Cutting up the cards and saving for a house - one debt at a time!

Parkyp

Oh that’s brilliant if you do get a mortgage to buy your home. Brokers can usually get you a mortgage even if you have to pay higher interest for first couple years, then when your debt is less you could change to a better deal. 

You might not have been tackling your debt but you’ve spent and not added to it, that’s always a good sign.  Congratulations on finding out the sex of baby 👶, only natural to get excited and go on a spending spree. 

savingholmes

Well done on the debt reduction and welcome back to diaryland.

stokegal

Hi everyone!

I really am rubbish at this updating malarky!

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. I had my beautiful baby girl just over 6 weeks ago. I also had my last decent nights sleep just over 6 weeks ago 🤦‍♀️

I’m now on maternity leave but have received a couple of unexpected commission payments so have been able to get rid of a huge chunk of debt.

I probably could have got rid of more as the last few months have definitely been more spendy than the should have but will be getting back on track now to clear off the last bit of debt.

• Overdraft £100 available - but not used in months - 39.99%
• Capital One - £4500 - currently on 0% Balance Transfer
• Very - £200 - 0%
• Sofa - £893 - 0%
• Vitality - Amazon prime payment - £16
• Repayment of savings - £3600 - 0%
• Total Debt - £9309

That’s a massive reduction since I last posted, the biggest difference has been selling my caravan. I was unsure if to do this for so long but was finally offered an amount which would clear the finance and give me a bit towards my credit cards so i snapped their hand off, not only does it take £15k from my debt it saves me approx £250/ month in costs!

the plan is now to repay the last bit of debt and to start saving for a house (and not buy the new car I’ve been looking at 🙈)

stokegal

Morning all,

I’ve become obsessed with checking my £0 balances on my cards now - it’s my favourite thing to do during the night feeds 🤣

I had a win by contacting very yesterday - I had ordered a tumble dryer from them which arrived cosmetically damaged (on the lid so nothing you can see once under the work surface) The offered to replace it or knock 20% off which I took, this reduced my outstanding balance down to £158 which I paid off straight away!

I was also sick of looking at multiple lines on my credit file debt so I had intended on keeping a £100 overdraft just in case but instead I have paid that off too. Now I can concentrate on reducing my credit card before the 0% runs out

I’ve told myself no more major purchases until this credit card has been cleared as an incentive to get it cleared ASAP. I should be able to make consistent payments whilst on maternity leave and then clear the remainder once I’m back at work next January / February - the dream would be to clear it whilst on maternity leave as I’ve got so much stuff to sell as well as my side business which I could restart again but life with a newborn is hard and I barely get time to eat or shower let alone do anything else!

OH is off now till Tuesday so I’m going to try and do the following to raise cash for next week

1. Photograph and list all of DS1 clothes that he has barely worn and outgrown

2. Mock up a personalised bottle from the bottles I ordered last year (I ordered 40 which got delivered last October and I’ve never done anything with them) they should easily sell for £10/each

3. Mock up Autumn personalised door mat - I have 5 door mats which could sell for £10/£15 each

4. Sterilise breast pump and sell - aiming to get £150 for this

5. Claim payable cash back from TopCashback - £60

These 5 things alone could generate around £700 which would be a nice chunk off my credit card.

Latest SOA
Credit Card - £4500 

Sofa £893

Amazon Prime - £16

Repayment of savings - £3600
Total - £9009

WinterWarrior

Congratulations on your baby girl 🎈
if you followed the snowball plan and threw your 700 at prime and then the sofa, it wouldn’t be long before you just had one debt left….that would feel like such a win! 

stokegal

Thanks WinterWarrior! She’s a lovely blessing!

I haven’t paid my prime off as it is done through vitality healthcare and if I earn enough activity points they pay for it instead.
In my first year they paid 6 out the 10 payments saving me £48, last year and this year they have only paid a couple of times because I haven’t been exercising much because of COVID but I would buy it regardless of their contributions. I will need to renew when my contract is up next month which means the £79 will go on my credit file again. Not a huge amount I know and it will show on my credit file as being regularly paid so that’s a good thing but it’s just frustrating as I want a clear credit file 🙈

My sofa was purchased via DFS and I can not find the credit agreement anywhere to pay it off early, I’ve tried to call DFS to get this info and they have no idea so I’m just paying it monthly. My preference would be to pay this off first but worry that I won’t pay my CC off before the 0% balance transfer runs out

beanielou

Try googling who provide DFS' finance?

stokegal

Barclays partner finance appear on my bank account for the direct debit so I have filled in a form on their website asking for a settlement figure, fingers crossed they can find me with the details provided and not my account number!

So far the attempts at raising extra cash have not gone well. I had a lovely 3 hour nap yesterday afternoon instead of doing any of my tasks. It’s the first time in 6 weeks that I’ve slept more than 2 and half hours 🙈

stokegal

Credit card payment made so updated totals.

£100 repaid into saving too - this is there first time I’ve repaid anything into my savings as all debt is at 0% - normally I throw everything at my credit card, leave myself short and then have to use it again, getting caught in a vicious circle 🤦‍♀️

I also managed to save £500 for November when my wage drops to statuary maternity pay. I’m hoping I don’t need to use this and can use it to pay off more of my credit card but it will be good to have that in place rather than have to rely on credit cards that month.

Little progress has taken place in terms of generating money as DS has colic so is either sleeping or crying. She will only sleep on me so my entire time is spent holding her to go to sleep or pacifying her - it’s super tough at the moment but I know it will get better eventually!

Updated SOA

Credit Card - £4000

Sofa £893

Amazon Prime - £16

Repayment of savings - £3500

Total - £8409