Pay off £20,000 (ish) by Xmas 2008

hypno06

That is a pretty good prize!! I hope it raises a good amount on ebay.

Pollydaydream

Hi all and welcome to everyone joining.

I don't really have anything new to report. I'm still working on recognising when I'm faffing and wasting time.

After reading FrankieM's post about checking your bank account all the time, I realise that I've been doing that, even though I know for a fact nothing will have gone into it. Just sort of hoping that I've forgotten about something! Anyway, moved it to my "weekend to do" list and taken up checking my ebay listings instead :rolleyes: .

Hypno - it's scary when you work out what you need to do to achieve this challenge. I need to stop smoking (which I have been seriously faffing around with since August, including a visit to the Stop Smoking clinic in October!); earn an extra £650 per month, and try and negotiate full and final settlements at at least 70% - nothing much then!

Have a good day everyone.

Polly

hypno06

Another statement in - paid over £140 to a credit card, and after interest it means that the debt there has come down by less than £10!!! Depressing or what!

Just shows how much these guys are making out of us! If only I could transfer to a lower rate of interest :mad:

There - that is my motivation to get rid of that card as part of this challenge.

Pollydaydream

Hypno, you're so right - it does show how much money they're making out of us.

When I first started to have problems making payments, I fought tooth and nail about admitting it and going onto a DMP, but now I see it's the best thing I could have done. Now that the interest has been stopped (for the time being, anyway) for the first time in a long (long) time, I can actually see the balance going down, and I can really see what a difference the interest makes.

I did just type a long rant about extortionate interest rates, changing rates and charges at the drop of a hat, and excessive phone calls when you can't meet the minimum payments, but I've deleted it - don't want to start an argument/bore you all to death with something you already know, and I feel as if I've got it off my chest .

I don't know how much you owe on that card, Hypno, but perhaps we could have a "mini-challenge" - pay so much off by such and such a date. A year is a long time to keep motivated.

Polly

hypno06

That particular card is £6289.76. I would like to have it paid off by the end of 2008.

My first priority though is the £3000 I borrowed for the skiing - I have paid off £300 already, so £2700 to go. I need to have this paid off by Easter.

Pollydaydream

Good luck with that, Hypno, and keep looking forward to this time next year when that card will be gone .

I've done some more calculations (does that count as faffing, because I am spending a lot of time doing it, when I could (should) be earning money!?) and I've set myself a mini-challenge of paying back miscelleaneous stuff and one friend by Easter. I can feel this challenge slipping away from me if I don't have some intermediate deadlines.

Polly

poorandindenial

Hypno I feel your evil interest pain. After mustering up £200 to pay off of Barclaycard last month, £100 went on interest.

So, feeling all motivated this morning I have decided to sort myself out.

First thing I have to do is STOP paying interest on a £29% card when I have others that are a lower rate so on Monday I will call round and see if I can get any balance transfer deals. If not I will simply transfer to the best rate card. I will also cut up the barclaycard. But not cancel it as I might need their 6.9% life of balance, no transfer fees when any other deals I have run out - but I must never, ever use it for spending, ever again.

I will also stop the stupid thing I have been doing (which I knew was stupid but was a sort of security blanket) which was paying £50 into a savings account each month while maintaining lots of debt at a much higher rate of interest.

Then I will take the £950 I have in the savings account (no penalty for taking cash out before interest day) and pay it off of the balance of my highest rate card. Then I get some extra pay on Friday (back pay and lump sum bonus - I am public sector though it should still come to best part of a grand after tax even if sadly not the £300k of Goldman Sachs and the like) and will pay that off of it too.

That should help me to see some sort of benefit

I have also decideed that I will take food into work which should save me about £30 a week so if I can keep it up that is over £1500 saved over a year.

My big motivation is that I want to live alone and I am currently forced to live in flatshares as I can't afford to go solo. If I can just rid myself of the credit card debts by the end of next year I will be so much better off (although obviously £20K would be even better ).

This turned from a short post into a complete ramble, sorry.

penguin83

Woohoo - just had a letter off GMAC (our mortgage company) confirming our monthly payments are dropping in line with the interest rate drop. Extra £20.00 a month towards the debt. Yeay x x

poorandindenial

great news penguin, almost like getting money for nothing!! (sort of)

Steel_2

I'm in with you guys on this challenge.

I have £14K in unsecured debt to clear by next Christmas and am doing it the Dave Ramsey way. There is a 90 minute video (in 10 minute segments) of Dave talking about debt on YouTube which gave me my LBM about credit a couple of days ago. I want to pay off my debts (inlcuding my mortgage) and never touch credit again as long as I live.

I'm self employed but only get enough work for a couple of days a week, which only adds up to covering my bills each month and no extra for debt overpayments or even saving for taxes :-o

So, I'm in the process of getting a normal job to cover the other 3/4 days a week, pretty much doing what I do now (writing) but for an agency so the regular income from that will cover my bills. The rest of the time I'll be working for myself and the income from that will cover saving for my taxes and debt overpayments.

I'm through to the second round of tests for one company and if I pass this will be asked to come in for a "serious chat about my future with the company".

So fingers crossed!!!