The Final Bite of the Cherry- Journey to Clear £66k

outoftheviciouscircle

Today I had a lovely surprise. I knew I could start shopping around for new mortgage deals 6 months before my current fix ends. That was what I thought was May 1st. I haven't been looking forward to this at all. Our deal is currently at 1.04% and the cheapest we could get was 4.19% meaning a monthly increase of over £300. I logged into Nationwide to see if if there were any different offers and it told me I would incur an early repayment charge as my current fix does not end until 30th September 2024. I don't know if anything changed when we bought this house last year but whatever it is, I'll take it!! Thats £3300 saved over the 11 months I thought I was going to be paying a higher rate. Maybe I can hold onto some hope that interest rates will lower over the next 17 months!!

shoppingobsessed2020

thats fantastic news on the mortgage renewal!  an extra 3K towards debt is how im looking at it.  

Jrcoal5

That’s brilliant news on your mortgage!! I do think that interest rates will drop slightly towards the end of the year and that is the thoughts of a few mortgage advisors I speak to also so let’s keep fingers crossed they do.

it was lovely to see you in the PAD challenge and the PAYDBXmas23 challenge to xx

outoftheviciouscircle

Thanks both, it was such a lovely surprise, I feel like I have a bit of breathing space now and should at least have rid of all the credit card debt by then.

@Jrcoal5 so many people say it spurs them on so I thought I would give it a go again. If I just use Prolific payments as a PAD and pay a £1 towards debt on days I have no extra then I know it does add up.

A mystery shopping company I used to do some work for called me yesterday and asked if I would do a visit today at a local restaurant. It only pays £5, but its 100% reimbursement for 2 mains and 2 drinks. I accepted it as we haven't eaten out since we really got stuck into this debt repayment.

I have made a £5.35 PAD to the debt to FIL today, that came from Prolific and another £5.05 has been approved overnight. I withdraw any money just before bed so hopefully tomorrows PAD will be even bigger.
I see a lot of people having successes with Vinted, I have a few bits and pieces so I may take a look at that today.
I did a little comping yesterday too, I've done this on and off for years and have won quite a few prizes but it has always been something thats been no good to me, so I decided to only enter competitions I wouldn't mind winning.

In other news, I have set a debt free date........At the moment I am thinking it will take 4 years to get rid of all this debt. It will be a long journey so I am aiming for May 2027. I will review every few months to ensure that its on track. I'm hoping that this is worst case scenario but if thats what it takes, so be it.

Have a great day everyone

Jrcoal5

2027 isn’t far away at all, considering just how fast the months tick on by! 

The mystery shop seems like to good a deal to turn down, free food! Amazing! 

I buy almost all of my clothes from Vinted now but only sold a couple I should really give that a go myself however I am the exact opposite to a hoarder and I clear out on a weekly basis so it would have to sell quick or I just need rid of it to charity shop out the way, I literally keep nothing unless it is regular used or regular worn, it has its pros and cons 😂 

outoftheviciouscircle

@Jrcoal5 thats the same as me, I don't have loads to sell like some people as I don't tend to hold onto stuff if I don't need it anymore. I have a couple of nice dresses that I have been saying for years 'one day, I'll fit into them again' but it never happens so I guess now its time to bit the bullet and get some cash for them.
I wish I never asked you about Creation, I found my account number, tried to register for an account but it told me I already have one. When I try and log in, I get my email address doesn't isn't registered. I've sent them an email and hopefully they can sort it for me.

Yesterday was a good day. Prolific was very kind to me and I ended up cashing out £20.57, I also cashed out £5 from Shoppix meaning my PAD today was £25.57. As I had a few good paying surveys yesterday, I probably won't get any today but I'm ahead of my aim of getting an extra £5 a day.

I enjoyed the mystery shop last night, I may log back into some of the accounts and see whats about. I used to earn some good money from Mystery shopping but I think a lot of companies are choosing cheaper ways to assess customer service these days. Even if I can do £20 worth a week it all adds up. Just makes my tax return a little confusing.

We've just had 100 bags of stones delivered to finish off the side garden. Guess I know what I'm doing today but first I need to get myself ready and complete my little side hustle.

Jrcoal5

Oh sorry! I had a bit of chew with it to start with to but managed to get logged in eventually and now it’s pretty easy hope they get back to you quickly so u can get that sorted and start chipping away at that.

WOW a 100 bags 💼 of stones that sounds like hard work hope you don’t have to move them to far xx

outoftheviciouscircle

A bit late checking in today, it's been a really busy day.

Seems I've really thrown myself into the mystery shopping again, I've completed 4 today. I won't do that many on a regular basis, its just because I'm on annual leave from my main job. 4 shops £47 made. I haven't quite decided what to do with this money, I would like to start working on a fund to pay my insurances annually rather than monthly so I have more spare cash a month. I'll have a think about that.

£1 PAD made to the FIL loan today, I'm not quite at the payout threshold for Prolific and I've been out all day today so haven't been on my laptop to keep an eye out for anything.

I came home to find out my nan appears to have had a mini stroke this morning. She's been at the hospital since 2pm and is still in the ambulance and has been told to be prepared to spend the night in there. She confused, upset and it just seems so unfair on her with her being 92 years old too. Fingers crossed they find her a bed soon.

outoftheviciouscircle

What a lovely day it is today. I completely overdressed, went out and wow I was boiling.

Today has just been another £1 PAD, I haven't been home much to do a lot of surveys etc and I haven't got around to listing anything on Vinted. That will have to be a job for next weekend.

Today I have been out for lunch, another mystery shop, that paid me £5 and the 2 meals were reimbursed 100%, so I suppose that saves us the cost of food and the electric to put the oven on. I also did one other short 5 minute job for £14. We have another credit card that we never put anything on except for when we go on holiday as it has no fees abroad. We've been using that so we can see exactly what we need to pay off when I get paid and how much I actually made. I was very surprised to see that I should be getting the money for all these shops by next Friday. I always seem to remember waiting for ages to get paid.

In other news, my nan is now in the A&E department, waiting for a bed on the stroke ward. A ex colleague of mines, mother had a stroke on Monday and got taken to the same hospital. She was waiting for a bed for 4 days. Hopefully it won't be that long for my Nan.

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weekend.

Jrcoal5

So sorry to hear about your poor Nan has she got a bed yet? Sending lots of love xx