New Life Pending.....

enthusiasticsaver

I think as you are not a home or car owner then it is entirely doable to be without an EF for a month or so until you get a chance to build it back up again. Getting rid of that almost 90% loan is the priority. So close now to it being gone.

girlatplay

Agree with all the above. Do it. Make sure you have enough in food and fuel budgets to see you to your next payday. Credit card is an absolute emergency only back up. Look at old style board for cheap recipes. Bulk cook. Make soup with odds and ends. If all bills are paid then as long as you and little one are fed and can get to work and school then you won't need anything else in the next three weeks. It will be a lot of saying no.

We're all routing for you and are all here with helpful hints and virtual support.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Just had a quick skim through your diary, you've done so well!! Agree with the other posters, definitely get rid of that awful loan.... once it's gone, you'll build your funds back up really quickly and feel much better. Shocking that those kinds of interest rates are allowed to exist still!

Iwantanewlife

Moneywhizz wrote: »

I would pay off the loan tomorrow. Three weeks of frugal living will not be that bad and if you have an emergency of some kind that you haven't thought of, you could always fall back on your credit card, although it would have to be something really urgent before your team of advisers here will give you permission to use it! What an accomplishment to have the loan gone is just over two months instead of the 6 or more you thought it would take when you started your diary. Now you can move your focus to getting these credit cards gone too. I would be inclined to top up your budget pots but keep the emergency fund fairly low and start throwing as much as you can at the cards since they are quite high interest too.

Haha this actually made me laugh out loud Money Whizz, you guys are definitely my advisers :rotfl:

Iwantanewlife

Drawingaline wrote: »

Pay the loan, pay the loan, pay the loan :T:rotfl:

Do it, do it, do it :rotfl:

Iwantanewlife

Ladies and Gentleman AKA My Advisers ( LOL MoneyWhizz) Ive only gone and done it!

I took all of your advice and i have paid off the loan, it is now sitting at a big fat £0 owed!!!!!!!

So I thought this morning, i would give myself a little recap of my journey so far...

My light bulb moment was the 25th July. The loan was originally for £1250. I paid in total £1492.56, so interest paid was £242.56. The loan was at a shocking 89.8% APR and had interest added daily.

I first thought it would take me 6-8 months to clear accordingly to my original budget, however, with some pretty severe cut backs and a lucky windfall from a flight delay, ive actually cleared it in exactly 2 months. My budget showed I actually only have £280 per month, available for debt repayment. Ive actually thrown £746.28 per month at this loan, plus the 4 minimum payments on my other debts.

So how is the overall debt looking so far? I started my journey 2 months ago with a debt of £3568.93, I am now at a total of £2165.93 (interest added on all but 1 debt for this month).

I have combined CC1 and CC2 we can now call it the Capital One Card, and now have one total of - £1770.20
I have a debt on CC3 of £167.47
And paypal credit debt of £228.26

Plan of action - CC3 will be cleared on pay day. Minimums paid on the others, £60 left over will go into EF to build back up a cushion, along with the budgeted £65 EF payment.

Paypal will be paid in full on November Payday. Then i will go full steam ahead on the Capital One card with an aim to clear it within 5 months.

After that, i am going to save 3 months worth of expenses, before moving on to a house deposit.

So still a long journey ahead of me, but my god i can finally see the light ......

As for now, im completely broke, but i will be ok, heres to frugal living!! 20 days and counting to pay day.

Thank you all as always xxx

Iwantanewlife

ohshithowdidthathappen wrote: »

Just had a quick skim through your diary, you've done so well!! Agree with the other posters, definitely get rid of that awful loan.... once it's gone, you'll build your funds back up really quickly and feel much better. Shocking that those kinds of interest rates are allowed to exist still!

Thank you!! and yes it is awful, but oh how to learn a lesson when you have a LBM and try and pay it back! never again lol

Toni'sfriend

Well done. I bet that is just an amazing feeling.

[Deleted User]

Hooray! Congratulations on getting rid of the loan! :j:beer::j:beer::j

I bet it feels amazing!

I have a sneaky feeling you'll be debt-free a lot sooner than your plan suggests!:money:

Iwantanewlife

Toni'sfriend wrote: »

Well done. I bet that is just an amazing feeling.

Thanks Tonisfriend, it does to be honest! im going to call at lunchtime and close the account., that will feel even better!

Onwards and upwards!