Paid off my loan!

Jami74

I took a £5,000 loan over 3 years last October to pay off a joint overdraft which had crept up to that level over the previous year of under earning and car troubles. I hated very much having a loan as I'd never really owed money before, but it was better than the £60+ of fees and interest which was being added to the overdraft each month towards the end.

My hope was to over pay and get rid of is asap and I managed to pay an extra £200 off but nothing more, until I got a different job earning lots more money. I've been squirreling the additional earnings away over the past few weeks, along with the savings from reduced water/electricity usage and finally had enough to pay it off this week, saving me just over £200 on interest.

The payment will partly go to next months rent increase and a tax credit re-payment so I'm not exactly £150 better off but it means these things are covered.

I hope no-one minds me sharing my good news. I don't have anyone else to tell and I'm feeling so pleased. Plus, I wanted to share that not all borrowing to repay debt ends up in bigger debt.

Unfortunately my new job is not sustainable, I cannot continue to work such long, stressful hours long term, but hoping to last another few months in order to save a decent emergency fund so that I never have to borrow again.

Willing2Learn

Jami74 wrote: »

...I hope no-one minds me sharing my good news. I don't have anyone else to tell and I'm feeling so pleased...

I think it is great news and well worth sharing. :j

Terry_Towelling

I took a £5,000 loan over 3 years last October to pay off a joint overdraft which had crept up to that level over the previous year of under earning and car troubles. I hated very much having a loan as I'd never really owed money before, but it was better than the £60+ of fees and interest which was being added to the overdraft each month towards the end.

Good news - well done. Just to say, your hatred of the loan was somewhat irrational because you had 'owed' money before by having an overdraft. Your overdraft was actually a far worse debt than your loan because it was costing you more.

Jami74

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Just to say, your hatred of the loan was somewhat irrational because you had 'owed' money before by having an overdraft. Your overdraft was actually a far worse debt than your loan because it was costing you more.

I know! It had been a useful buffer in the past for between job changes when it might dip in by a small amount for a few days until wages/emergency tax/expenses etc caught up but this time we just couldn't keep up with it. It was also a joint account so didn't feel like solely my debt. Years ago the bank kept increasing it even though we weren't using it. Personal spending no longer comes out of that account and I've reduced it to a very low amount.