Think I've had a light bulb moment .... SOA just Added

[Deleted User]

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

The payment on the mbna card does not even look enough to cover the interest.

It's not, with the result that the balance is going up each month, instead of down.

At the current payment rate, the debt will never be cleared.

enthusiasticsaver

kazza292 wrote: »

looking at balance transferring mbna cc and barclaycard cc total 8090. to 0% deal
found Santander offering ( with 8/10) chance the following
fees and interset- £1156 ,23 month deal 0%
is this good to go ahead with

Are you sure the fee is correct? £1156 for a balance transfer fee on £8090 looks extortionate and no I would not pay that. That is 14.3% fee and way too high. You don't have to put them both on the same card. Tackle the mbna as a matter of urgency as that one is rising as you are not paying enough to cover the interest. Look for a long 0% term. I think Virgin do one.

enthusiasticsaver

I have just looked at the 23 month 0% deal on Santander 123 and it says there is 0 balance transfer fee. Where did you get the £1156 from? The annual fee for that card is £36 or £3 per month. If you can get it all on that then that is the cheapest but moving £8000 all on to one card is a lot.

Halifax, Tesco and Virgin do 40 month deals on 0% with between 2.46 and 4% fees.

enthusiasticsaver

kazza292 wrote: »

ive got this big impulsion to put some money away first to make me feel a bit safer and see something grow .
should i do the balance transfer do you think

It is false economy to save and it will not grow. You are paying much more in interest on your debt than you will gain in savings. You can do both and I would stick at least £50 away in an emergency fund but really that mbna card needs tackling as a matter of urgency. Do a balance transfer to 0% for as long a period as you can get with as low a fee as possible.

kazza292_2

Thanks..going to start hitting Mbna card and putting 50 away..

Heart sinking again and I get "idiot of the year" again for not understanding my situation as I should.
Santander refused my 0 % balance transfer request .

On looking at my Mbna card I am currently paying a lot lower interest than I thought till March 2017.
Currently I'm paying 1.9 % on 3940 of the 5800, March 17 this will increase to 20.9 %.. 50 pound more interest chucked on each month about as things stand now.
The remaining 1740 has a 18.9 % rate in now and future.
Husband says I have over budgeted on petrol bill by 50 so in my head this will counter out

.. Will it be ok .. I'm scared to bits again ,,but I really do have the spare what I have said so am slightly reassured and half of my soul is jumping up and down that I have seen some sort of light
So plan....
Don't cry
Hit mbna
Be thankful I am sorting this

kazza292_2

i think as i failed at putting 8000 ( both cards) onto a balance transfer i wont be accepted trying elsewhere just with the mbna one ???


hopeful not to vomit today
i feel such a fool

[Deleted User]

kazza292 wrote: »

On looking at my Mbna card I am currently paying a lot lower interest than I thought till March 2017.

In that case, I suggest you hit the first Barclaycard, for a while.

At £500 pm, you can have it cleared in January.

gfplux

kazza292 wrote: »

ok ive tried to alter things .
I am in process of changing the following list so have reduced or not included in this soa as they will be off with immediate effect.
being
-no sky/netflix
-water meter installation soon
-mobile phone ( my contract almost up and wont renew) husband just started his
-grocery bill reduced but realism of tobacco added (hopefully my oh will stop ASAP )
-land line is in with internet
-car insurance includes breakdown cover
-I have organised life insurance to top up our occupational schemes to cover mortgage, this is included below and have tried to put things as realistic as i can
i am going to look at eat well for less links etc, doing a massive car boot at weekend to start ball rolling, husband was ace last night i have to say and i had a mini breakdown in work today but overall i feel better for making changes. I plan to get an emergency fund up and running quickly 800 next 2 months... and then hit credit card at a time, i am determined not to buy a single item unless it is essential. the hair cuts i will try to reduce

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1650
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1950
Benefits................................ 80
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3680

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 590
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 250
Road tax................................ 5
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 80
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 40
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 10
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2067


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 12000
Other assets............................ 4000
Total Assets............................ 161000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 108000...(590)......2.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 108000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco loan.....................20500.....281.......3.4
nationwide loan................20000.....370.......3.9
mbna cc........................5800......87........18.9
barclyacard cc.................2200......50........17.9
barclaycard cc.................8100......165.......0
santander loan.................5000......125.......0
Total unsecured debts..........61600.....1078......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,680
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,067
Available for debt repayments........... 1,613
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,078
Amount left after debt repayments....... 535

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 161,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -108,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -61,600
Net Assets.............................. -8,600

[/t

[/tt]

Ok two days later have you cancelled sky/Netflix

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Just to expand on on windup's last post...

The point of an emergency fund is that you have access to money in times of need. A credit card is exactly that - it's guaranteed access to a sum of money on demand. Nobody ever said that money has to be yours, you just have to be able to obtain it in an emergency.

It is most efficient in terms of interest payments to put all your resources into debt repayment and regard the credit card as being your emergency fund, until such point as your finances support switching the debt to 0% credit cards, which right now they don't. So in the beginning while you're deep into debt and paying significant interest, regarding the available balance on your credit card as an emergency fund is certainly reasonable.

BUT! There is an obvious danger in this advice. You have to be very clear as to what constitutes an emergency. Also never carry the nominated card. It needs to be inaccessible and inconvenient to get to - locked in a filing cabinet is good enough, though I have been known to freeze mine into blocks of ice. Anyway, enough so that there's no temptation to use the card just because you're a little short at the checkout. The other danger, and advantage of savings over CC, is that for some things, only cash will do, and CCs are an expensive way of getting cash. There's a risk with either approach: if you save first, you have a 100% chance of paying more interest. If you pay down debt first you have an unknown but less than 100% chance of not having cash when you need it most.

Summarising all the excellent advice you've had in recent posts from windup, Bob and ES above (which I don't think is contradictory, but saying much the same things in different ways):

1) On your MBNA card: your bank statement must tell you your estimated interest next month in Pounds and pence - one of the better rules the powers that be came up with. Check your most recent credit card statement and make sure your payment is bigger than your interest accrual. If it's not, change your direct debit to make sure it is.

2) Your #1 priority is the smaller balance Barclaycard - £2200 could potentially be cleared by Christmas, assuming your surplus estimate is accurate. And that makes a nice emergency line of credit.

3) Your #2 priority is the MBNA card. Once Barclaycard is gone, it should be all hands to the pump on that one.

4) Your #3 priority is whichever of the 0% cards has the shortest introductory period left on it, to get it down nice and low ready for a switch to another 0% deal later. DO NOT try to apply for any more 0% deals for the next 3 months at least, otherwise you'll trash your credit rating for when you really need it.

5) Track your spending. Keep a record of everything you spend, as soon as possible after you spend it. This is my "stuck record" bit, but I'm sorry to say I still think that you don't have a total grasp on where your money's really going.

Not to judge, because I've done the same, that is, put all my numbers into an SOA and discovered that I should have a very healthy surplus. Only that's impossible - money doesn't just vanish. It's either being spent, or it's being saved. So if your savings column isn't growing, then it's being spent. You just don't know where yet.

It was not until I started actively tracking what came in vs. what went out that I discovered hundreds of tiny leaks that would never have featured on an SOA - little mindless transactions that added up to a ridiculous amount of money. The act of tracking my spending stopped a lot of these leaks instantly.

Relax and breathe - if the weather's good on the small island, get out and enjoy it, and forget about money for the day. Nothing in life is worth worrying yourself sick over - especially not when you've caught it early enough for it to be fixable

bouncydog1

For credit cards I have a spreadsheet set up with one column for each balance transfer, showing the amount, any fees, interest rate and date offer ends. Where you have more than one transfer with the same company, check which transfer the monthly payment comes off. Then number all the columns in order of deal ending. That way each time you make a payment you can see what the remaining balance is and won't get caught out by being charged interest. Takes a bit of time to set up but well worth it.

I also have spreadsheets set up for the whole year by month with a running total. All payments are logged so easy to keep track of what comes out when. That way there are no surprises. I have also linked the credit card payments into the monthly spreadsheets. It's quite motivational to look ahead and see if you keep to your budget how quickly funds mount up. You can then also pay off lump sums when you have a bit spare.

Should also mention that if you can clear Barclaycard a.s.a.p they will likely give you a decent offer so you could then BT MBNA balance for a small fee. With recent interest rate drop the card companies will be competing for offers. Barclaycard also give you access to your experien score, which can be a good indicator of whether of not you can get further credit. Bear in mind though that all credit providers have their own scoring so this cannot be relied on. However it can be a good pointer.

You've made great inroads so far and with your OH on board you should be able to get rid of your debt quickly, leaving you to be in a great position in a few years.