Debt free wife, happy life

sonyarita

I feel like I have had a small victory as I received a letter re the Barclaycard debt as it appears to be unenforceable.

I am not busting a gut to pay back unenforceable debts so I can tick that one of my list. I have seen on the DFW board that they don't always accept f &f offers on unenforceable debts so this will just be getting ignored.

I am now thinking that rather than trying to take out a mortgage in 3 years maybe I could try and just save the 26,000 to pay the house off in full at the end of the term. I think it will be hard but do-able so this is my new goal and will stop me worrying about failing credit checks for mortgages and stuff.

The only debt I'm really worried about is the Avant one as interest was still accruing even though it's been almost 2 year since I last paid them. Hopefully I can get that out of the way but they are taking their time coming back to me with a reply on my f&f offer which I sent in July.

sonyarita

Defaulted debts now:

BT...............................85....will pay 30/11
SSE...........................168....will pay 30/12
Barclaycard...............0....(1061)...letter rec'd 13/11 unenforceable
Capital One................2894....awaiting cca
Santander...................0....paid 30/10
MyJar.........................300...will pay off Jan/Feb 21
AvantCredit...............3792....awaiting f&f response
Creation....................651....will start paying March 21
Lowell.......................257....paying 30 a month
Lowell..............2350
Next........................613
Total Defaulted debts.......11,199

sonyarita

A wee update as I haven't been here for a while.

I had to laugh reading one of my older posts where I thought I could try and save 26000 in 3 years...no chance 🙈😆

I've still not completely mastered being frugal..think this is going to take time. I hate batch cooking as I put stuff in freezer then don't eat it, almost as if defrosting a meal is too much effort! Must try harder! 

I have discovered tinned mackerel though, in a wholemeal roll with Nando sauce and mayo is amazing. Who would have thought, and at 65p a tin I can't complain. I think for me tinned fish is the way forward 😆

I had an idea of buying toilet roll in bulk off internet would save money, but no, I think we have went through the best part of 72 rolls since 4th Jan. Normally 24-36 would do a month, I have no idea how we could have went through so much, and every time I broach the subject with my partner he gets all defensive. I never realised  toilet roll was such a touchy subject!!

I set up a payment plan of 100 a month to go towards the Simply Be debt which is now at Lowell. 

I've also started paying 200 towards my council tax arrears- I was only paying 100 a month and not keeping up to date with my current bill and then that would move over to the arrears which costs more in long run.
As of April I will be paying my current bill plus 200 towards arrears.
Once my arrears have cleared I will use the 200 towards my debts.

I have 1 more payment to make towards the SSE and Freeman's (at Lowell) debts then they are gone, will pay on 1st March.
Once these are clear I think I will focus on the Next debt.

Still awaiting responses about Capital One and Avant Credit.

Got new boiler in, which is amazing, and now putting 100 in a month in to lifetime ISA. Will increase this to 255 once debt to a friend is paid at end of year.

I'm working 60 plus hours weekly to afford everything. I need to look at food shopping bill and a few other bills to see where I can cut expenditure, as I'm off on placement soon and working so many hours isn't going to be sustainable.

I'm expecting a big tax rebate at some point this year which will help...trying to get really serious about cutting a large chunk of debt, I feel like I'm just idling along sometimes.

Anyway, I'm away to scour the board for some frugal inspiration and some low cost recipe ideas 🙂

Sarahwithlove

Is it a cheaper toilet roll so therefore thinner so needs more? 

sonyarita

No @Sarahwithlove it is Andrex! I used to buy cheaper stuff but I thought it was false economy, so tend to buy Andrex or Cushelle when it's on offer.
It's very annoying!!

Sarahwithlove

Maybe if he's going to use lots might be worth going back to cheaper? 

sonyarita

@Sarahwithlove might need to!!! 🙈😂 I wonder if we were subconsciously using more because we knew it was in plentiful supply, who knows 🤔

...I got a letter today from Avant Credit and they have finally defaulted!! I haven't paid them in 2 years and they were still adding in interest so this feels like a breakthrough. I previously sent a f&f offer to them, hopefully if they get back to me on that I can pay it off and that will be about a third of my debt cleared. Fingers crossed!!

Sarahwithlove

That's good news about the default will keep my fingers crossed for you. 

sonyarita

I have a new plan! 
In my musings I have totally forgot about the 0 % for 24 months Tesco card. Have a balance of just over 2000 and needs paid off before March 2023.

Instead of focusing on defaulted debts, I will pay 150 to Tesco monthly then when my council tax arrears are cleared in August will pay extra to Tesco and will have it cleared by December.

Once that's clear will have about 300 spare a month to go towards defaults.

I am now saving 200 a month in LISA and paying 100 to Lowell (simply be). Freeman's, SSE and BT now fully paid off.

Got a letter from Santander last week, couldn't believe it but they actually owe me 90 odd quid so need to send letter off to claim it as I don't have an account with them anymore. That was a turn up for the books! I am going to put that in one of my Monzo pots as I am trying to build up savings for emergencies, home improvements etc.

Next week I am back to a 50 hour week now my placement has finished. April and May will be tight months but I feel like I have got a handle on the shopping budget. I was doing next week's delivery online and went back and skimmed it down from 143 to 104. Also haven't been indulging in takeaways this month either. Wish someone would tell the scales that though 🙈. 

In other news I seem to have damaged my coccyx and on the lookout for painkillers, legal or otherwise 😃......