will be able to clear some of the interest bearing while you have the rest on 0%.


Hopefully you will be able to save some extra bits here and there and pay even more to MBNA.


Just wondering what animal food you buy and where from?
I buy my cat food from Zooplus - I think I mentioned before that I have 4 cats, a 10kg sack of cat food lasts about a month and I usually pay £30 for it.


I feed my dog Wainwrights which I buy from Pets @ Home - a 25kg sack lasts about 3mths (usually £41 but this month we had 25% off, we joined their VIP club for free and we are often sent vouchers).


I'm just wondering if for ease you should split the animal food from your food so that people know your grocery bill is not that high.

Cat_girl_2

Yes, I will split the pets food up from my groceries and am going to try and cut back even more , my DH has an allotment he started last year and is well into that now. So I think it might help. My pets are a bit spoiled really eeeeekk... My dogs a big greyhound and I get a sack of special food for her and she has meat as well and denta sticks. I get the cheapest brand as they are just as good.. Cat has dry food with the highest protein content and some fish pouches from tescos that are 70% protein ...

We have a good pet store near called jollies and I also use zoo plus ..for my flea drops etc as well.

As for the credit card. MBNA has £7000 at 0% till June and the other £2000 is now on there at the high interest rate. I am just waiting to see how much that bit is when it goes on as the DD is paying that.

Tesco offered me a balance transfer of 0% for 12 months but I only have about £1000 free on that (I need to check)
I wondered about transferring as much as I can to MBNA for a brief time then transferring as much as there is spare back to the Tesco card to use the interest free...does that make sense as it sounds complex to me and might cost more in fees I don't know but I am going to try and work it out.

I didn't know that they now had to allocate the payments to the highest interest bit on a credit cards now. Is that a new thing???

Xx

Eager_Elephant

We have always fed our animals dry food only but I try to get quite a good brand - not the most expensive but not the cheapest.
I like Zooplus for dog treats my dog loves dried cow ears and chicken necks - if she gets the chance she will raid the utility room to find them!!


I like the idea of transferring some of the Tesco balance to MBNA and then moving the majority back to Tesco to take advantage of the offer.


What interest rate will Tesco be and when does the current 0% run out?


I think it has been nearly 3 years since the crackdown on payments to credit cards.

Cat_girl_2

When the pet foods run out in about another six weeks I will have a good search on the Internet and see what I can get for a decent price. The cat is the dearest really as I have to be careful because of his hair balls!!! He is more like a dog really.
Anyway enough of the cat.... The Tesco runs out in June and goes to 18% or something like... The balance transfer offer lasts til the end of March so I can make two more payments then do the shifting around.

I'm hoping my credit rating will get better the more I pay off as its only the amounts of credit that are pulling it down.
I have a very good payment record, had lots of credit in the past six or seven years such as loans and cards etc that have been payed in full etc. it's been since I moved house, the mortgage payments have gone up and I've had some issues with my mental health, been on meds etc things have gone to pot.

I've been to soft with the DD too.

Anyway. Thanks again for your support.
Xxx

Eager_Elephant

I think it would be worth transferring the money from Tesco to MBNA now and then in a week transferring it back to Tesco to take advantage of the interest free period. I'm just worried that they might withdraw the offer.


By the end of the month you can concentrate on clearing the rest of the MBNA.


Fingers crossed DD steps up and starts paying you money each month.

Cat_girl_2

Morning EE.
Had conversation withDD last night regards what she need to do....

I will do the transfers this afternoon I think as yes, they might withdraw thinking about what Barclaycard did.

I don't understand why really as I have been a good customer for the last 7 years, always paid on time , cleared balances... It's there prerogative though...

Will update diary with details...

DD has donated some of her clothes for me to flog so I will get that sorted with in the next week...

Cat_girl_2

Well, cleared a load of bags out wardrobe and found lots of coins so they've gone in the savings box....
Found quite a few clothing items that I think will sell online , decent makes... Coast etc have a pair of ugh cowboy boots worn 3 or 4 times that will have to go. Plus have some ski stuff I won't use again due to my bad back will have a go with those.

Want to have listed at least 2 items today.

Transferred £10 into savings account as a start to emergency fund... Thanks Eager elephant ...

Need to lose two stone so going to use this diary for that as well...even had crazy idea of getting on a clinical trial to earn dosh but I work full time so I don't think I can do it...

DH now looking at our pension forecasts and it looks like we will have to work another 7 years at our current jobs then we can take early retirement... This means I NEED to do my utmost to pay this off as soon as I can....