Getting out of this debt sharknado

EmmaMicawber

March has been a great month for the cards thanks to the extra income from OH.
They currently stand at £45,202

9. American Distress - GONE forever!
8. More Bl**dy Nights Awake - not any more - GONE forever!
7. They're your mastercard - no more slavery to this one - GONE forever!
6. Tox-co £1659
5. MBNA £4705
4. Sintandebt £4754
3. Martin Lewis card £6684
2. They're your mastercard £10930
1. American Distress £16470

It feels like we're finally making a real dent in the debt.
The funny thing is that the debt industry must agree- within the last week OH has had two balance transfer offers (which had dried up), an automatic credit limit rise on one of the cards and a letter from our mortgage company suggesting we apply for extra borrowing.

They must monitor our every move every month- maybe Elon Musk is right- AI will create an immortal dictator from which we can't escape
- I for one intend to have as little footprint able to be monitored as possible and no debt so no master ( and definitely no OPEN banking where your every move is shared once you sign away your privacy for a shiny new app)

It seems like the latest payments have triggered the debt industry algorithms into categorising us as profitable customers instead of risky borrowers again.

There was a time when we would have felt honoured to be given the opportunity to pay more payments and interest to the banks, as if it somehow validated us as people, or was a measure of our self-worth. Talk about brainwashing!

In a year or so we will have no more debt payments (except the house) - I can't wait for the day we can CHOOSE what to do with our income. I can't wait and it keeps us going.

" They give you an umbrella when the sun is shining and take it away when rain is coming"

Well src*w you debt industry - NEVER AGAIN, bloodsucking leeches.

We're getting there

abba1772

Hi Emma :hello:

Just read your whole diary you're doing an amazing job, the right job will come along for you just hang in there xx

Mummy_bear

Hi, also just read through your diary. You've done so amazingly well. I've subscribed to follow your journey x

EmmaMicawber

Thanks for popping in abba1772 and mummy_bear - sorry for not saying hello sooner - I've not been on MSE for a couple of weeks. I really appreciate your kind words, it helps keep me going!

EmmaMicawber

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted mainly because there's not much to post really but I've been plugging away quietly. Ive taken a break from the job hunting for the last couple of weeks but am raring to go tomorrow when the house will be quiet again and I can make some phone calls in peace.

I had to pay the final instalment of DD's school residential last week (£150) and a vet's bill for our elderly dog, which I suspect will be getting more frequent as she's getting quite rickety but on the plus side my food and petrol bills will be cheaper as DD1 is back at uni for a few weeks.


The weather is gorgeous which also helps spur me on. The second part of OH's bonus will be paid in the next couple of weeks and should be 5 figures! (just). But I'm not counting my chickens yet. That will then be it for extra payments until towards the end of the year so any extra will be down to me.

Anyway the current situation is:
Paid off since last posted: £1,115
Paid off in 2018: £13,913
Total credit card debt remaining £44,087

The next update should be a good one, fingers crossed!

abba1772

Look gphow much debt you've paid of in only four months of the year that's a phenomenal amount xx

EmmaMicawber

Thanks abba Things will slow down dramatically after today unfortunately but this update is my biggest payment ever so I'm making the most of it!
I'm so excited I'm cheating a bit by doing tomorrow's update today :j
Well, the rest of OH's bonus has finally hit our account (briefly!) and it's made a huge difference to the credit cards. We have skipped the 30,000s completely and have gone straight from the 40s to the 20s. I know we're so lucky to be able to do this, and that OH is completely on board with my debt-busting plans.

The new situation is:
Paid off since last posted: £17,187
Paid off in 2018: £31,100
Total credit card debt remaining £26,900

OH treated himself to a new "thing" for his sport/ hobby (under £100) but apart from that every penny has gone off the debt. I know that £27,000 is still a lot of money left to pay off but in comparison to 16 months ago we feel like we're walking on air.

If I'm to hit my end of year target of paying off all the cards I will need to find another big chunk on top of the scheduled monthly payments.

I'm doing a car boot tomorrow and hope to make at least £70+. Let's hope it doesn't rain!
I'll do a detailed card update tomorrow.

pidge04

Oh my goodness, I've just read your diary! You have done SO well!

abba1772

No wonder you're excited go you, it's important to allow little treats during your debt free journey

Good luck with the car boot sale tomorrow xx

EmmaMicawber

The car boot sale went well and I made just over £80 for my new Summer fund, though I did succumb to buying a couple of bits for the house (£12) - was well which is not very moneysaving I know!

I've summarised all the balances for my monthly update and as OH's bonus was a big chunk I decided to reverse the snowball just this month so that I could pay off the whole of the biggest card and close it.
As the amounts I'll be able to pay off over the next few months will be a lot lower, I decided I'd rather not leave the huge card until the end. Well, it makes sense to me anyway!

So as at 30th April the balances are (to the nearest £10)

9. American Distress - GONE forever!:j
8. More Bl**dy Nights Awake - not any more - GONE forever!:j
7. They're your mastercard - no more slavery to this one - GONE forever!:j
6. American Distress - GONE forever!:j
5. Tox-co - GONE forever!:j
4. MBNA £4540
3. Sintandebt £4750
2. Martin Lewis card £6680
1. They're your mastercard £10930

Total paid off so far = £31,100 out of £58,000 = 53.62%
leaving £26,900 still to pay off the cards.

We're now down to 4 credit cards which is beginning to feel like the upper of end of normal (maybe?), though I don't know how many cards most people have. We are actually aiming for none
I'm not sure if there is anything we would actually need a credit card for in the future once we're out of debt- I hope not. I have used my debit card with no problem to hire cars and stay in hotels (though they always ask for a credit card).

When DD2 was told at her school by the so-called "financial educators" from HSBC she would have to get a credit card to build a credit history, I decided to investigate if there are alternatives. I discovered something called LOQBOX which savers can use to build a credit history instead of by borrowing, so that's good news - not that she will need it for a while yet- she's only 16.

I'm going to try and get a bit more money savvy over the next 12-18 months so that when we are finally out of debt I understand more about saving and investing- though that's still a long way off yet.