Time to stop spending and clear debt!

Marina2016

Hi,

I have been carrying debt for some time and now need to focus on paying it off and stop burying my head in the sand. I enjoy to shop far too much and it seems to be my hobby! I don't feel I live a particular extravagant life but am obviously spending more than my means.. My debt is manageable am making the required repayments on a loan and overpaying on other credit cards/store cards. However I have been in debt for years and am easily paying £300-£400 a month in debt repayments.

So my debts are:

Personal Loan - balance £4502 (monthly payment £150)
Credit Card 1 - balance £100 (will be paid off this week and closed)
Credit Card 2 - balance £174 (emergency use only, reduced credit limit to £1000)
Credit Card 3 - balance £4819 (0% balance transfer card)
Store Card 1 - balance £280
Store Card 2 - balance £0
Overdraft - £1400 (usually near the limit by the end of the month)

So what got me into all of this debt? Spending beyond my means on a wedding, holiday, life events - having a child who was very poorly etc. I have tried to focus on my debts before but haven't stuck to it in the long term. Eg have taken loans to conslidate debt to only then continue spending on credit cards etc.

I will be paying off credit card 1 on payday (end of August) and requesting for the account to be closed. I will then be prioritising paying off credit card 2 and storecard. Hope to clear those by christmas.

So this weekend I have stayed home most of the weekend so as to save money. I posted some ebay items yesterday at the Post Office and did some food shopping which I used gift vouchers to pay for so only cost me £7. I have started doing surveys again on Swagbucks and not far off having enough SB for a £5 gift card. Yay! Today I hope to list some more items on ebay - I have far too much stuff so want to ebay some of it to make some money.

Planning to read Allen Carr's Get out of Debt book to get me in the right mindset.

Marina

Poor_Single_lady

Hello and welcome. I think you'll fit right in. I have a similar loan to you. £153 a month and hate it. Did the same, got a loan to pay off credit card then kept spending. Hope you find the diary helpful. Wishing you luck.

Marina2016

Thanks for the reply, at the time thoguht taking out the loan was going to be easier but never changed my spending habits!

Had a very quiet weekend at home, filed most of my paperwork and organised it, a bit of ebaying. Looking forward to Wednesday when I get paid so can pay off CC1 and get it closed down.

Marina2016

Yesterday I had a cheap day out with my daughter swimming at the leisure centre and then park spent less than £10.

We are going away today just for 1 night - we won a competition so hotel stay is free. Just got to make sure I don't spend too much on extras, food etc

Tomorrow is payday:jso will then pay off CC1 and ask for the account to be closed. I will also pay a bit off storecard and around minimum payments on the rest.

Marina2016

Well I got to the end of the month without using my credit card which is great news! Today I paid off CC1 and have written a letter to close the account which feels great. my priorities will now be paying off storecard and CC2 hopefully by the end of the year.

Did a bit of spending yesterday -a ball for my daughter (impulse buy, she doesn't need a ball!) and a couple of things from a charity shop. Lunch in a restaurant but used a 25% off voucher so wasn't too bad I suppose.

Need to start putting some money aside for Christmas so I don't resort to using credit cards!

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Hey! Just stopping by to say good luck!

I used to have a loan which I took out to pay off cc debt and did the exact same thing and kept spending on my CC's. Luckily I paid it off but I hated it. This is literally the first month in 10 years that I haven't used my cc!

You're doing great!:j

Hope you enjoyed your night away X

Marina2016

Thanks for posting. Hotel stay was lovely.

So I have cleared CC1 and think it is now closed. Had a bit of a nightmare with Barclaycard just to get it closed but think they have now done what I asked!

New debt balances:

Personal Loan - balance £4352 (monthly payment £150)
Credit Card 1 - Cleared and account to be closed!
Credit Card 2 - balance £149.99 (Hope to pay some more off this next week)
Credit Card 3 - balance £4819 (Minimum payment coming out next week)
Store Card 1 - balance £200
Store Card 2 - balance £0
Overdraft - £1400 (usually near the limit by the end of the month)

Hoping to organise a product switch on my mortgage which will reduce my payments from December saving about £50 a month.

Quiet weekend planned so not much spending!

Marina2016

So decided to come back to my diary as having a renewed focus on paying off my debt!

New balances:
Personal Loan: £1,650.77 (monthly payment £150, final payment in February 2019)
Credit Card 1: closed
Credit Card 2: £150.00
Credit Card 3: £3,894.47 (0% interest until June 2019)
Store Card 1: £18.00
Store Card 2: balance £0 (haven't used this card in ages so going to close it)
Overdraft: £1400 (usually near the limit by the end of the month)

Have been focusing on paying off Credit Card 2 where the balance crept up over christmas. Managed to pay off £481 this month. Helped by the fact for the past 2 months I haven't had to pay council tax (pay over 10 months instead of 12) and also sold some items on ebay.

I am also saving up money towards a new mortgage. Our mortgage rate is up soon. Its a shared ownership property so want to try and buy the remaining share. Need savings for legal fees and stamp duty.

enthusiasticsaver

Welcome back. What is your overdraft costing you? That is one of the most expensive ways of borrowing,

Marina2016

Yes, my overdraft also needs tackling. It costs me roughly £15 a month (50p per day I use the overdraft).

Starmummy

Good luck on your journey. it's good to see that your debts haven't risen in your time away.
I agree with the overdraft. mine was costing me £20-£25 a month on the £1000 part of the overdraft I used. I have just money transfered it to a 0% card which will save me about £300 a year in charges. It's horrible that the more you struggle with debts the more expencive they become as you just can't get good interest rates. It's the biggest motivation for no longer using credit, I dread to think how many thousands of pounds I have thrown away to various financial establishments.