Debt Free in 2008

hbl_2

Who is going to be debt free in 2008?

You can see from my sig that I won't be! I'll still have close to £18,000 in student loan.

However January will signal a real gear change for me, as on Friday I will pay off my graduate loan, and only the student loan will remain from my various university lifestyle related debt.

I do not intend to pay off my student loan any sooner than it comes out of my salary - the reason being is I intend to save and invest against it as it is an inflation only rate loan and represents a 'cheap' loan for the future.

So while I won't be 'debt free', I will need to start acting as though I am, and begin saving and investing accordingly. The idea is to earn more interest on my savings, than I'm being charged on my loan, which I think will be around the £8,000 mark.

That's the next goal, which I think will take a year to 18 months, and then it's a foot race to break zero! Be in the black for the first time in my adult life. Before I'm 30?

chocaholic110

I'm the same as you - will be debt free other than student loan and I'm not intending to pay that off any faster than I need to.

MissEyre

I still have a good few years before I have cleared my loan (can't make overpayments :mad: ) but am really going to go for some challenges next year, and see if I can start saving up for some bits that need doing round the house. Grocery Challenge here I come!

Fortheloveofmoney

I'm on target to be debt free by the end of May 2008. Afterwards I plan to loosen up my budget a little (£100 extra per month) and then plough the rest into the wedding/house moving savings account.

bored_of_debt

I'm hoping to be debt free in 2008!! I'll be paying it off right up to the wire but I should be able to do it!!

Fortheloveofmoney

MissEyre wrote: »

I still have a good few years before I have cleared my loan (can't make overpayments :mad: ) but am really going to go for some challenges next year, and see if I can start saving up for some bits that need doing round the house. Grocery Challenge here I come!

I also have a loan I can't make overpayments on but I save money towards it in a high interest account every month and will pay it off in full in May. I really won't save any money by doing this as the interest was front loaded however I will be paying it back a year early and it will mean I start married life off debt free which is more important to me.

Is this an option for you?

Zabl

I am definately without a doubt going to be Debt Free in 2008.
Have been really stupid lately and run up a bit of money on a CC that was at £0. Am so annoyed with myself, but vouch to get back on the wagon, do some ebaying and going on a money diet in the new year.
I'm going to find out how much my student loan is too, got a feeling it close to £18,000 if not slightly more!

hbl_2

I think it's important that you reward your frugality if you're coming out of debt. For me it was a great motivator to think, "by paying this off at an accellorated rate, I have saved £2000 in interest payments alone." That money is real, and while I haven't earned it yet, I defenitely feel as though I have.

So part of me wants to reward myself with it, and the other part wants to invest it, because I didn't just save £2000 over 5 years, I saved £2000 plus interest over 5 years.

I think a good compromise is to budget an extra £1000 to spend on whatever in the new year and then get back to how I've been living the past 18 months and just save everything.

I need to figure out where to put it all though. Need to learn all about ISAs and Regular Savings Accounts. I figure Feb and Mar, get as much into my ISA as possible, then in April get a new one with a better rate. I need to determine if it's better to max it out asap, or make a regular payment (£250 a month) to max it out within the year, while saving the remainder elsewhere.

angelavdavis

I cleared off the cc debts this year, but will be hoping to pay off the loan in 2008. I have been paying all my spare cash into an offset for my mortgage - I can't overpay the loan but can settle it in full, so once I have enough cash in the offset to settle the loan, this is what I intend to do and pay the loan payment into the offset too to build it back up again.

betti911

2009 for me I'm afraid

mrsspendalot

I'm going to be debt free in 2008 and I can't wait!