Everything's An Opportunity

savingholmes

Happy New Year.

Well done for reclaiming what you're owed so you can clear your own debts. My journey accelerated when I stopped trying to rescue others all the time.

LookingForPeace

savingholmes said:

Happy New Year.

Well done for reclaiming what you're owed so you can clear your own debts. My journey accelerated when I stopped trying to rescue others all the time.

Thank you Holmes, there's definitely something to think about there! I appreciate it. 

Great news - Argos is GONE! FINITO! 🎉 I was a bit scared to press the button to make that payment - what if I need the cash? - but having an emergency fund, however small (£549 right now), gave me the confidence. I also trust myself to keep spending in check. 

That brings my current debt owed down to £9570.73. The £140 I'd planned for Argos will now start going to Paypal from next month, which makes a total payment of £175. The balance is £708, so 4 months ish is the goal. If I can get there quicker, I will.

I've realised something I pay for each month through Paypal actually has the Paypal Credit set as the funding source - so it just gets added every month! Absolutely RIDICULOUS! At £34 a month, I would think at least half of the balance on the credit account will have been because of this. But it shows the benefit of tracking spending, other wise I might not have noticed for even longer...

I've also started thinking about what to do with paid off cards - whether to close them or not. My mindset is now to save for things I want, rather than buy it and spread the cost, so I won't want them for actual credit use. A couple have rewards/cashback, so that may be useful for a time where I will be paying the full balance.

I'd also feel a bit safer having a couple of thousand available until I have a larger emergency fund...

But at a total available credit of £41,000 across all cards, I surely won't even need all that in an emergency   

Anyway... hope you're all well.. happy new year to you lovely people 

bekah89

Yay goodbye Argos card!! Well done on getting under the 10k mark! 👏

Wow 41,000! Mine is 27,500 😆 but I figured I’ll keep them open as it keeps my credit utilisation down 

Toni'sfriend

Just read your diary from the beginning and wanted to say well done. That debt will be gone in no time at the rate you're going.

LookingForPeace

Thanks @bekah89 ! That's a good point about utilisation. A problem for another time I guess 

That's very sweet of you @Toni'sfriend - I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment! I am determined to reclaim that monthly money that's going on this 

Today was back to work... I'm absolutely shattered but managed everything I needed/wanted to do. Made sure I still did my yoga, checked YNAB was up to date. I'm now crashed out in front of "The Traitors" on catchup 

LookingForPeace

Hi all! 

Another couple of NSDs apart from direct debits coming out etc. 

I've struggled mentally a bit this week. Felt a bit low and no energy. Probably a combination of back to work + come down from Christmas + crappy weather.

My best friends have found a babysitter unexpectedly this weekend so we're off out to dinner. Let's just say they have expensive taste, and it's my turn to pay  There's a chance my whole eating out budget will be gone in one night, so I'm trying to see where I can bolster it up, as I do want to pay and I do want to go somewhere nice.

So far, I've cancelled my chiropractor appointment as I'm feeling loads better and don't really feel I need it right now. The Argos payment also ended up being a bit less than I thought as no interest was added for that month. As YNAB say, I'll "roll with the punches"  The good thing is that for the first time, I'm finding the money first, rather than getting the credit card out and thinking about it another time (or never again, truthfully).

Hope you're all well 

bekah89

Aw that’ll be nice though to have dinner out! Will hopefully make your week better. 

Atleast made some savings other places then that can go towards it! Enjoy! 

savingholmes

Well done on kicking the card into touch

LookingForPeace

Thanks Bekah and Holmes! 

I've just updated my spreadsheet with my latest balances after a few minimum payments and thought I'd post it here to show where I am so far. The extra cash in December from my friend and TopCashback really helped propel things forward quicker!

	Balance as of 10/12/2022	Latest Balance
Argos	583	0
Paypal	700	708.12
Santander	2154.56	2037.56
Halifax	2657.89	2597.89
MBNA	2240.00	2140.00
Barclaycard	1500.89	1439.89
Natwest	551.02	467.27
Total	10387.36	9390.73

All guns are focused on Paypal now. I'll probably have to wait until February to make a more decent payment (the £140 that was for Argos, plus the assigned £35), but January's scheduled £35 will go to it before then.

I've started to consider extra work to reach a tantalising stretch goal of paying this all off this year, rather than this year + a few months next year. Whether that would be working for someone else or creating something myself I'm not 100% sure yet, plus I don't really want the headache of a confusing tax situation. 

Talking of which - I've realised I'm on month 1 tax code (ending in X). I don't know how it works these days - will I possibly get a refund in April? Or do I need to contact HMRC? I should find out! I started a new role in June and have been on this tax code ever since by the looks of it.. so there may be a chance of some unexpected money back that can go towards banishing this debt!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but one of the best decisions I made in December was to switch to a new current account WITHOUT an overdraft. That I know this is the cash I have right now, and it won't automagically extend if I overspend. Psychologically, this has been huge for me. I know I have to pay attention. 

Anyway, waffling now - thanks as always!!

FootyFanDan

Hey, been following your progress quietly in the background but congratulations on getting shot of that Argos debt. There seems to have been a real mindset change from you and it seems to be doing the trick. Looking forward to seeing more debt gone for you