Facing reality

mark55man

happy new year and get well soon - sometimes you just need to do what it takes to get through and pick up the damage later (it will only take a few days to correct, not the end of the world)

Sarahwithlove

mark55man said:

happy new year and get well soon - sometimes you just need to do what it takes to get through and pick up the damage later (it will only take a few days to correct, not the end of the world)

Thank you I should still be on plan to clear MBNA at the end of the month. Though I am debating whether to leave it in a saver until I am ready to clear it all but not sure if trust myself to not touch it. Plus with my mortgage renewal coming up in August I assume having less on credit cards will help. 

misstara

Sorry to hear you're full of the cold and feeling rubbish.  The unexpected spends are unfortunate but these things happen and as you say at least you had the money to cover it.  Hope you are feeling a bit better today and happy new year 😊

jwil

Happy New Year.  Hope you feel better soon x

mark55man

If in doubt and where possible a half and half compromise is often a good plan.  It's rarely one thing or the other.   Maybe set up the transfer to pay half off and then before you submit the transaction just double check you are feeling more positive than anxious.

Sometime I toss a coin and if I don't like the result then I use that insight to feel more comfortable with my decision.

Unnecessary virtue (ie feeling the need to pay it all off) is often misplaced and putting yourself in a more risky place is not for the best, unless you are sure you can handle an Emergency without it.  I think you may be too worried about your ability to resist temptation - I think the 2023 Sarah has got this, and especially if your APR on the card is not 0% I would want to pay some off as interest saved is always a good thing.

Sarahwithlove

misstara said:

Sorry to hear you're full of the cold and feeling rubbish.  The unexpected spends are unfortunate but these things happen and as you say at least you had the money to cover it.  Hope you are feeling a bit better today and happy new year 😊

Thank you I'm dosing up and hoping that sees me through. 

jwil said:

Happy New Year.  Hope you feel better soon x

Thank you x 

mark55man said:

If in doubt and where possible a half and half compromise is often a good plan.  It's rarely one thing or the other.   Maybe set up the transfer to pay half off and then before you submit the transaction just double check you are feeling more positive than anxious.

Sometime I toss a coin and if I don't like the result then I use that insight to feel more comfortable with my decision.

Unnecessary virtue (ie feeling the need to pay it all off) is often misplaced and putting yourself in a more risky place is not for the best, unless you are sure you can handle an Emergency without it.  I think you may be too worried about your ability to resist temptation - I think the 2023 Sarah has got this, and especially if your APR on the card is not 0% I would want to pay some off as interest saved is always a good thing.

It's because my cards are all 0% for at least another year that the other part of me is saying you could get interest on this money if its in savings. I have an emergency fund if its needed so not too worried about that. My concern is that if I leave it in a saver will I be tempted to dip into it more. Whereas not being there means I have to stick to my budget. I don't have to decide right now I could always leave it and see how I get on and if I find myself dipping into it then I know I need to pay it off and be better with my budgeting. 

CreditCardJunkie

Happy new year Sarah! Glad the debt busting is all going in the right direction!

Personally I like to clear the debt if at all possible and anything positive towards mortgage renewal is always good. We've just renewed and went from 2% to 5.4%. We get maximum LTV discount as we don't owe a lot and we've no debt so it'll be good to be as appealing to leaders as possible.

in_need_of_direction

I buy premium bonds with set aside money. I love being in the monthly draw but also believe it’s not as accessible as from a bank account. This might be completely untrue but the mindset works for me.  I’m also very protective of my bonds and try to cover what the money was originally set aside for by other means.
whatever you decide, hopefully it’ll make 2023 a good year for you.

Sarahwithlove

So being my usual spontaneous self I used my savings to pay off both the credit cards.

My sinking Fund is now down to £1600 and I have increased my standing order to £250 a month which is amount I need to save each month to keep it topped up.  I should have £150-200 left at end of month to pay in as well. Just want to leave it in my bills account in case the DD comes out for both cards. If so then I will need to contact them and claim it back. It shouldn't as I have cancelled the direct debits now. 

That means only debt left now is to my dad which I am saving in premium bonds. I will keep this at £100 a month as he doesn't want me to pay him it back any quicker. 

I have my pads account which I am now going to focus on and use as my emergency fund. This currently sits at £12.29 but I should have £150-200 left at end of month to pay in as well from my bills account. This is from payment breaks and monthly DD for CCs. Just want to leave it in my bills account in case the DD comes out for both cards. If so then I will need to contact them and claim it back. It shouldn't as I have cancelled the direct debits now. 

My focus is now on getting the EF up to £1000. Then I will shift to focusing on sinking fund to get that to £3000 and then topping up with the regular standing order. After that it will be 6 months wages. But still a long way to go for that and still have the decision regarding moving to make vs staying put for a year or two. 

SusieT

Even though you used the sinking fund it must feel so good to have them cleared and not having to pay them any more. Hopefully you will not need to use the fund for a while and can get it topped up again easily