Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

PositiveBalance wrote: »

I understand being in two minds about it. I think you are right to increase to 5% and no more (for now) but I don't see any point in dithering about it as now your student loan has been paid off the amount of take-home pay you get every month is going to naturally go up anyway and if you get used to that new amount it will hurt you more to have the extra 2% taken away so I would personally just increase it to 5% straight away that way you won't get used to the the larger take-home pay and it will become your new 'normal' straight away.


I'm not sure I'm helping on this...:rotfl:

I'm going to stick to the gradual increase from 3% to 5% but perhaps on a shorter timeline I'd been paying my student loan via direct debit rather than PAYE for the last 6 months so my take home pay will be the same, I already snowballed the repayment amount over to credit card debt repayment so no danger of lifestyle creep taking up that money instead!

GeorgianaCavendish

EchoB wrote: »

Your diary really is inspirational and has prompted me to start my own. Well done and here’s to a great 2020!

Thank you very much for reading and commenting! Happy 2020! :beer:

Seasidegal58

Happy New Year Georgiana!

I think PositiveBalance has given excellent advice on your pension. Don't be afraid though to post any questions on the Pensions board. The regular posters on there are extremely knowledgeable and helpful and not at all snotty - if you know what I mean!:D

You have a long way yet to retirement but it's a good idea to start contributing as much as you think you can afford at the moment.

GeorgianaCavendish

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Happy New Year Georgiana!

I think PositiveBalance has given excellent advice on your pension. Don't be afraid though to post any questions on the Pensions board. The regular posters on there are extremely knowledgeable and helpful and not at all snotty - if you know what I mean!:D

You have a long way yet to retirement but it's a good idea to start contributing as much as you think you can afford at the moment.

Thank you Seasidegal, and Happy New Year! I will pop along to the pensions board before I do anything I also found out that I can print the fund information sheets for the various products, so I'll do that and go through that to see what questions come to mind!

GeorgianaCavendish

A bit more financial housekeeping over the past couple of days. I've updated YNAB with my transactions and made tweaks to my budget for next month. Already there are a bunch of things in my Stuff I Forgot To Budget For, so I'm glad that I had allocated money to that category!

I've been rejigging the direct debits on my bank accounts to make one account my designated Debt Busting Account. On Jan payday, I'll transfer over my budgeted amount for debt repayments and once the final fixed direct debit has left the account (which should be 3rd Feb) I will use the remaining money for a snowball payment to my #1 Priority Debt. I think that this is a good way of teaspooning my remaining debt and will help me with my budgeting.

Other bits and pieces, the contents insurance expires at the end of this month. I've switched provider to get the same coverage for cheaper, and used my cash back account to get £12 back. My personal loan ends at the end of this month, and I've confirmed with the bank that I will be getting £165 cash back within 14 days of the loan closing so that will be nice
I've cashed out the available funds in my cash back and survey/ rewards accounts too, starting from 0 again with all of those!

GeorgianaCavendish

I forgot to mention! I've snowballed for Dec/Jan and the Lloyds credit card is gone :T
I also like the mental image of chucking a snowball at the debt, like a bowling ball knocking down pins.

Next up is the Tesco credit card debt, I've got £595 on 0% expiring at the end of March 2020 and the rest of the balance expiring in Sept 2020.

PositiveBalance

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

I'd been paying my student loan via direct debit rather than PAYE for the last 6 months so my take home pay will be the same, I already snowballed the repayment amount over to credit card debt repayment so no danger of lifestyle creep taking up that money instead!

That's a good idea - automate things as much as possible to remove temptation. If only I could do the same with calories!

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

I forgot to mention! I've snowballed for Dec/Jan and the Lloyds credit card is gone :T
I also like the mental image of chucking a snowball at the debt, like a bowling ball knocking down pins.

Next up is the Tesco credit card debt, I've got £595 on 0% expiring at the end of March 2020 and the rest of the balance expiring in Sept 2020.

Well done! :T It must feel so good get a second debt out of the way so soon after the first! How long do you think it will take you to get rid of the Tesco card and what is your aim after that one? I've tried looking back on your thread to see what you have left but I think I must be quite behind the actual totals on each debt by now!

GeorgianaCavendish

By my calculations, I've got 3 months on the Tesco debt and then I'll be moving on to HSBC.
It does feel great to be able to get rid of entire accounts :T -This is an exciting time for me because the HSBC loan is ending this month too, another weight off my shoulders!

I know that it will still be a grind to get rid of my credit card debt, but being able to make the snowball payments and seeing the balances reduce significantly will hopefully keep my motivation up.

GeorgianaCavendish

Oops, I mean MBNA not HSBC!

Fortune_Smiles

Hello Georgiana

just wanted to pop in and say congratulations on your progress. Well done - exciting times indeed

Fortune x