The long haul supporters thread...

In_Search_Of_Me

yup MUST clear cards because remember that it will be compound interest so every month you dont pay the full ammt the next month you pay interest on the interest and so it goes...

ramblingtree

HTGDF - I don't have a diary, I don't think I'm interesting enough, haha! I love reading the diaries though, the amount of energy people have to blog is amazing.
Good luck with the cards, the interest certainly is a killer. All ours are prety low interest thankfully, bar one, which has recently gone up to 27%. Not good at all, so doing everything we can to kill it.

OK, short term goals, it took some thinking, we run such a tight ship both money and time wise, its not easy to shake things up. So here's my list:

1.) Update my signature every month, which I haven't really done since starting. Its actually wrong, as we had forgotten to add on overdrafts and a HP thing, bad. So, when I get to my spreadsheet I shall update it properly and this will give me motivation each month.

2.) OH and I have started a teeny business venture. Not sure how it will go, but starting our own business is something we really want long term, and we decided to make the first step. Maybe not a great decision considering the mess we're in, but we really wanted to start so that it was real. So goal 2 is to be in profit by the end of September.

3.) I'm studying at the moment, and am due to finish next Easter. My scholarship is just enough to live on, but I constantly worry about finding work after (thats well enough paid). So, by the end of June I will have applied speculatively to at least 5 companies locally in the hope of securing something.

4.) Overpay on a credit card each month, even if its only by £5. Must get the snowball down!

5.) Apply for private tutoring. I have attempted to look into this, but not had much luck. So by the end of June I will have made good attempts with this.

6.) All of these things should mean that we will owe less than £78k by Christmas.

That way, I am setting us up for the best situation when I start work again, by which time OH should have had a pay rise, and a bonus, and we can start making bigger chunks.
So there you go, bit of a ramble (but thats my name!), but those are my goals for the next few months. Feel free to ask if I've achieved them and keep me in shape!!

Hope you're all having a good evening!

Happytogetdebtfree

Morning, keep plugging away rambling every little helps hehe im hoping to be in the numbers 50 k and some thousands of course by the end of the year this gives me hope because then sometime next year we will be low 40s or even 30s or less who knows exciting stuff, and i figured if i can clear debt at a good speed i can save at a good speed hehe xx

Happytogetdebtfree

Evening our ppi cheque cleared 1113 pounds whooooop whooop so wedding soon to be paid off yay yayayayayay axxxx how is everyone x

clarab_3

I slipped.

I've done all the beating myself up and I need support. I cleared a card and was so happy. but its been 4 long years and £20,000, and my other half lives 400 miles away and I just had a rush of blood to the head thought "**** it, its your birthday and I want to see you more than once a month" and managed to spluuuuurge £350.

I can repair it next month if I live like a nun, but i'm just so sick of it all. I've 2 more years of this to go and im scared I'll do that again. Mercifully Ive reduced the cards limit to £500 so I cant do too much damage, but I'm so impatient!

In_Search_Of_Me

aww clarab...we all slip sometimes...thing to do is learn from it and move on...if you beat yourself up then its destructive and leads (usually) to more spending....I'm going to try and have a really good month this month...how bout you join me? Also its a good idea to come on here lots - does help keep you on the straight and narrow more than not coming on iykwim.

Happytogetdebtfree

Awww don't beat yourself up we are only human after all keep going x x I am climbing my mountain haha I recognize my need to spend so now my mum has my cards so I can only pay off not spend on them. I'm shattered tonight must go to bed x

In_Search_Of_Me

Well done on PPI HTGDF...I have to ask though as am fed up scratching my head and wondering...How do you plan to pay all the debts off by 2011?! Just asking cos if its a plan more cunning than a fox would love you to share it! Pretty please....my debt is about a third of yours with a salary over 30,000 and being middle of the road and taking into account other payments, think I can pay the CC's by end next year if I am saintly with my spending (or not as the case may be!)...just curious at your workings out?

clarab_3

thanks guys, I just had a blazing arguement with the good folks at capital one who told me I couldnt possibly have been told something that I was.

Stuff em. complaint going straight to the ombudsman. I've had it with crap customer service.

Happytogetdebtfree

Afternnon am i write in thinking your debt is 21k? i get easily confused .... maybe my working out is wrong ?? ah dear god ! ok so basically i earn 23 k oh earns 30k, probably due a payrise soon but needless to say my workings out on the salaries now, 2 of my loans end in 2010 so automatically i free up 327.57 .... now already we have 1000 + excess a month we live in a small flat mortgage is 500, everything else is bare minimum...... each month we pay just less of 1500 on debt 1000 of that is actually doing some damage to the numbers.... so when we have paid for wedding straight way we increas that number to 2k, when i have cleared my 2 loans up to 2327.57 by this time i anticipate some of the credit cards will be paid increasing the amount to somewhat so hopefully we can anticipate to be paying on debts 2500 each month and live okish im not saying every month but i feel it can be done, does that make sense...... i may be well out of reach with targets but it makes me feel better, i mean if i arent debt free by december 2011 then i will have to redo my maths hehe... also oh does jiobs on side with his business its not cracking cash but sometimes it can generate an extra few 100 as can my extra shifts at work when im feeling ok ...hope that helps ? xx