£69k debt free wannabe

durhamcowboy

Jensfrugalyear said:

Down to under £500 on my Marbles card and it feels like the hardest to pay off so far. Not sure if I'm just being impatient though as I'm so close to getting it cleared 😆

Went from 1k balance to 500 really quickly but have slowed down progress due to the kids birthdays this weekend. However I am so proud that this is the first time in years I have paid for gifts and day out with cash and not debt.

Hope everyone else's journeys are going well

This is a really positive step and one I'm trying to replicate on my journey, whilst you may have slowed down progress re paying off your debts, its a great feeling to pay for things outright and not create more debt.

Jensfrugalyear

Hi all

Not sure if anyone can help with this question, have looked online and on here but still not sure.

My other credit cards I am paying off I have direct debits set up to pay off the minimum each month. Would it be better to pay the minimum when the statement comes out? Would this slightly reduce the interest payments?

I know that the direct debit gives security for missed payments but I check things daily so this shouldn't be an issue. Plus I can set reminders.

Think thats all for now. Hope you are all getting on well with your debt journeys x

enthusiasticsaver

Jensfrugalyear said:

Hi all

Not sure if anyone can help with this question, have looked online and on here but still not sure.

My other credit cards I am paying off I have direct debits set up to pay off the minimum each month. Would it be better to pay the minimum when the statement comes out? Would this slightly reduce the interest payments?

I know that the direct debit gives security for missed payments but I check things daily so this shouldn't be an issue. Plus I can set reminders.

Most credit cards  charge interest on a daily basis so yes if you make a payment to reduce the balance before the due date then logic dictates this will reduce the balance and therefore the interest charged.  The pitfall is that making additional payments messes up the direct debits so if you cancel these to avoid payments being made twice in one month there is the possibility of you missing one month which would incur extra costs. 

Suffolk_lass

Also, some may still take the direct debit if you leave it in place - it depends on their Ts and Cs - some treat your manual minimum payment as an overpayment. You could pay twice in the month

If you pay when the statement comes out it is unlikely to be the case that the system has already initiated the monthly DD, which is the other reason it might go twice - paying within 5 days of the DD is often too late for their systems to stop it, it depends who your cards are with and the agility of their (sometimes old) IT systems.

Personally I accumulated a decent emergency pot with my Tilly Tidies while setting out a regime of payments - as the minimum payment reduced, I asked them to continue at the old (higher) monthly payment, rounded up to the next ending in zero £10 (same when mortgage interest reduced - ours was 17% at one point). The emergency pot was my protection against using the CCs again when a domestic event needed cash.

Well done by the way, it looks as though your £69k is just over £58k now, if your signature is up to date

Jensfrugalyear

Suffolk_lass said:

Also, some may still take the direct debit if you leave it in place - it depends on their Ts and Cs - some treat your manual minimum payment as an overpayment. You could pay twice in the month

If you pay when the statement comes out it is unlikely to be the case that the system has already initiated the monthly DD, which is the other reason it might go twice - paying within 5 days of the DD is often too late for their systems to stop it, it depends who your cards are with and the agility of their (sometimes old) IT systems.

Personally I accumulated a decent emergency pot with my Tilly Tidies while setting out a regime of payments - as the minimum payment reduced, I asked them to continue at the old (higher) monthly payment, rounded up to the next ending in zero £10 (same when mortgage interest reduced - ours was 17% at one point). The emergency pot was my protection against using the CCs again when a domestic event needed cash.

Well done by the way, it looks as though your £69k is just over £58k now, if your signature is up to date

Thanks 😊 sig is up to date so balance is coming down. I know its going to take a while so concentrating on just one credit card at a time and am shocked how quickly the Marbles has come down with a bit of determination.

Jensfrugalyear

Part of my journey with paying off debt it trying to teach my kids good money habits, something I was never taught growing up. My son had £60 birthday cash and he has put £20 into his long term isa this morning, his choice! The other £40 he has decided is £20 for spending now and £20 to his sort term savings for when he wants something bigger. So proud of him.

LittleMissDetermined

Jensfrugalyear said:

Part of my journey with paying off debt it trying to teach my kids good money habits, something I was never taught growing up. My son had £60 birthday cash and he has put £20 into his long term isa this morning, his choice! The other £40 he has decided is £20 for spending now and £20 to his sort term savings for when he wants something bigger. So proud of him.

This is brilliant! Well done to your son  

I agree, money management was never taught to me either and I think I would have really benefited from it. 

Honeysucklelou2

Well done to your son! Getting children into the savings habit is great.

Jensfrugalyear

Hi

Hope everyone is doing well.

So went away this last week and have come home to one of my fish half eating the fin of the other and my cat appears to have an ear infection.

Sorted the fish yesterday by buying a whole new tank set up plus accessories and will be taking the cat to the vet tomorrow to sort his ear. Only had £30 in our emergency fund so far so that has been used up for the fish. May have to put the cat costs on a credit card depending on how much it will cost 😞. My plan was to build my emergency fund after paying my Marbles card off - this should be done by the end of this month. Wish I had started with that first now as the thought of adding to the credit card is annoying me.

Anyway moan over, its a little setback but we should be able to clear things quite quickly.

LittleMissDetermined

Oh no, so sorry to hear what you’ve come back to after your holiday. Hope the infection doesn’t cost too much to sort, the main thing is getting it cleared up.
LMD x