Tired of Being Boracic Lint

armchairexpert

30 is a total bargain! Congratulations on a decade together, you sound like a really solid couple.

Bobarella

Happy anniversary to you both.

Bird.Heart.Mouse

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

What a great month of debt-busting! I only recently realised how useful Tesco Clubcard Vouchers are, and since then we've been meticulous about collecting the points and wombling left behind receipts at the Self Checkout. Kicking myself for all those times I popped in for milk etc without my Clubcard and didn't bother getting a receipt.

Hope March is another great debt-busting month for you too

Thanks Georgiana, much appreciated! Completely agree, it's those small changes to our habits which help, like religiously handing over loyalty cards - points mean prizes!

Also your wombling of left-behind receipts is inspirational! Love it :T

Bird x

Bird.Heart.Mouse

armchairexpert wrote: »

30 is a total bargain! Congratulations on a decade together, you sound like a really solid couple.

Bobarella wrote: »

Happy anniversary to you both.

Many thanks!

Bird x

Bird.Heart.Mouse

Hey everyone,

Hope you're having a great weekend

Mouse and I have decided to take a short two day trip to Manchester in a couple of weeks. A few years back I had a brief spell working in the Northern Quarter, and having had a fantastic experience vowed to go back. So, in a true test of money saving lessons and good habits, I'm gearing up for a financially savvy trip!

I have started researching free things to do in Manchester, but does anyone have any tips / advice that would help?

Any tips would be welcome!

Bird x

Bird.Heart.Mouse

Hey everyone - a very happy Monday to you

It has been just over 3 weeks since my last post but I have been thinking of you all What a crazy couple of weeks it's been from a finance point of view - so much so I've decided to post a new debt run down. Before that here were some of the highlights:

1) Mouse got a massive £2,160 refund of historical packaged account charges from Lloyds Bank - one letter sent via the MSE Resolver tool and within 2 weeks they had refunded the charges! We are absolutely beside ourselves, and immediately put the money toward paying off a chunk of our debts. Thanks MSE!

2) Buoyed by Mouse's refund, my plans to make snowball payments on my expensive overdrafts have now started early. This month I have reduced my overdraft by £200 (from £900 to £700). Looking forward to seeing those overdraft amounts fall!

3) Made a £5.34 saving on my normal face cream at Boots - every little helps

So here's our current money situation...

Jan 2017
Credit Card 1: £4,157 (25.9% APR)
Credit Card 2: £12,168 (18.3% APR)
Overdraft 1: £2,100 (19.94% APR)
Overdraft 2: £900 (19.94% APR)
Overdraft 3: £1,000 (19.89%APR)
Overdraft 4: £550 (19.89%APR)
Loan: £1,049 (18.3% APR)
Total Debt: £21,924

Today
Credit Card 1: £4,274 (0% APR)
Credit Card 2: £11,729 (18.3% APR)
Overdraft 1: £2,100 (19.94% APR)
Overdraft 2: £700 (19.94% APR)
[STRIKE]Overdraft 3: £0
Overdraft 4: £0
Loan: £0[/STRIKE]
Total Debt: £18,803

Next steps are to keep reducing my overdrafts; with the additional money we now have from previous loan & overdraft payments we should (with care and discipline) be able to pay off £300-350 p/m! That will clear all overdrafts by December, and then it'll be high time for me to try and move as much of our largest debt (£11,729) to 0% as possible.

Bird x

angelpye

Hi Bird, congratulations on the debt busting and great news on the refund for Mouse! Are you reducing your actual overdraft facility or just the amount you go into it? I ask because I believe reducing your overdraft availability can adversely effect your credit rating - something to do with percentages of use. Worth reading about.

parsniphead

Well done on the debt busting. It must be fab to see thr list of debts go from 7 to 3.:T

Treadingonplaymobil

Yay, well done! Great progress.

Bird.Heart.Mouse

angelpye wrote: »

Hi Bird, congratulations on the debt busting and great news on the refund for Mouse! Are you reducing your actual overdraft facility or just the amount you go into it? I ask because I believe reducing your overdraft availability can adversely effect your credit rating - something to do with percentages of use. Worth reading about.

Hi Angelpye - many thanks! I'm reducing the overdraft facility at the moment (I have a £5000 credit card still open that was paid off with my recent 0% BT, so available credit vs utilised credit is slowly starting to shift to a better position). Though I will have another look at our overall situation, just to make sure reducing overdrafts is helping rather then hurting. Thanks for the tip!

Bird x