Let's Do This....Debt Free Before 2019

enthusiasticsaver

ShiftThisDebt wrote: »

I've got a lovely spreadsheet too which I recreated last week. It does all the sums automatically and even has a snowball section . However, I think I may try YNAB and see if it's easier/more helpful for me.

Glad the first direct account with saver is a good choice!! :beer:

Do you switch accounts often?

That sounds good. Did you set up the snowball calculator yourself? I just set up a category for each spend and record every penny spent by transferring from my spending tracker app on my phone. This is actually my first switch. I, like you have been with Santander (previously Alliance and Leicester) for years. I have found the switching process really easy and quick though so won't hesitate to do again. Can your DW also switch to get even more switching money? I think Nationwide is also doing a switching bonus but don't quote me on that.

ShiftThisDebt

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

That sounds good. Did you set up the snowball calculator yourself? I just set up a category for each spend and record every penny spent by transferring from my spending tracker app on my phone. This is actually my first switch. I, like you have been with Santander (previously Alliance and Leicester) for years. I have found the switching process really easy and quick though so won't hesitate to do again. Can your DW also switch to get even more switching money? I think Nationwide is also doing a switching bonus but don't quote me on that.

Yep absolutely, her overdraft will be gone soon too and when it is we'll switch her account. Think there's about 4/5 accounts which'll pay some money for going to them.

Pleased to hear the process is painless. This time in a week I should be a first direct customer.

reality_check

Hey ShiftThisDebt - great diary so far! I have forever been in debt with credit cards, yet my incoming and outgoings should always have allowed me a healthy amount to survive on, yet I was forever using credit cards! I don't know why but I had the same 3-4 cards for about 8 years always making minimum payments on and never balanced transferred! All my cards for the past 12 months have been 0% and it true me style I have wracked up the debt and just about at all the limits! I have a barclay card at the moment with about £2000 costing me interest...this was a very expensive handbag and a kitchen floor - what an idiot I know!

I look forward to reading your progress and when i get paid in Feb (15th if each month) this too is when I properly begin with living in the budgets I am setting/paying off debt...I am wishing my life away, but roll on payday!

enthusiasticsaver

ShiftThisDebt wrote: »

Yep absolutely, her overdraft will be gone soon too and when it is we'll switch her account. Think there's about 4/5 accounts which'll pay some money for going to them.

Pleased to hear the process is painless. This time in a week I should be a first direct customer.

Sounds sensible. Are you going to use the FD account as your main account? Don't forget there is a £10 fee if you don't pay in £1k per month or you could do as I have done and open an easy saver with a tenner then you don't have to pay the monthly fee.

ShiftThisDebt

reality_check wrote: »

Hey ShiftThisDebt - great diary so far! I have forever been in debt with credit cards, yet my incoming and outgoings should always have allowed me a healthy amount to survive on, yet I was forever using credit cards! I don't know why but I had the same 3-4 cards for about 8 years always making minimum payments on and never balanced transferred! All my cards for the past 12 months have been 0% and it true me style I have wracked up the debt and just about at all the limits! I have a barclay card at the moment with about £2000 costing me interest...this was a very expensive handbag and a kitchen floor - what an idiot I know!

I look forward to reading your progress and when i get paid in Feb (15th if each month) this too is when I properly begin with living in the budgets I am setting/paying off debt...I am wishing my life away, but roll on payday!

Thanks reality_check appreciate you reading my diary. You're not an idiot, sadly the way the system is means alot of us fall into the trap and that trap is interest repayments!

Good luck with your battle to pay it all off!

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Sounds sensible. Are you going to use the FD account as your main account? Don't forget there is a £10 fee if you don't pay in £1k per month or you could do as I have done and open an easy saver with a tenner then you don't have to pay the monthly fee.

Yes I'll be using the FD as my account where I'll be paid and all my DDs will come out of. Is the easy saver the same savings account I have opted to open?

enthusiasticsaver

ShiftThisDebt wrote: »

Thanks reality_check appreciate you reading my diary. You're not an idiot, sadly the way the system is means alot of us fall into the trap and that trap is interest repayments!

Good luck with your battle to pay it all off!



Yes I'll be using the FD as my account where I'll be paid and all my DDs will come out of. Is the easy saver the same savings account I have opted to open?

No, the easy saver pays rubbish interest, the regular saver is the one you have opened paying 6%. I only opened the easy saver and stuck in nominal amount to avoid the £10 monthly fee. If you have your wages paid in you will be ok. I have my wages paid into our joint Santander 123 and my FD is for personal spends only and sadly I cannot justify £1000 per month just for that :rotfl:. I could transfer in and out again but sticking £1 in the e saver stops the fee anyway.

note3

Love that orange has twelve accounts...I'm going to see if I can do similar and if not will do one and a spreadsheet showing how much of that is for each category like you said shiftthisdebt

ShiftThisDebt

Had a good day today, really enjoyed work (which I usually do to be fair) but I did go and look around another school as I'm looking for a new job and I really liked it. So I will be working on my application and we'll see how that goes!

Aside form that it was my father in law's birthday today and as usual we were left to foot the bill for tea. Oh well.

I have also had chance to create some new parts of my budget to account for some of this extra money that we don't budget for.

After a chat with DW we have added things like school uniform, clothes, childrens clubs, emergency fund, school dinners, home improvements and birthday's/Christmas.

Also, we've had our car for 5 years in June and we make the final payment for it then. I've decided that we need to think about affording a replacement within the next 2 years, so the £250 we currently spend on that will go into savings. That should give us around £4000- £5000 to pick up a similar family car in 18-24months time. We vowed never to buy on car finance ever again so this seems like a really sensible thing to do. In a sense we'll not 'miss' that money becasue right now we pay it out anyway.

Anyway, hope you're all well!

ShiftThisDebt

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

No, the easy saver pays rubbish interest, the regular saver is the one you have opened paying 6%. I only opened the easy saver and stuck in nominal amount to avoid the £10 monthly fee. If you have your wages paid in you will be ok. I have my wages paid into our joint Santander 123 and my FD is for personal spends only and sadly I cannot justify £1000 per month just for that :rotfl:. I could transfer in and out again but sticking £1 in the e saver stops the fee anyway.

I thought so! I see why you've done that but as you say my wages will ensure I don't need to open that!

ShiftThisDebt

ShiftThisDebt wrote: »

Had a good day today, really enjoyed work (which I usually do to be fair) but I did go and look around another school as I'm looking for a new job and I really liked it. So I will be working on my application and we'll see how that goes!

Aside form that it was my father in law's birthday today and as usual we were left to foot the bill for tea. Oh well.

I have also had chance to create some new parts of my budget to account for some of this extra money that we don't budget for.

After a chat with DW we have added things like school uniform, clothes, childrens clubs, emergency fund, school dinners, home improvements and birthday's/Christmas.

Also, we've had our car for 5 years in June and we make the final payment for it then. I've decided that we need to think about affording a replacement within the next 2 years, so the £250 we currently spend on that will go into savings. That should give us around £4000- £5000 to pick up a similar family car in 18-24months time. We vowed never to buy on car finance ever again so this seems like a really sensible thing to do. In a sense we'll not 'miss' that money becasue right now we pay it out anyway.

Anyway, hope you're all well!

Forgot to add, the total we reached for all those extras is around £600. We're going to see if these need adjusting over the next month or so.