Ditching the Debt

GinoOhGinoGinelli

Hello and Happy New Year, @stymied!

I'm sorry I missed your helpful comment at the time, but thank you very much - I'm going to try giving this a go I think!

Sarahwithlove

I would suggest keeping the cards open as they often offer you deals and it looks better if you aren't utilising as much of the credit limit. Worth keeping an eye on your already opened accounts as well as sometimes they message or email about new offers to transfer more to those cards etc if you haven't used all the credit on it. 

Might be worth doing a SOA to see if any suggestions we can make to reduce costs. Do you do any surveys? Proficiency and Qmee seem to be best for me at the moment. I also use receipt apps such as shopping, storewards and zipzero for vouchers. 

GinoOhGinoGinelli

I've been really bad at keeping this updated! It's been so busy with work and study over the last few months, I just kept forgetting. I have been keeping my spreadsheet updated though, and I haven't lost focus.

The single biggest motivation for me to clear my debt is being able to leave my job and start my new career. I have a good job with nice colleagues on the whole, and I'm grateful to be employed during these difficult times, but I've felt really miserable and trapped for so long! It's hard to stay motivated and disciplined for both the long debt-busting journey and a stressful full-time job I'm desperate to leave.

Thank you @Sarahwithlove, and sorry for not responding sooner. That was a really good tip though, as Fluid offered me a six months balance transfer deal this week. Sadly they don't take Amex transfers, so I'm stuck with that for now, but it does mean all my other cards are on 0%!

End of February 2023 Debt Breakdown 

• AMEX credit card: £2,100 (32.9% APR) 
• Halifax credit card 1: CLEARED (well, technically transferred to Fluid!)
• Halifax credit card 2  CLEARED!
• Bank of Scotland credit card: £2,291 (0% APR until July 23)
  
• Virgin credit card: £2,125 (0% APR until Sept 23)
• Fluid credit card: £3,032 (0% APR until Sept 23)
• HSBC personal loan: £11,282 (5.9% APR) - Monthly fixed payment: £538, (9/30 payments made)
• TOTAL CURRENT DEBT: £20,830

Paying off as much as possible, as quickly as possible on the Amex card is still my top priority. I've kept both Halifax cards open for now, in case they offer me a balance transfer deal, and so that my percentage of used credit is lower overall. Fingers crossed, some offers on new cards that take Amex transfers will appear in the next couple of months.
 
I anticipate my end-of-March debt balance will be between £19,400-500.

GinoOhGinoGinelli

Yesterday marked another payday in this long debt-busting slog. I always find it satisfying to update my spreadsheet once I've been paid, but apart from that it's really dragging. I actually don't mind the budgeting, cutting back, and finding deals, but being trapped in my current job is becoming increasingly miserable and terrible for my mental health.

Some good milestones ticked off this month though:

• All my credit cards are now on 0%!
• I finally managed to get my AMEX cleared (which had staggeringly high APR). Paid off a big chunk and balance transferred the rest. I was offered a Zopa card with 0% balance transfer for three months so I used that. Three months is a bit rubbish, but I'm confident I can clear it by then. There was no fee for the transfer - if there had been, I wouldn't have bothered.
• I've paid a third of my HSBC loan repayments.
  
• My total debt is now under £20K! I've paid off over a third of it.

End of March 2023 Debt Breakdown 

• AMEX credit card: £0 (32.9% APR) CLEARED (part paid-off and partly transferred to Zopa)
• Zopa credit card: £1,500 (0% APR until July 23) 
• Bank of Scotland credit card: £2,234 (0% APR until July 23)
  
• Virgin credit card: £2,100 (0% APR until Sept 23)
• Fluid credit card: £2,932 (0% APR until Sept 23)
• HSBC personal loan: £10,744 (5.9% APR) - Monthly fixed payment: £538, (10/30 payments made)
• TOTAL CURRENT DEBT: £19,510

I won't be able to clear my Bank of Scotland credit card in full by the start of July, so I'll need to keep an eye out for 0% offers over the next few months to hopefully avoid incurring interest fees again.
 
I anticipate my end-of-April debt balance will be between £18,000-18,500.

GinoOhGinoGinelli

Realised I haven't updated my accountability diary for a while! Didn't get a chance to post my end-of-April figures due to working ridiculous hours, as it was peak busy time at work. Finally getting around to posting my end-of-May figures now. I've been plodding along in the meantime... Such a long, slow slog!

End-of-May 2023 Debt Breakdown 

• Zopa credit card: £900 (0% APR until July 23) 
  
• Bank of Scotland credit card: £2,123 (0% APR until July 23)
  
• Virgin credit card: £2,050 (0% APR until Sept 23)
• Fluid credit card: £2,832 (0% APR until Sept 23)
• HSBC personal loan: £9,668 (5.9% APR) - Monthly fixed payment: £538, (12/30 payments made)
• TOTAL CURRENT DEBT: £17,573

Good news this month:

• My HSBC loan balance is under £10K!
• I managed to get a 0% card with Lloyds with a balance transfer amount of £3,720 over 22 months, with a 1.99% fee. This is great news as my current card offers expire in July and Sept. I just need to calculate the best way to use the transfer balance after deducting what I can pay off later this month. I'm going to focus on Zopa and Bank of Scotland as they end sooner, and then use the rest on Fluid/Virgin. My priority will then by paying as much as possible off the remaining Fluid and Virgin balance before those offers expire in September.
• We got our small annual pay increase - every little helps!

Not so good news this month:

• I had to pay vet fees but should hopefully get these reimbursed this month, but the insurance company seems to take longer and longer these days.

All going well, I hope my end-of-June debt balance will be between £16,000-16,500.

GinoOhGinoGinelli

Updating my diary earlier than usual as I've managed to sort my finances out quickly after payday this month. Not usually this organised!

End-of-June 2023 Debt Breakdown 

• Zopa credit card CLEARED
  
• Bank of Scotland credit card CLEARED (well, mostly transferred elsewhere!)
• Fluid credit card CLEARED (mostly transferred elsewhere!)
• Virgin credit card: £350 (0% APR until Sep 2023)
• RBS credit card: £3,420 (0% APR until Jan 2025)
• Lloyds credit card: £3,699 (0% APR until Apr 2025)
• HSBC personal loan: £9,130 (5.9% APR) - Monthly fixed payment: £538, (13/30 payments made)
• TOTAL CURRENT DEBT: £16,599

Good news this month:

I was really pleased to get offered a second 0% balance transfer card (RBS), which had no transfer fees. It was really good timing as two of my previous cards were expiring this month, with the other two expiring in September. After my new Lloyds and RBS transfers and my payments this month, I'm now left with only £350 to pay to Virgin before September to avoid interest. I plan to pay this in full next month.

My two new cards both have long 0% offers of 19 and 22 months, which will allow me to focus more on paying some extra towards my loan, which I'm allowed to do.

Not-so-good news this month:

I'm still waiting for my vet fees to be reimbursed, which is taking longer than usual, and I'm waiting for a refund which is also taking ages. At least I can add them to my next month's payments if they don't arrive in my account soon. This has resulted in me not hitting my estimated total debt balance this month, but only by £99. 

Fingers crossed, I'll be on track to have an end-of-July debt balance between £15,000-15,500. I hope I can reach this amount as it will be very exciting, as I'll have paid slightly over half of my total debt!

Sunshine_girl2

Great work on the repayments and getting balance transfers at 0% . 

GinoOhGinoGinelli

Thank you @Sunshine_girl2

I was juggling multiple cards with extremely high APR when I started so it's nice to have everything on 0% now (apart from my loan).