Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

Treadingonplaymobil

Wow, amazing progress from your LBM balances! It would be ace if you could get a 0% to take some of the pressure off somewhere, even if it's not a lot of the balance.

enthusiasticsaver

Just caught up on your diary and getting from more than £35k debt to £27593 in just 3 months is brilliant. I know a lot is due to the bonus you got in March but still excellent progress. I just wonder why you are targeting MBNA credit card when HSBC are charging double the interest rate? I appreciate in the autumn the promotional rates will go on MBNA but in the meantime the balance on HSBC is much higher so I would have thought that should be targeted equally urgently.

A balance transfer to 0% particularly on Barclaycard which has a high balance would be useful. Maybe when you do clear the MBNA keep it with a 0 balance for a while to see if you get any offers for balance transfers.

mummytogirls

You're doing so well GC, keep focussed on that MBNA and it will be paid off in no time xx

GeorgianaCavendish

JoJoC wrote: »

Well done GC, it looks like you have a plan and I can see the motivation in your post at clearing the MBNA and attacking your Barclaycard. I know it's demotivating to see things not going down (I have that issue with little movement on both credit cards every month) but you ARE making progress. You can't see massive changes in everything so it'll help to settle for seeing one tranche of your card CLEARED!

Good luck for a frugal May!

Thank you! I think my plans for a big overpayment in May might have been scuppered, our sofa broke last night :mad:
My husband is optimistic that we can get the broken bit repaired at a place near his parents where it has been repaired before (we inherited a lot of G-Plan furniture from them when they redid their house a few years ago), which would be amazing and save the cost and hassle of furniture shopping but still means we need to take a trip down there with the sofa this weekend. And in the meantime are not able to sit on it!

GeorgianaCavendish

Lumanous wrote: »

Good progress! I too get frustrated about the values elsewhere so can feel your pain. I feel like I want to get certain smaller balances down just to tick something off but I know in the long run it is not financially beneficial. Just a frustration to deal with in the meantime. Hopefully will feel better for us in time as the priority figures reduce

Thank you! Frustrating is the right word for it, I want to see progress everywhere! I have to try not to get ahead of myself though and risk overpaying beyond what I can afford and wind up having to borrow more money. The hardest part for me is learning the good habits that will keep me out of debt in the future, sometimes I feel like I need to completely reprogram my brain!

GeorgianaCavendish

armchairexpert wrote: »

Will your reductions mean you're eligible for a zero balance transfer anywhere? Those interest rates are killing you!

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Wow, amazing progress from your LBM balances! It would be ace if you could get a 0% to take some of the pressure off somewhere, even if it's not a lot of the balance.

Thank you both! And, ugh, I know - those interest rates are terrible. I tried for a 0% card in April, a couple of weeks after making the big payment on MBNA, and was declined because I was using a high amount of my available credit. I was planning to leave it until November and try again to see if I could at least shift the MBNA debt onto 0% when the promotional rate ends.

GeorgianaCavendish

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Just caught up on your diary and getting from more than £35k debt to £27593 in just 3 months is brilliant. I know a lot is due to the bonus you got in March but still excellent progress. I just wonder why you are targeting MBNA credit card when HSBC are charging double the interest rate? I appreciate in the autumn the promotional rates will go on MBNA but in the meantime the balance on HSBC is much higher so I would have thought that should be targeted equally urgently.

A balance transfer to 0% particularly on Barclaycard which has a high balance would be useful. Maybe when you do clear the MBNA keep it with a 0 balance for a while to see if you get any offers for balance transfers.

Thank you! I have been torn between targeting the HSBC rate and MBNA actually. I suppose because MBNA was my top priority for the last few months and I have the deadlines of the promotional rates ending in a few months I still feel as though there is more pressure on there. But actually, that is an emotional choice rather than a sensible financial one, I think you are right - it would be better to reduce the HSBC balance while I have a bit of a reprieve on the MBNA rates.

I would be thrilled to get any of the debt onto a 0% rate. I tried in April but was declined so I'm going to keep chipping away at my balances and will try again later in the year. Good idea to keep the MBNA account open once cleared in the hopes of promotional rates, I will do that!

GeorgianaCavendish

mummytogirls wrote: »

You're doing so well GC, keep focussed on that MBNA and it will be paid off in no time xx

Thank you! MBNA direct debit went out today and I'm waiting for my Barclaycard and HSBC statements to be generated (delayed again due to bank holiday) so I can get a proper picture of where I am with those first tranches of debt.

GeorgianaCavendish

Hope everyone had a great Bank Holiday weekend! I had a good one, spent Sunday at an open day at local nature reserve - I was expecting to spend a bit of money but entry was free and my mum treated me to tea and cake which was lovely

I sold another dress on ebay (£17.00 profit after postage and deducting my estimate of ebay fees) and I got my cheque from Virgin Money which turned out to be a few pounds more than I was expecting (£31.39) so overall, I'm pretty pleased.

On the downside, our sofa broke last night. I think (hope, pray!) that we might be able to fix it. Its an old G-Plan one that originally belonged to my in-laws and this kind of damage has happened with other furniture from the same set, and they had been able to get parts from a place near them but I think it has been at least 5 years (possibly even 10) since they last did it so I'm not feeling too optimistic.
I really don't want to have to buy a new sofa, but I suppose at least I have some emergency fund money, plus ebay money and focus group money this week to put towards it if we do have to start looking. First step though will be a trip down to visit my inlaws and see if we can find a part from the sofa-hospital this weekend. 4 days of sitting on the less comfortable chairs to get through!

mumto2girlsandaboy

Have you tried the eligibility calculators on here when applying for credit cards they give a good indication on if you will be accepted and dont damage your credit file. You are doing amazing with your repayments so hopefully it wont be long till you get offers. Hope the sofa doesn't work out too costly we had a bad year for repairs last year when we had to replace several appliances hence now we are saving an emergency fund.