Trying to Hide a Secret £20,000 Debt is as Tricky As it Sounds! (:#)

CMD79

enthusiasticsaver said:

Is it worth setting up direct debits to  pay slightly above minimums on all credit cards so you know they are all set up to be paid and then just target any overpayment to the one you are aiming to get rid of first?  That would save you messing up on the monthly repayments as you only have to think about the overpayment so no risk of paying one twice again. 

Thank @enthusiasticsaver. You actually suggested this to me before - and it is very good advice! I didn't do this yet because everything is so close to not being affordable for me. When I get my pay rise next month, and all my debts are reduced just that little bit, I will do this. The error, believe it or not, was because I kept getting phone calls from one of my credit cards because I had gone over my limit and that was freaking me out, so I paid the amount they were suggesting which included the over limit, the minimum payment etc. I thought that the direct debit would then be at 0 because I'd had this before with one of my other debts. But they took the minimum payment on the direct debit.  That's not the only error I made! But that was the main issue...

  

CMD79

joedenise said:

You could phone the CC company and ask them to return the 2nd payment which was paid in error?  I've done this before when I did exactly the same thing - not stupid just a bit forgetful!

Agree with @enthusiasticsaver it's worth setting up a DD so that you don't make this mistake again and can send any extras to whichever debt you are focussing on.

Thanks! I'll try that. 

enthusiasticsaver

CMD79 said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

Is it worth setting up direct debits to  pay slightly above minimums on all credit cards so you know they are all set up to be paid and then just target any overpayment to the one you are aiming to get rid of first?  That would save you messing up on the monthly repayments as you only have to think about the overpayment so no risk of paying one twice again. 

Thank @enthusiasticsaver. You actually suggested this to me before - and it is very good advice! I didn't do this yet because everything is so close to not being affordable for me. When I get my pay rise next month, and all my debts are reduced just that little bit, I will do this. The error, believe it or not, was because I kept getting phone calls from one of my credit cards because I had gone over my limit and that was freaking me out, so I paid the amount they were suggesting which included the over limit, the minimum payment etc. I thought that the direct debit would then be at 0 because I'd had this before with one of my other debts. But they took the minimum payment on the direct debit.  That's not the only error I made! But that was the main issue...

  

If the payments are unaffordable then you should be looking at a DMP but that needs to be discussed with your husband. I think you considered it at the start of this diary. Your budget should not be so tight that one minimum payment takes you down so low you cannot afford to live. Never let a credit card panic you into making a knee jerk payment. They can’t do anything except stop your card which in your case is a good thing as you don’t want to borrow on them anymore. Make a plan and stick to it and if you are still spending on cards then stop. 

CMD79

Happy Saturday DFWs...

Nearly halfway through the month! Thank goodness I didn't make all the overpayments, because I am terrible at managing my money - I would definitely have come unstuck there, but the good news is, I have picked up 5 days of extra work for £400. Given it's the summer holidays, it was pretty ridiculous to think that I'd get through with only spending on essentials, but I'm still hoping that by the time all the mystery shopping and extra work is paid, I will be able to pay quite a bit extra in around 2 weeks time. 

My husband still has my grocery and fuel money, my direct debits are all paid except for 1 (which I quite enjoy late night surveys to pay for now - I only need £4 over 4 days! It's a bit of a challenge for the second half of the month  ) and I will receive payments of around £500 between now and pay day, which I'll try to hang on to. The £10 a day challenge works really well for me, the the No Spend Day challenge does to an extent in that I try to not spend anything. It's what get spent on the Spend Days that needs more work, so I'll think about this more next month. I liked the idea of 33/33/33 with my extra money. I can't remember who suggested that, but I have a little holiday at the end of the school holidays and I do want to take my daughter for a couple of days out. That's mostly post pay day thankfully, but I'd like to try to have the spending money set aside before we go.

We'll see how it goes. If nothing else, I've not spent anything at all on credit, and if that's all I achieve each month, I'm still debt free in October 2024 as it stands, any improvements each month, is a bonus. I would like to be able to say, by the end of all this, that I have changed my bad habits, and managed a budget though!

xxx

CMD79

I'm such a $*^&

I've just looked through my budget again, and actually, I'm only £30 short of where I'm supposed to be, and I've got about £15 cash in my purse!! So, I felt like I was doing really badly because I had some surprises that I'd forgotten about (free trials that I forgot to cancel etc!!) but I'd forgotten that my child benefit hasn't arrived yet - which I had added to my budget if I'd scrolled down the page, and so, I should have most of the money I'd intended for extra payments left if I'm now extra careful....

Humdinger1

@CMD79 you are doing brilliantly! Please don't berate yourself because not only is it undeserved  but it also undermines your self-esteem which in turn makes your journey harder.  Congratulations are in order love Humdinger xx 

KeepOnKnitting

I've just read from start to finish, and I definitely agree that you need to be less hard on yourself. Budgeting is difficult!

I've not got ADHD, yet I managed to pay a bill twice once by accident. It was my mortgage of all things!

You are making some fab progress, and I'm really glad that your husband has agreed to help you manage to make the money stretch through the month. Together you can get through this.

CMD79

Humdinger1 said:

@CMD79 you are doing brilliantly! Please don't berate yourself because not only is it undeserved  but it also undermines your self-esteem which in turn makes your journey harder.  Congratulations are in order love Humdinger xx 

Thank you! I appreciate the support. I’ve gone through a long period of hating myself, snd as well my poor money habits, I think this is also a kind of habit. Getting out of the cycle of running out of cash and spending on the cards what I’d paid off has been an ongoing battle for 2 decades, so breaking that cycle in the last few months, is actually something I’m quite proud of. That, and despite all the chaos in my head and never having any money, my daughter is thriving, which I probably don’t give myself nearly enough credit for.

ive not done this for the last few months because my debt repayments really very nearly beat me, but up until early 2022, I’d been paying all the child benefit money into a savings account for my daughter. So having never saved a penny since I was a child for myself, my daughter has about £4500 in an ISA, which I’m also proud of and hope that what I’ve learned about money, and being really terrible with it, will help her not make the same mistakes. 

Anyway, went off in a tangent, but thanks again!! 

CMD79

KeepOnKnitting said:

I've just read from start to finish, and I definitely agree that you need to be less hard on yourself. Budgeting is difficult!

I've not got ADHD, yet I managed to pay a bill twice once by accident. It was my mortgage of all things!

You are making some fab progress, and I'm really glad that your husband has agreed to help you manage to make the money stretch through the month. Together you can get through this.

😆 I’m glad that can happen to other people! I feel a lot of, this could only happen to me! 😂 at least by credit card was 39.9%, so albeit, it’s made me feel very skint for a week, but a few early morning surveys, and it’s done me a favour!! 😂 

Yes, because half my problem was spending to keep up the pretence, but him supporting me has been a total game changer! 

Thank you for the encouragement! I really do feel like I’m going to be debt free very soon! (Relatively speaking!!) 😊 

CMD79

 

Car tax Direct Debit!!!



It's going to be a long night of surveys if my TV and broadband is going to get paid in 3 days time!!!