A Ditherer's Diary (again)

GeorgianaCavendish

When I started all my debt was incurring interest, it’s amazing how much difference it made to have even some of it on 0% ! 

I think you’ll definitely get more offers after clearing that card. Are you going to close any accounts or keep them for potential transfer offers? 

I think when HSBC is done, I will start closing some cards. I want to start ‘tidying up’ my credit file in preparation for mortgage applications because I know they don’t like to see a lot of unused credit (a long way off, but I figure having at least a year of good behaviour will be a plus for the application and help me stay motivated to keep it up!) 

Naomim

I'm going to keep it open for a couple of months. If there's no new offers then I'll close it. It has a £13k credit limit. 

I need to check our mortgages. We have a few as we had to borrow more to extend the house and pay the cowboy builders. Our main mortgage is on a variable tracker but the others were on fixed term rates. I'm going to see when they end then we can look into remortgaging.  Hopefully reducing the credit card balances will help get a good deal too.

moving_forward

Naomin your doing fab 

Naomim

@moving_forward Thanks. I'm trying to stay completely focused. 

Payday today, early due to the bank holiday.  Got a little more than expected due to my season ticket ending.  I'll be transferring to my Monzo pots shortly.

Naomim

moving_forward

How do you find monzo? Does it give you debit card etc?

Naomim

It was a game changer for me.  I've opened a basic account so I have no overdraft and get a debit card. It was the ability to open pots that I loved.  I knew I needed to budget for various things but to keep them in the same  savings bank account with one figure doesn't work for me, I like to see them separated.  As I log in I see the balance of all the pots and then a breakdown of how much is each pot. If you want to pay from something using the debit card, you have to make sure the money is in the "current account" bit. I discovered this the first time I tried to buy petrol 😂 There are options for rounding up odd balances but I haven't done any of these. I have locked pots ie;Christmas and set an amount I want to save so it shows the percentage I currently have.  You can add tags and receipts to payments.   I really believe it made a difference to helping me start paying off the debts and budgeting properly.  I'm a cheerleader!!

Naomim

I have paid off the Tesco Credit Card !!!! 👍💪🎈🎉 

When I had my payslip I realised there was £200 extra from my usual commute so I logged on and paid it off.  There may be a tiny bit of residual interest to come but it's one interest bearing credit card gone.

Woohoo!

Naomim

Aspiration

Well Done, great job and you must be really excited! 

Naomim

I've just adjusted what I owe on the credit cards and the interest.  This is how it currently stands:

Barclaycard £3690.40 @ 21.04%

MBNA 3 £2200.47@ 3.2% until 12/10/21

Barclaycard £8898.53 @ 0% until 01/08/21

MBNA 2 £4555.18 @ 0% until 22/10/21

Virgin Money £5826.95 @ 0% until -1/03/2022

Halifax £6588.12 @ 0% until 01/07/22

Credit Card Balance £30,991.97

doingitanyway

You are doing so well. Well done on getting rid of the Tesco debt. You'll be in the twenties before you know it