The Three C's - Coffee, Clothes & Credit Cards

t2rry

Hi @Sarahwithlove

Regarding the ceiling plastering, have you looked into DIY options? There's a roll on plaster, Dalapro roll nova or Tourpret magic finishing kit (magic levelling kit if it's a rougher surface to begin with) are two well known versions, circa £40 per tub and you roll it on then go over with a smoothing blade. The tools are even provided in the Tourpret kits. Totally appreciate this is blind advice without understanding the work required (or the impact of such DIY on your back!) so it may not be relevant, but just in case you weren't aware of the option as it could save £££

Wishing both you and your Dad all the best, it can be so tough as roles and needs change. Be kind to yourself, we all fall into habits!

Sarahwithlove

Good evening all. its been a while again and ALOT has happened during that time. Lets start with the good news, my dad had an offer on his flat today which was accepted and he then made an offer on flat he liked which was also accepted. YAY!! he is going to be left with some cash from proceeds so need to think about how to best utilise it, got a while yet to decide. But thinking combo of ISA and premium bonds and then easy access saver.

Now on to me, work is manic again, another person handed in their notice, another goes on mat leave in 2 weeks and another 3-4 weeks after that. So basically overtime is going to be continuing for the foreseeable. I am doing about 1-2hrs a day at the moment 3-4 days a week. But this is likely to increase over next few weeks.

Money wise, my great aunt kindly gifted me 1k, so have put half in a holiday pot and other half in household fund to get my bathroom ceiling done. yes still haven't got it sorted. But later this week I am getting my flat deep cleaned as i have let it go, my dad has kindly given me the money for this as I have been doing so much to make his flat sellable that mine has slipped away from me.

Me and my cousin have also decided to renew our season ticket this year and then we will review it next season but hoping my friend is going to move to sit with us. I may have also found someone to take my ticket for midweek games when I am unable to go and give me money towards it.

Now on to the money situation. I have been juggling around again. After purchasing a new washing machine on my 0% credit card I realised actually I don't need such a high emergency fund or long term savings whilst in debt. Because whilst not ideal I will always have that option available to me as I am fortunate to be in a good financial situation. So I moved the money around and maxed my sinking fund to £2.5k and then created a separate pot for home maintenance. This currently holds £1640, which is £140 for the deep clean on Thursday, then remainder is for my bathroom ceiling. I am also considering having a gardener come in and help me sort my garden/driveway so its low maintenance going forward. My nephew keeps saying he is going to help me for a fee of course but we shall see, he finishes college for the summer soon so may be grateful to earn some cash and he's much cheaper labour.

Tesco credit card is at £3594.28 currently, I am hoping this month's pay I will be able to pay off around £500 which will put a big dent in it. Not likely to be able to sustain that long term but even with basic pay and £200 a month towards sinking fund, I would have £150 before overtime which is usually between £125-150 a month. So my aim is for £300 a month as then that would take about a year possibly to clear. Though my dad is talking about gifting his "tax" allowance each year from his proceeds of sale whilst he is still well enough to and doesn't need any care. But we shall see what happens, I don't want to rely on it.

Basically life is hectic and going to be alot of change between my dads situation and work as well, plus my own health issues which I haven't even touched on yet. not that I can say much until my GP appointment at end of May. Until then I am living on pain killers and muscle relaxants.

Sarahwithlove

I also rejoined slimming world, got another 12 weeks free from GP. this is week 4, down 4.5lbs so far which I am happy with as slow and steady wins the race. I also don't feel deprived or like I am missing out on anything at the moment.

Sarahwithlove

Ok so clearly I spoke too soon about having an emergency fund as my car went and died on me. Took to garage, basically told me the gearbox is gone and clutch needs replacing. They then referred me ti gearbox specialist garage as they don't do that themselves. Quoted approximately £1200 depending upon number of hours it takes. Car is worth about 2.5k and due its MOT and service in July, last year had quite few advisories, they gave it look over and probably looking at another £500-700. Therefore decided to send my car to car heaven, well next week it will be. Currently on my driveway, scrapyard offered me £600, we buy says £1400 but we all know that's likely to massively drop. Have guy from the gearbox specialist garage coming out this week to take a look at car as he buys them to do up and sell on or for parts. So will see what he offers before considering we buy.

So the general gist of it is I decided to bite the bullet and buy my "dream" car and took out a bank loan and used alot of savings. Now I know its not very MSE but my plan is to massively over pay it and I have spent the last 2 years with my 2nd choice car wishing i'd brought the one I wanted and looking online at used cars for sale. This is a 73 plate, got an extended warranty until october 27, mot due in feb 27, service done in jan 26, 25k miles. It gets about 47mpg which is excellent and drives beautifully. anyway my loan is for 11k with 5.9% interest rate, my plan is to overpay, overpay and overpay.

I do need to check when my 0% creditcard period ends, pretty sure have about 18 months left, so can work out how much ideally i would need to pay each month to clear it by then. Though part of me thinks just pay slightly above minimum and focus on loan as balance transfer rates are less than interest rate on loan. not sure if works like that? Please let me know your thoughts.

I updated my insurance, that gave me £4.13 refund on to credit card, so every little helps. Had to pay £200 for car tax, current vehicle was only £35 which is sad but I am very happy with my new car.

So I am now wondering whether I should consider starting a new diary or just carry on as is as my focus has now changed and I am determined to get this loan gone. I am going to update my signature as if started from scratch with new debts to focus on.

Willowtree222

Sometimes life takes some decisions away from us.

Having a reliable car is important though and the warranty till 2027 is good.

Sarahwithlove

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82001228#Comment_82001228

Yes thats very true, and its helped me refocus as well as bad habits have slipped back in again. I have rejigged my budget to include the loan payment and worked out on my basic wages I can pay £50 a month minimum towards my credit card debt. I am going to try call Tesco on Monday to get update on when my 0% period ends so I have something to work towards. Part of me thinks pay the extra from overtime towards the loan as I know my dad plans to gift me and my brothers some money from proceeds of his sale, i.e his £3k tax allowance each year. I will wait and see what happens and when that is before making any plans as to what I will do with it. But i am trying to make the most of the overtime I am doing as allowed to do 24 hours a month before have to request permission for additional hours, so aiming to make between £250-300 a month on overtime if I can.

Yes and being a newer reg hopefully be more reliable especially as I do alot of miles for work and 47 mpg for the car is great return on petrol so will hopefully be cheaper to run and make petrol last longer.

Sun_Addict

I don’t think a car loan can be considered a bad thing. Most people have them. Cars are expensive and not many people have that amount saved. It sounds like a car is a must for you so you’ve made the right decision.

Sarahwithlove

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82001318#Comment_82001318

Yes think most people do and i went for a bank loan as better interest rate than car finance and made sure it was affordable for me. just means being better with impulsive spending.

triple_choc_chip

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82001324#Comment_82001324

And that’s the beauty of being part of MSE. You understand how to get the best rate and you calculated it’s affordable and you have a lovely nearly new car to show for it as opposed to many who first join here and have no idea how they racked up ££££’s in debt.

I believe there’s good and bad debt; mortgages and car loans are not luxuries. Good luck overpaying, don’t burn out from too much overtime and I hope you can still afford the gym etc. in the new budget.

Sarahwithlove

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82001562#Comment_82001562

Yes definitely but I am also very aware now of what habits slip back in and cause overspending or reduce any potential overpayments. I think at least with a car and mortgage you have an asset at end of day and I will own car outright not have to find balloon payments or anything.