Trying to get the balance right

Mrsfreshstart2023

peb said:

Maybe the minimum plus a fiver if you can manage it,  will prevent suggestions that you are in persistent debt and Al may help with the finding of new offers

Thank you for this. I didn't know this was a thing! Very helpful advice.

Mrsfreshstart2023

Lonelygambler said:

^ Good advice this. 

I’m currently snowballing my debt. Focusing all extra payments on one card and then paying minimums plus a bit extra on others. 

Keep going! 

I'm definitely going to give this a go next month. I feel like if I don't do it this way come November I probably won't have paid enough off this card to clear it. 

It's saves the need of another balance transfer fee which I'm hoping going forward I won't need.

Good luck on your own DF journey x

jokono

Natwest and Santander have no fee 0% balance transfer cards. The Santander one is only 0% for 12 months, Natwest used to be 22 months but it's now 13 I think, but rinse and repeat every year.

I'm doing what others have suggested with keeping savings and paying a bit more than minimum, and haven't paid a balance transfer fee in a very long time.

LadyWithAPlan

On YNAB I find that the reporting eg what you have actually spent vs your budget has really positively impacted my life and spending 

I suggest you watch Nick True YouTub videos on set up for YNAB as he makes it so simple 
I have been a keen budgeter for decades - spreadsheets , virtual
pots etc but YNAB has really made me look at where I spend or have transferred money out of one pot to another - my savings have gone up, my net asset value has gone up -  I can see my habits and where i choose to change and what’s important to me 
I honestly think the time taken to learn YNAB is so worth it - after a couple months it becomes fun and much easier 

there is a great thread on Reddit on YNAB - all raving about it and I can’t disagree - i spent years saying I don’t need it but 5+ months in I  so impressed by it - even in December seeing all my cash going out beyond my budgeted Xmas spend YNAB made me stop myself from those last extra gifts 

Spendless

I genuinely didn't know that about making min payment plus a little bit till I saw the above comments. Then I  had a think about it and realised we were doing that anyway, just because we rounded the payment up to £100 per month purely so it made it easier to keep track of, what we owed each month versus our growing savings to pay off. 

Think I'll also take a look at YNAB. 

Mrsfreshstart2023

I've been  trying YNAB free trial and I don't think it's for me. I'm going to keep persevering until the trial is up to see if I can get my head around it. I have watched the YouTube videos which helped.

Plan for tomorrow is to set up standing orders from my bill account to a different account to start building a credit card pot. My plan is to pay approx £50 off each card then put the other £400 (split up into smaller chunks) into another current account as I'm not sure I'll get much interest on instant access. Something I could look into though 🙂

Mrsfreshstart2023

So my little 20 year old car has pretty much died 🫣😫. I need my car for work so need to look at replacing it.

I know these things happen and can't be helped but I feel like as soon as I make good progress and see the credit card figures going down something happens. 

Could anybody give me any advice on the best route (other than cash/savings) to replace my car? 

I was thinking of making the purchase on a credit card and paying 0%, this will add approx another year until we are credit card free. Other than that I think a monthly hp, lease or a loan will cost me more in interest.

What I have noticed since starting this debt free journey is the change in mind set when considering making purchases and how these will be paid. I think the old me would be just hoy it on the credit card and we will think about it later. These days I really beat myself up about needing to use any kind of finance. 

Thank you for reading my rant ❤️ 

londoner2019

Mrsfreshstart2023 said:

What I have noticed since starting this debt free journey is the change in mind set when considering making purchases and how these will be paid. I think the old me would be just hoy it on the credit card and we will think about it later. These days I really beat myself up about needing to use any kind of finance. 

Just read your diary from start to finish - you're doing SO WELL. Please don't beat yourself up at all! 

Little things like the above, the change in mindset, are far more important in the long run that setbacks like garage doors and cars breaking. Life happens - there will always be something annoying to slow you down. But you're making progress! Think if you hadn't cut the debt down - you'd still have these things to shell out for.

Another thing to say re: YNAB, spreadsheets etc. Whatever works for you, go with it. I'm a spreadsheets guy, and a bit obsessive at that, so I don't mind filling it out. But I know not everyone is like me - writing it down works too. As long as you feel in control of what you can control, and accept that the stuff outside your control you can't do much about anyway, then that's ok.

Final piece of advice - I used to try and pay down more than I could realistically do - or make a super ambitious budget. Found that I'd run out of money a lot. So I was less hard on myself, put money aside for other things (emergencies, trips, Christmas), and paid the debt down more slowly. I actually think that it ended up being quicker than trying to get it all gone.

Wishing you luck on your journey!

Mrsfreshstart2023

londoner2019 said:

Mrsfreshstart2023 said:

What I have noticed since starting this debt free journey is the change in mind set when considering making purchases and how these will be paid. I think the old me would be just hoy it on the credit card and we will think about it later. These days I really beat myself up about needing to use any kind of finance. 

Just read your diary from start to finish - you're doing SO WELL. Please don't beat yourself up at all! 

Little things like the above, the change in mindset, are far more important in the long run that setbacks like garage doors and cars breaking. Life happens - there will always be something annoying to slow you down. But you're making progress! Think if you hadn't cut the debt down - you'd still have these things to shell out for.

Another thing to say re: YNAB, spreadsheets etc. Whatever works for you, go with it. I'm a spreadsheets guy, and a bit obsessive at that, so I don't mind filling it out. But I know not everyone is like me - writing it down works too. As long as you feel in control of what you can control, and accept that the stuff outside your control you can't do much about anyway, then that's ok.

Final piece of advice - I used to try and pay down more than I could realistically do - or make a super ambitious budget. Found that I'd run out of money a lot. So I was less hard on myself, put money aside for other things (emergencies, trips, Christmas), and paid the debt down more slowly. I actually think that it ended up being quicker than trying to get it all gone.

Wishing you luck on your journey!

Thank you so much 💓  you have no idea how much I needed to hear that.

Mrsfreshstart2023

So I got the new car 🚗, ended up applying for 0 % for 19 month purchase credit card and have set up a direct debit for £100 per month. I was able to part exchange my old car and in the end paid £5k for the new car which has all went onto the new credit card. 

I'm feeling very disorganised with my debt at the moment. I have just returned from our family holiday and I didn't pay the usual £5- 600 off the cards like usual. I think off the top of my head I paid £350, which isn't great. 

I'm going to sit down tomorrow and get all my figures together so I know where I'm at.

Hope everyone has had a lovely day 💗