Third Time’s The Charm

Chrystal

Oh Congratulations Narola, that's a fantastic achievement!  
Love the quotes - put them in your signature and then they're always visible!  (((hugs))) X

Moneywhizz

That is great news on the Argos card. And having that extra money now to pay off your next highest debt. It is all going in the right direction and beginning to pick up speed. Well done on staying so focused on your finances and your low sugar diet. You are doing so well. 

astrocytic_kitten

You’re doing brilliantly on all fronts - well done!

juicyjackieb

Well done Narola! I took a break and catching up with everyone today. I loved those quote so much I made a little post for them on my Instagram I hope you don’t mind. Here they are 

foxgloves

Yes, they are definitely very apt & useful quotes, Narola. I am going to write them down. Great progress on getting that card paid off. Snowballing really works as a method. Good work on your blood sugars too.
Wishing you lots of continued progress in 2021.
F x

Narola1976

Hello everyone, well where to start! It has been an age since I posted and lots to share, some good, some not so good, some so so. I hope you are all safe and well.

First off, I have not incurred any new debt! Hurrah! I have not used a credit card or incurred further debt since September 2019. I have continued with my snowball payments and have to date paid off 17% of my total CC debt. This also means that I have brought my DFD forward by 1 month to July 2023. With a couple of big payments to HSBC, I must be doing something right as they offered me a 21 month BT deal with 2.9% fee. It’s a shame I cannot take them up on their offer as I still owe them £3200 or thereabouts at 28.9%. I feel it will mess things up to take this offer when I have another interest bearing balance. Best to leave things as they are for fear of messing up what is working well. If all goes well, HSBC will be fully paid off by August this year!!! If the offer is still around by then, I will use it but only to transfer what I can afford to pay off within the 0% period because the interest rate is so high and I don’t want to get caught out. I am also hopeful that I will get other offers from BC again in the future which could help. I use the eligibility checker here to see if I am making progress (not to apply) - well at least now I have 100% chance of getting the poor credit cards but alas still 0% chance for any of the decent ones  

So where I need to improve on, is sticking to the budget or rather budgeting better. I think because I am sending so much to the debt, I have less wriggle room for things that come up or things I really should be budgeting better for, such as new glasses. I am too afraid to send less to the debt for fear of frittering the money away, not massively you understand, but just small bits and bobs. I fear I still do not trust myself. But then I end up having to borrow from the Peter Category to pay the Paul Category in YNAB. Which isn’t a bad thing, per se, but inevitably, things I should be funding gets drained.  So this is where I need to do better.

I was also at a place where it was looking like my DFJ was going to be extended by some years as DD was planning to go to uni this year and given our household income, we would be looking at her getting the least amount for maintenance which we would need to top up. I had visions of my having to stop the snowballs and redirect those funds to accommodation etc. I cannot tell you how that was stressing me out but I was going to suck it up. But with all the challenges posed by the virus and reading forums of parents expressing the challenges YP have had paying for accommodation they have hardly been able to use, plus online lectures which sometimes aren’t very good, I was really concerned about what we could realistically expect this September. But I did not want to pressure DD. I tentatively mentioned that I was questioning whether it was wise to go this year when no one knows what the landscape will be like, plus its a lot of money to get into student debt for and the chances are it might not be the experience she was hoping for, both socially and academically. I was relieved when she decided to defer and make an application for next year. This will give me more time to make inroads to my debt, but also save for uni. If by this time next year I do have to pause my snowballs, at least the debt will be that much smaller. She will continue with her PT job and also save. I feel guilty for feeling so relieved. But I am pleased to say she already has a conditional offer from 1 Uni fo 2022. We await the others decisions.

Health then - I am pleased to report that since November I lost 20lbs, but this last week and a bit has not been great and I have spectacularly fallen off the wagon - far worse than Christmas. So I really must get back to it before the weight piles back on. The sugars as a consequence are also not great. So please feel free to give me a stern talking to! I need it.  I have been trying to make a low carb cheesecake and 2 attempts so far. The first was not great, the second was better but needs improvement although it tasted fab. I intend to try again perhaps this weekend. I shall post a pic when I manage to achieve a modicum of success. 

Well I must end off now and get back to work, lunch break is over I will try and catch up on the diaries at the weekend.

foxgloves

Lovely to have an update, Narola. I don't blame your daughter at all for deciding to defer university for a year.
I am taking myself in hand regarding weight re-gain. As I said on my own diary, I seem to have turned into a sofa over the past year with too much baking, endless lockdowns & just not going out & about as much as usual. So I'll be joining you watching the lbs as well as the £££s.
F x

Baileys_Babe

Well done on bringing you dfd a month closer, that is a proper ta-da moment.

Moneywhizz

Great to hear that everything is still going according to plan and you have even managed to bring your DFD closer. Who knows, once you start getting more BT offers it could be even sooner. Good decision about deferring University for a year too. It isn't looking likely that things will be back to normal anytime soon. Surely by next year it will all be under control and you will be in a much better position. Thank you for the update. 

Narola1976

So just a little stock take 

At it’s highest, my debts were £38,287.77, back in September 2019. That was when I realised I had to stop making new debt and I haven’t used a credit card or made a BNPL purchase since then. I managed to make payments but I really didn’t seriously start looking to get out of debt until the debt was down to £35,156.29, a good many months later. Back then I was also in overdraft and had to get out of that first. In 16 months I have repaid a total of £9859.55. I haven’t been in overdraft for 12 months. It hasn’t been easy and there is still a long way to go but I just keep taking it one day at a time. YNAB and Debt Payoff Planner have both been instrumental in helping me visualise my progress and my goal. I am desperate to get shot of the HSBC debt, the timescale for this is August this year. I wish it were sooner. I probably could do it sooner if I wasn’t saving for uni costs, Christmas, EF, etc. I am doing 3 x 1p challenges for these, plus a £10 challenge for uni. I feel I must save because if I don’t I could mess up come Christmas. There is a balance to be had I think between debt repayments and debt prevention. 

I really appreciate the input you guys give and the cheering on is very encouraging, so thank you very much. As you know, I have no one else to talk to about this. It helps to think out loud and get feedback. 

DD has had a second conditional offer for 2022 which is very encouraging. Now we just have to hope she gets the grades but its not clear how these are to be ascribed. Very little info coming from the college. 

After a bit of a poor eating spiral, I am back on track diet wise and have lost the few lbs I gained over the last fortnight. I am very pleased to be back within the next stone bracket. I tend to sabotage myself when things are going well so really must stay focused as I am making good progress. 

Right must dash, hope you are all keeping safe and well x