Tidying up the mess

Moneywhizz

Glad you had a good holiday and managed to stay on budget. Must be a great feeling to be more than halfway there, thanks to your discipline and good budgeting. If you manage token up your planned repayment you should be able to get MBNA cleared before you need to transfer it in February but it is good to have a back up just in case. I suppose being self employed there is always a risk of months with a lower income but you are is such a good place now that you will be able to manage that without too much damage. When debt free you will be able to build a bigger buffer in your business account that should allow you to take the same salary all year round.

enthusiasticsaver

BabyStepper wrote: »

Isn't the sunshine great? Finally we get a good British summer, what a treat for us mse-ers who are saving money by not going abroad this year. Yes paying off those small debts will be quite motivating. We are keeping the Barclaycard as they have continued to send good deals and if we need to transfer a balance from MBNA in February then that's where it will go. The ultimate goal is to have no credit cards.

Also noticed we have over 50% of the debt paid off. :T I didn't think this would feel like a big deal as we are only half way there but actually it feels like getting over the hump of a mountain. It's all downhill now, hopefully faster and easier than the initial climb, just hoping I don't get sore knees on the way down.

Getting over 50% is a great achievement. You will be under £10k next month which will be great and really start to feel you are getting close to getting rid of it. I would advise you keep one card for the extra guarantees you get on buying more expensive items or for the odd occasion you may need emergency credit or to rent cars etc which sometimes prefer credit to debit cards. Just pay it off in full each month.

BabyStepper

Moneywhizz wrote: »

Glad you had a good holiday and managed to stay on budget. Must be a great feeling to be more than halfway there, thanks to your discipline and good budgeting. If you manage token up your planned repayment you should be able to get MBNA cleared before you need to transfer it in February but it is good to have a back up just in case. I suppose being self employed there is always a risk of months with a lower income but you are is such a good place now that you will be able to manage that without too much damage. When debt free you will be able to build a bigger buffer in your business account that should allow you to take the same salary all year round.

Thank you Moneywhizz and yes, it is a good feeling of achievement. Back at the start of the debt busting I had barely any work and a tiny income, we could hardly make ends meet every month. Things are very different now so the next part of debt busting should be a lot easier and faster.

And thanks for the reminder about my business bank account. Having a more even income all year round is totally possible, all I need is a plan and some discipline. I think I might make a list on here of things I need to do once the debt is away, mostly so I don't forget. This diary is great for keeping all my thoughts and plans in one place. And having your feedback is invaluable. :A

Kitten868

Amazing work BS! Over half way and so nearly sub £10k. Not long til the back of Santander either! And that'll be one to close which always feels fantastic. Even when it's an awful call centre abroad. Keep up the great work xxx

BabyStepper

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Getting over 50% is a great achievement. You will be under £10k next month which will be great and really start to feel you are getting close to getting rid of it. I would advise you keep one card for the extra guarantees you get on buying more expensive items or for the odd occasion you may need emergency credit or to rent cars etc which sometimes prefer credit to debit cards. Just pay it off in full each month.

Under £10k, down to 4 figures from 5, will be just brilliant. I did wonder at times if I would ever see that happen! So close now.

About the credit cards, I have added my name to OH's Barclaycard. We're thinking that if we need to keep one then we will just share that one. However, I really don't like dealing with them. I'm not sure if this is just a knee jerk response to having all the debt, and if I'll feel differently once the debt is gone, but I don't want us to have any credit cards at all. I know what you mean about big purchases and protection but I'm hoping we will build enough wealth that we can protect ourselves. I had a look over the CC statements. I don't have all the info on what we bought to create this debt as some are just balance transfers, but I can't remember us buying anything big online. If it costs that much we usually buy locally and pay cash. Are we not protected as consumers anyway? I also don't know if car hire can be done with a debit card. It's the last remaining expense we might have that would require credit, I might investigate that a bit and see. I have time to work it out.

Thanks as always for your support and encouragement. I would never have achieved this on my own. :A

[Deleted User]

Over halfway there is fantastic progress - fully agree with earlier posters that you're more of Giant Leaper than Baby Stepper these days! :j :j

You're doing amazingly well, really inspirational stuff

BabyStepper

Kitten868 wrote: »

Amazing work BS! Over half way and so nearly sub £10k. Not long til the back of Santander either! And that'll be one to close which always feels fantastic. Even when it's an awful call centre abroad. Keep up the great work xxx

Thanks Kitten 868. You're totally right, I don't think I'll be able to close the Santander card online so it probably will involve a phone call, a long wait on hold, figuring out what numbers to press as I listen to a whole load of irrelevant nonsensical options, then speaking to someone in a call centre who will likely try and persuade me to keep the credit card. And I'm STILL looking forward to doing it! Funny how stressed I used to get calling them about anything credit card related. It will be brilliant to just get it closed down. Thank you for all your support, you're appreciated. :A

BabyStepper

[Deleted User] wrote:

Over halfway there is fantastic progress - fully agree with earlier posters that you're more of Giant Leaper than Baby Stepper these days! :j :j

You're doing amazingly well, really inspirational stuff

Thank you BlackCoffeeNoSugar. Maybe I should change my username? :rotfl: I'll put that on my list of things to arrange once the debt is totally paid off. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support.

girlatplay

I just went back and read your first post again. Look how far you've come!

BabyStepper

girlatplay wrote: »

I just went back and read your first post again. Look how far you've come!

Thanks girlatplay. I just read it again too and noticed how confused I was about what needed to be done! That was really a LOT of debts to try and keep track of. Thankfully with the help of all you good people on here I gained a bit of clarity. I still can't quite believe I've made it this far. So pleased.