Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

another_casualty

I think it would be more uncomfortable overnight if I never had the dyson .

GeorgianaCavendish

July 2019 Debt Total £23,366.57

STUDENT LOAN
£1,143.17 (3 repayments left) REALLY looking forward to getting this under the £1K mark at the end of this month!

PERSONAL LOAN
£2,272.44 (6 repayments left)

MBNA £6,403.30 I did a balance transfer from Barclaycard at the beginning of July
£1,573.30 ~ 6.9% (expiring 2 Dec 2019 regular rate 23.9%)
£4,830.00 ~ 0% (expiring 1 Jul 2020 regular rate 23.9%)

PAYPAL £1,260.59
£1,260.59 ~ 17.9%

BARCLAYCARD £1,350.00
£1,350.00 ~ 6.9% Holy Moly! I can't even remember the last time my Barclaycard balance was so low. I know I've transferred rather than paid off, so not getting too excited but it is strange to see it like this all the same!

LLOYDS £3,420.07
£896.57 ~ 0% (expiring 16 Nov 2019 / regular rate 28.2%)
£1,493.50 ~ 0% (expiring 27 Dec 2019 / regular rate 28.2%)
£1,030.00 ~ 0% (expiring 29 Dec 2019 / regular rate 28.2%)

TESCO £3,467.00
£725.00 ~ 0% (expiring March 2020 / regular rate 34.9%)
£2,742.00 ~ 0% (expiring Sept 2020 / regular rate 34.9%)

HSBC £4,050.00
£1,786.20 ~ 0% (expiring 31 Apr 2021 / regular rate 22.9%)
£2,263.80 ~ 0% (expiring 29 Sep 2021 / regular rate 22.9%)

GeorgianaCavendish

July was a good month, I was able to transfer some of the Barclaycard debt to 0% and thanks to a combination of ebay selling, focus groups, surveys, cashback and a small gift, I paid an additional £500 towards the MBNA debt. I don't think that kind of bonus will be repeated any time soon, but it was good while it lasted!

I feel properly in countdown mode about the loans, I'm at the stage where every monthly payment feels like a landmark (next SL payment = under £1K; next PL payment = under £2K etc) which really helps me feel more motivated.

I haven't been offered any other balance transfer rates yet. I was hoping that Barclaycard might offer a 0% deal but so far this hasn't happened. I've got a couple of promotional rates expiring at the end of 2019 and ideally, I'd like to be able to transfer these to another 0% while I'm snowballing but I will try not to stress about that.

Seasidegal58

Hi Georgiana - great to have you posting again!

You did really well in July and as you say, have some good landmarks to reflect on. You sound very positive and upbeat and long may it continue!:j

PositiveBalance

Hi Georgina,


Nice to have you back.

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

LLOYDS £3,420.07
£896.57 ~ 0% (expiring 16 Nov 2019 / regular rate 28.2%)

Are you going to be able to throw anything against this given that it's the offer to expire soonest?

Homegrown0

Hi GC, just catching up on your updates. It's always super exciting to have landmarks/ milestones coming up but to have two is exciting!

I love when the debts drop into the next 000 bracket. Feels like you're making progress I think!

Agree with PB on focusing on the Lloyd's 0% - is that your next target to reduce down before it goes up to 28.8%?

GeorgianaCavendish

Thank you everyone, it is good to be back! I'm trying to keep upbeat, those landmarks are helping a lot with that!

My original plan was to keep the focus on the MBNA 6.9% debt but I've looked again at my spreadsheet and I think that I could repay a big chunk of that first Lloyds balance before the end of the 0% period by switching my efforts over. Hmm. Food for thought!

PositiveBalance

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

Thank you everyone, it is good to be back! I'm trying to keep upbeat, those landmarks are helping a lot with that!

My original plan was to keep the focus on the MBNA 6.9% debt but I've looked again at my spreadsheet and I think that I could repay a big chunk of that first Lloyds balance before the end of the 0% period by switching my efforts over. Hmm. Food for thought!

Would it be unrealistic to think that you could pay it all off?


What's your situation for balance transfers at the moment? You have a lot coming to an end in a relatively short period of time and it would be good if you could move some over before the big %s come stalking you...

GeorgianaCavendish

PositiveBalance wrote: »

Would it be unrealistic to think that you could pay it all off?

What's your situation for balance transfers at the moment? You have a lot coming to an end in a relatively short period of time and it would be good if you could move some over before the big %s come stalking you...

Annoyingly, I think that there will be a 10 day overlap between the end of the promo rate and clearing the balance. My last SLC payment is at the end of October, so it will be end of November before I'm able to snowball that money over to Lloyds.

Re: balance transfers, I've got an offer for 0% with MBNA (but 5% transfer fee). I've been hoping that Barclaycard might offer a balance transfer rate, but nothing so far.

Chrystal

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

Annoyingly, I think that there will be a 10 day overlap between the end of the promo rate and clearing the balance. My last SLC payment is at the end of October, so it will be end of November before I'm able to snowball that money over to Lloyds.

Re: balance transfers, I've got an offer for 0% with MBNA (but 5% transfer fee). I've been hoping that Barclaycard might offer a balance transfer rate, but nothing so far.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you. X