Biting the bullet

savvylondoner

It's been a while... I get back on here when I need motivation and it is so inspiring what others are doing. I seem to have stalled a bit and in need of motivation. Not quite sure what I'm spending my money on which I know is the problem.

Think I made a miscalculation before, interest has been added and a few naughty cc spends... so here is my running total:

Virgin was £700, now £0
Natwest CC was £1966, now £38
Barclaycard was £2067, now £0
Natwest Loan was £1570, now £325
Paypal was £2650, now £2145
Lloyds CC was £3763, now £3560
AMEX was £6879, now £7330
TOTAL REMAINING £13,400

I'm going to shave off £1000 on payday next week, but biggest aim is to not add anything!!!

MidsHollie

Hi there, 
I hear you on the motivation front! Sometimes it can be so hard to maintain it. I was reading through your posts where you say that you reach for the credit card at the end of the month because you haven’t stuck to your budget. I also do the same sometimes. I still make my overpayments at the start of the month (I want to feel that feeling of paying off debt, and if the money is in my account, I’ll spend it!), but I find it helpful to have a little extra pot of money that is a buffer. So when the money on my monzo card runs out, I know that all my budgeted money is gone, but the buffer is there to stop the credit card spend. This helps my brain recognise its an overspend, without the freedom of just spending whatever I want on my credit card. 

Also, set yourself goals. They might be payment goals, or a goal to spend £20 on groceries because you are using up everything in the cupboard, or a goal around making extra money. 

 You have paid off three credit cards, that is amazing. You said you had paid off a percentage.... what is your target percent for next month? Small goals make it feel achievable. 

MidsHollie

Also, I forgot to say..... do you keep a spending diary? I keep track of everything I spend, and on what category eg. Groceries, travel, entertainment, eating out etc. It helps me know where the money just disappears to, and then plan for the future accordingly. For example, my eating out in August was pretty high, so that motivates me to limit the eating out plans I make. I spent too much on food and coffee at work, so this month I’m trying to plan meals that I can take to work.
i was only going to track my spending for a short time, but it helps me. Although I set a budget, I don’t check it regularly enough for it to be helpful with day to day spends. So keeping track of spending after I’ve done it is the next best thing

savvylondoner

Hi @MidsHollie, thanks for your posts! Yes a buffer pot of money would be good. I might reduce my big overpayments on pay day and then keep a bit back rather than reach for the cc. The mental thing of paying off lots on payday is something that really motivates me though. I use Monzo for everything but bills, so do check back on my spends; but don't have specifics for each category. Yet!

savvylondoner

A quick update from me as I paid my final loan payment today Another account to go to zero and feels good to be paying off just 3 accounts instead of 7! Now to keep the motivation to not use the cards at all this month...

Virgin was £700, now £0
Natwest CC was £1966, now £0
Barclaycard was £2067, now £0
Natwest Loan was £1570, now £0
Paypal was £2650, now £2160
Lloyds CC was £3763, now £3460
AMEX was £6879, now £7000
TOTAL REMAINING £112620

savingholmes

You have been doing amazing. Did you add an extra 0 to your total debt though?

savvylondoner

Ages since my last post but wanted to post a quick update. It's been going a bit slower since beginning of lockdown in April when I went a bit mad with payments to get me going... The previous total was definitely wrong. Unexpected expense had to go on Natwest CC but will get this back to 0 asap.
I'm also trying out the roundup feature on Monzo which is doing well (just need to leave it in there!)
I'm so desperate to get my AMEX in particular onto a 0% which would help me pay down so much quicker (it's something like 23% now...) but credit score won't allow any offers on existing or new accounts. Any tips on this? Ideas how long I might have to wait?

Virgin was £700, now £0
Natwest CC was £1966, now £265
Barclaycard was £2067, now £0
Natwest Loan was £1570, now £0
Paypal was £2650, now £2000
Lloyds CC was £3763, now £3200
AMEX was £6879, now £6650
TOTAL REMAINING £12,115

Sarahwithlove

I don't think you will get any new offers until your utilisation is down. Check your barclaycard and virgin cards as quite often they offer new offers on current cards. 8m always getting emails from virgin with offers. You need to stop paying so much off though and instead make a more realistic budget because it won't look good on your credit file that you are just paying it off one and building more up on another. In terms of your cards you need to start paying off the one that has highest interest now that they are all high amounts. 

savvylondoner

Happy New Year! So... having bit the bullet in April during lockdown I made loads of headway with just under £20k of debt. I have kept things up, but payments inevitably slowed when lockdown eased, more temptation to spend etc. Lack of holidays helped things too, and I've now paid off 40% of this figure. Still desperately tracking things and urging the totals to go down... and waiting on decent balance transfer offers! 

Debts April 2020 / January 2021

Natwest Loan £1570 / £0
Natwest CC £1970 / £0
Barclaycard CC £2070 / £0
Paypal £2650 / £1400
Lloyds CC £3760 / £3000
AMEX £6880 / £6790

Over the next few days I'm moving £1200 from AMEX onto 0% Capital One, and paying off before APR rockets in 6 months!

With any luck, I will debt free by the end of the year!

savingholmes

It really does help to have a plan. Good luck