Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

Verbatim said:

Hi Georgiana,
I hadn't realised how stressful you found the process and I'm glad to hear you've found a way to get around those awful gut wrenching/ heart seizing feelings. 
Could you save some of the extras you might have by August to pay off the HSBC in full?  Sorry! I'm sure you've thought of that!
You're doing brilliantly by the way!

Thank you Verbatim! To be honest, I didn't realise how much anxiety and stress the process was generating until quite recently. It is hard because Project Debtfree does need me to keep my eye on the ball financially but conversely too much attention is not healthy for me right now. Working out what is mentally healthy vs what is feeding obsessive behaviour is it's own challenge at the moment! 

I'm finding paying "extras" on a monthly basis works well for me at the moment (mentally speaking) and from April these will be going to the HSBC balance, so there will be some gains there (although not enough to completely avoid reverting to the standard APR). 

I ran a couple of different scenarios yesterday to work out the best plan going forwards, using the basic figures (not any extras) and I calculated the interest I would pay in the worst case scenario (one month of £900 of HSBC debt on the standard APR of 27.9%) and this would only be an extra £18.69. Although I do want to pay off debts within their 0% periods, it feels a lot less frightening to know that it is only £20 difference if I can't quite make that goal with HSBC. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Isitdoable said:

Wow, really agree with you over the stress and anxiety surrounding all of this.  I'm always very interested in the reasons behind spending, as I feel a lot of my financial problems have been emotional/anxiety driven.  I don't think I'm quite there in figuring it all out but I hope to one day!

I've suspected the financial - emotional connection for a long time but it is only recently that I've been able to really understand it in myself. Part of my new insight is that for me the very restrictive approach isn't a solution to overspending as it just adds fuel to the fire of a later binge; finding a plan I can live with long-term is better for me. I know some people have a lot of success with the short-term, very strict approach but that hasn't worked for me. 

Verbatim

Well that puts it into perspective! <£20 is not frightening at all!
I had heart problems due or following worrying about debt and looking back I was totally obsessed with working out how to find the money for everything. Much better to compartmentalise and enforce relaxing periods. 
Vx

GeorgianaCavendish

Verbatim said:

Well that puts it into perspective! <£20 is not frightening at all!
I had heart problems due or following worrying about debt and looking back I was totally obsessed with working out how to find the money for everything. Much better to compartmentalise and enforce relaxing periods. 
Vx

I'm really sorry to hear that, I hope you are recovered now xx
Totally agree - fencing in the money thoughts is the key to a happier life I think 

GeorgianaCavendish

Quick update. I'm trying not to get anxious about the Corona stuff but feeling a degree of legitimate worry creeping in as my dad is currently having cardiopulmonary investigations. Although this is unrelated to Corona, the underlying conditions mean that he is more vulnerable to respiratory infections so keeping an eye on this and making sure my parents have everything they need in the house (especially medication-wise). I also bullied DH into getting a new prescription for his inhalers, just in case. There is some good advice on the Asthma UK website if anyone is worried. 
There were supposed to be lots of industry events happening this month but everything is getting cancelled, this has generated a lot of work for my company (and me!) but it is more from the 'better safe than sorry' angle so it hasn't been too stressful. It certainly puts some of the other stresses in my life into perspective though!

GeorgianaCavendish

New 0% Balance & Money Transfer offers through from Tesco. I'm not planning to make a balance transfer at the moment but good to know that more 0% offers are forthcoming!  I will take stock in April and run some figures, but I would be looking to transfer Barclaycard balance and do a money transfer to address the Paypal balance.  Current offers are both for 1 year at 0%, balance transfer fee of 2.99% and money transfer fee of 3.99% 

I feel as though I should know this already, but do credit reference agencies view Money Transfers in the same light as withdrawing cash from credit cards? 

db2016

surely they just see it on the card, as a balance and not what its for - such as they dont know people run up card balances gambling, just that the balance is there?

DrSpendingLittle

GeorgianaCavendish said:

New 0% Balance & Money Transfer offers through from Tesco. I'm not planning to make a balance transfer at the moment but good to know that more 0% offers are forthcoming!  I will take stock in April and run some figures, but I would be looking to transfer Barclaycard balance and do a money transfer to address the Paypal balance.  Current offers are both for 1 year at 0%, balance transfer fee of 2.99% and money transfer fee of 3.99% 

I feel as though I should know this already, but do credit reference agencies view Money Transfers in the same light as withdrawing cash from credit cards? 

I think they do, yes. If you look at your credit record (can't remember which one) it will show whether the card has a promotional balance and how many money transfers you've made each month - I've not done cash withdrawals so no clue whether they would show too, but I did read something about money transfers being seen as a sign of financial stress so you should try not to do them often. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Thank you DB and DrSpendingLittle for the answers, I'm going to look into this a bit more before I make any Money Transfers. The most important thing for me is being able to get the Barclaycard debt on a 0% rate and I don't want to jeopardise that by making a Money Transfer first.
I am signed up to the MSE Credit Club so I will see if I can find information on that Credit Report on the promotional balances and any money transfers (although I don't think I have any MT balances on my cards now). I am only intending to make one MT to take care of the PayPal balance so it would be a one-off, but it will be for a large amount so that may impact negatively. I'll report back when I do find out!  

Naomim

I'd be interested to know too as I was thinking of doing a money transfer for the balance of the overdraft. 

Naomim