Counting Down from £15K

95 Posts

Hello,
I've been lurking here for most of this year but never plucked up the courage to post. I had my lightbulb moment in January this year when, saddled with £15K of debts, I got turned down by the bank for a consolidation loan which I had hoped was going to reduce my monthly repayments - which I now realise getting rejected was a real saving grace.
My debts came mainly from childcare - £3.5K came from an overpayment of tax credits from HMRC that I'm now paying back on a monthly payment plan, and also struggling to make ends meet once childcare costs were paid from my wage - childcare costs accounted for about 60% of my salary. Compounded with this, poor budgeting meant I lost count of the number of times I was using my credit card to pay for petrol to fill my car not even half way through the month, or for unbudgeted yet predictable expenses like my car's MOT and service. The boiler also packed in - it wasn't unexpected as it was very old and playing up - but I hadn't budgeted that in and had no emergency fund to even cushion the cost of that a little bit. My credit card was on a high rate and was paying £100 a month just in interest. It was a downward spiral, and I thought the only way out was the consolidation loan.
Thankfully since then I've turned things around though, have a very strict budget, sinking funds for every single upcoming expense (even things like school photos and school milk), have all my debts on 0% interest, and haven't had to pay for petrol on my credit card this year. I've also been helped along by being in lockdown (I've been really lucky enough to keep my job and not be negatively impacted financially for now) by having no childcare costs for 5 months, and I've been able to pick up some extra bits and pieces of work where I can.
All in all I've managed to pay £8K off my debts this year, as well as building up a £700 emergency fund. I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall now and thought starting a diary would help provide some motivation and accountability for this remaining £7K. I am hoping to clear the remaining £7K by July next year, if not sooner, all being well - just finding things hard not seeing the figure go down faster, and getting annoyed that I can't make progress every day. My credit score hasn't increased much either - not that it's the be all and end all, but I get frustrated when it's not going up as much as I would like.
I've been lurking here for most of this year but never plucked up the courage to post. I had my lightbulb moment in January this year when, saddled with £15K of debts, I got turned down by the bank for a consolidation loan which I had hoped was going to reduce my monthly repayments - which I now realise getting rejected was a real saving grace.
My debts came mainly from childcare - £3.5K came from an overpayment of tax credits from HMRC that I'm now paying back on a monthly payment plan, and also struggling to make ends meet once childcare costs were paid from my wage - childcare costs accounted for about 60% of my salary. Compounded with this, poor budgeting meant I lost count of the number of times I was using my credit card to pay for petrol to fill my car not even half way through the month, or for unbudgeted yet predictable expenses like my car's MOT and service. The boiler also packed in - it wasn't unexpected as it was very old and playing up - but I hadn't budgeted that in and had no emergency fund to even cushion the cost of that a little bit. My credit card was on a high rate and was paying £100 a month just in interest. It was a downward spiral, and I thought the only way out was the consolidation loan.
Thankfully since then I've turned things around though, have a very strict budget, sinking funds for every single upcoming expense (even things like school photos and school milk), have all my debts on 0% interest, and haven't had to pay for petrol on my credit card this year. I've also been helped along by being in lockdown (I've been really lucky enough to keep my job and not be negatively impacted financially for now) by having no childcare costs for 5 months, and I've been able to pick up some extra bits and pieces of work where I can.
All in all I've managed to pay £8K off my debts this year, as well as building up a £700 emergency fund. I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall now and thought starting a diary would help provide some motivation and accountability for this remaining £7K. I am hoping to clear the remaining £7K by July next year, if not sooner, all being well - just finding things hard not seeing the figure go down faster, and getting annoyed that I can't make progress every day. My credit score hasn't increased much either - not that it's the be all and end all, but I get frustrated when it's not going up as much as I would like.
Debt Free Journey
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
6
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£2636 - Barclaycard 0% - £70 p/m + £165 overpayment + anything else I can throw at it each month
£972.49 - Virgin Money 0% £10p/m
£1900 - HMRC 0% - £50 p/m
£1550 - Shawbrook 0% £45.15 p/m
I'm focusing on Barclaycard first as the interest free offer runs out first. All being well I should be able to clear it by January, hopefully, before it bears interest in April. My work have told me I won't be back in the office this year, so I have my commuting savings I'm throwing at it just now that I add on top of the £165 overpayment and the £70 minimum, and anything else I save/earn. I've been averaging around £400 p/m in payments to it over the last few months. I'm making minimum payments to the rest.
Once the Barclaycard is paid off my plan of attack is the Virgin card, then Shawbrook and then finally HMRC as it doesn't show on my credit report. Can't wait to pay off HMRC in particular as that debt has been the bane of my life!
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
18/8/20-offer accepted
15/12/2020- COMPLETED 🥳🥳
Life happens fund £10000/£10000 filled 11/22
Investing towards my first 10k
current 0/10k
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
18/8/20-offer accepted
15/12/2020- COMPLETED 🥳🥳
Life happens fund £10000/£10000 filled 11/22
Investing towards my first 10k
current 0/10k
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55
January 2020 (LBM) - £15,154.78
March 2021 - £ 1989.55