Are we nearly there yet?

Pauper1

enthusiasticsaver said:

You seem to be doing well so maybe regular posting helps keep you on track? 

If you don't use the gym then I agree that cancelling seems sensible.  No point in paying for it if you do not use it. 

Thanks, it really does help me to keep posting. I can't believe how much progress I've made this time to be honest.

It's frustrating because I love going to the gym, it's the only thing I do for me, but I can never seem to get time away from the children. But yes, money brain on, probably time to cancel 😭

Pauper1

I felt like doing a mid month check in and I'm down £884.99 since 1st Jan.

My OH has had two 0% balance transfer offers in yesterday so he's going to put my two highest interest cards on there, which will make such a massive difference!

So at the moment my highest is at £1803 and the recommended payment was £171 last month, the second highest is £2497.56 and the recommended payment was £170. Both of those will be higher because of the added interest. I'll be interested to see what the recommended payment would be once they've moved.

However, this month I will have actually paid £280 to the highest, and £171 to the other, so £451 in total.

Once they've moved over I think I'll do £238 a month to get them paid within 18 months, and free up £213 towards the other cards. The next highest will then be the two capital one cards at 30%, one with £410.86 and one with £1409.65. 

I'm currently paying £14.94 and £74.84 to those two. I think I'll bung the extra £213 to the smaller amount to get it paid in about 2 months.

Things are moving!!

lucielle

Would it make sense to pay the minimum to the 0% cards and hit the higher interest ones with as much as you can afford?
L

Pauper1

So turns out we could only do £2946 on the transfer with £118 fee, 0% until Jan. So that'll clear the highest interest one, and will leave £1149 for the other. I'll pay £163 a month, which will clear it in 18 months. It won't obviously all clear before the 0% but the interest afterwards is so much lower than anything else I get so it's all good.

At the moment I'm being charged around £68 interest each month, and paying £280 on the highest card. I'm sure there's a proper way to work it out but I think it'll save me *at least* £500 over the year, as the interest would go down.

The next highest credit card is charging 33.58% and has £2234 on it, so will bring it down to £1085. Currently paying £170 on it, and will increase that to £250 as will be paying less on the other. In theory that should then clear within about 5 months.

The transfer has completely changed the game! I imagine it'll open up some offers to me too as it'll look like my credit use has gone down, so hopefully things will really start speeding up.

Pauper1

The second card is also charging £68 interest at the moment so I'm only paying off £102 from the balance, which would've taken me nearly two years to pay at that rate. Guesstimate of saving nearly £1k in interest. I'd love to sit down and actually work it out 🤣

Pauper1

lucielle said:

Would it make sense to pay the minimum to the 0% cards and hit the higher interest ones with as much as you can afford?
L

Sorry I missed this! I think if they were my cards and not my partner's I would do that, but I don't want to risk his credit rating.

Pauper1

According to the Barclaycard repayment calculator I'd have paid £218 in interest on the 40% card at the rate I was paying off, and £495 on the other one. So actually way less than I predicted, but still saving nearly £600 overall. Plus it makes my credit use look better so will open me up to better offers 🤘