Help please! SOA Included

MallyGirl

Willing2Learn wrote: »

If it were me, I would use the 'spare' £185 to clear CC3 and then your PayPal credit as that will release an additional £58 into your budget. (£185+£58=£243/month).

I would then plough every possible penny toward that ghastly loan whilst maintaining minimum payments to your other creditors. This would mean you would be initially snowballing using the Dave Ramsey method and then switching over to the MSE method.

I agree - getting rid of those 2 smaller ones will give an emotional boost and make things a little simpler.
How old is the little one - are you already getting the free childcare hours/when does school start?

Iwantanewlife

Hi Jay

As most Londoners i do not live in central London. The car is used to get to and from work and also for my sons football activities etc.
£40 a week fills the tank, and thats the allowance for my travel - if i was to buy a travel card to commute across zones, and then to use it to travel all around the south east for football, i think it would end up a lot more!

Thank you for the suggestion though, it was definitely something i considered.

Iwantanewlife

MallyGirl wrote: »

I agree - getting rid of those 2 smaller ones will give an emotional boost and make things a little simpler.
How old is the little one - are you already getting the free childcare hours/when does school start?

Hi MallyGirl

My son is 6 (going into year 2), I am not entitled to any free hours, and i receive no benefits to help with childcare. However, i have just signed up to the tax free government fund - this month will be first month of using so as soon as i work out the saving i will update SOA! from what i have read the government pays 20p to every 80p i spend, with their max contribution £500 per year. is there anything else around child care that ive missed? any suggestions greatly appreciated

Onemanandtwolittleladies

It’s up to £2000 per year on tax free childcare so in theory you should be able to cut costs by more than £500. Especially if your childcare charges are higher in school holidays.

Iwantanewlife

Onemanandtwolittleladies wrote: »

It’s up to £2000 per year on tax free childcare so in theory you should be able to cut costs by more than £500. Especially if your childcare charges are higher in school holidays.

Oh wow! that's much better than i thought, thank you for that info!

My son is in childcare over the holiday, so this month will be the first time i use the system. Hopefully this will make a difference. I feel so silly for not using it before hand!

lopsyfa

While paying the smaller amount may give you the psychological boost of seeing them cleared, in terms of the Mathematics, paying the loan first will save you the most interest and see you pay off everything faster.

So if it were me, I will pay minimum on everything and throw any spare money at the highest interest debt. So in this case, throw the spare money at the loan and once that is paid, the credit cards and then the paypal credit.

Iwantanewlife

lopsyfa wrote: »

While paying the smaller amount may give you the psychological boost of seeing them cleared, in terms of the Mathematics, paying the loan first will save you the most interest and see you pay off everything faster.

So if it were me, I will pay minimum on everything and throw any spare money at the highest interest debt. So in this case, throw the spare money at the loan and once that is paid, the credit cards and then the paypal credit.

Thats a very valid point thank you. I think i will have a look and work out just how quickly i can actually get it paid off using my surplus.

Iwantanewlife

lopsyfa wrote: »

While paying the smaller amount may give you the psychological boost of seeing them cleared, in terms of the Mathematics, paying the loan first will save you the most interest and see you pay off everything faster.

So if it were me, I will pay minimum on everything and throw any spare money at the highest interest debt. So in this case, throw the spare money at the loan and once that is paid, the credit cards and then the paypal credit.

What would you say about using the emergency fund towards it too? or do you think id be wiser to keep saving that

Willing2Learn

Iwantanewlife wrote: »

What would you say about using the emergency fund towards it too? or do you think id be wiser to keep saving that

I recommend to continue saving money in your EF. It is so important to have an EF, so that you can cope with the unknown emergencies that WILL crop up from time to time. It means you will have the money available instead of having to spend on a card...

Iwantanewlife

Willing2Learn wrote: »

I recommend to continue saving money in your EF. It is so important to have an EF, so that you can cope with the unknown emergencies that WILL crop up from time to time. It means you will have the money available instead of having to spend on a card...

Glad i just put an extra £15 magpie payment in it then! :T

I think this makes the most sense, i will continue with original plan of EF and debt busting!