Here Goes...Starting Up on a Journey

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on mobile plan saving.  Every little helps indeed. 

Superhoopza

Keeping an eye on my balances on all three CRAs, they are now at the highest they'll get to, with MyCommunityFinance loan added and Starling bank opened (no overdraft). Balances should start getting recorded as coming down now in the coming months. 

It seems my Updraft loan is not going to be added which is interesting. I've had it open since October/November and it's not been reported, even though when I had one a couple of years ago it got added and it showing as a closed account on my files.

Superhoopza

Got charged no interest on the 118 card which is great, that is staying off. Got charged much more than expected (almost double) on Barclaycard. Have queried it with Barclaycard who don't understand and just tell me the formula for interest charges and say it is because I haven't paid my balance in full (thanks genius). I've also asked the question in the credit card forum for further help. 

Superhoopza

From querying my interest charges with Barclaycard, I got a 3 month interest waiver. Should save me about £200

stymied

Have you double checked that the interest holidays won’t result in arrangement to pay markers on your credit file?

Superhoopza

stymied said:

Have you double checked that the interest holidays won’t result in arrangement to pay markers on your credit file?

Yes I asked twice and have the transcript to prove it in case they appear on my file. I was assured it was just an internal goodwill gesture and nothing different will be reported to the CRAs. 

stymied

Excellent! Great saving

benbenandme

Hello Superhoopza, have just read all your thread and wanted to say good luck with your journey! I know you have said that you can't take on a second job due to working long hours, have you looked at all other ways of finding extra bits and bobs - Tesco Clubcard, Nectar card etc, surveys - a lot of survey sites aren't worth the effort any more however Prolific and Pinecone are the two I have stuck with as you don't get screened out and they pay a decent amount for the time spent on them. None of these things will bring in huge amounts but as you said earlier every little helps, and if this means you can have the odd treat here and there along the way it makes the whole process more bearable. Good luck!

Superhoopza

benbenandme said:

Hello Superhoopza, have just read all your thread and wanted to say good luck with your journey! I know you have said that you can't take on a second job due to working long hours, have you looked at all other ways of finding extra bits and bobs - Tesco Clubcard, Nectar card etc, surveys - a lot of survey sites aren't worth the effort any more however Prolific and Pinecone are the two I have stuck with as you don't get screened out and they pay a decent amount for the time spent on them. None of these things will bring in huge amounts but as you said earlier every little helps, and if this means you can have the odd treat here and there along the way it makes the whole process more bearable. Good luck!

Thank you. I've signed up and am on the waiting list for Prolific but no idea how long that will take. Never heard of pinecone but I'll check them out. I'm on Y-live and have got £9 in credit so far but the minimum cash out is £50 so will have to wait a while for that to pay.

Thanks for the support. I am still treating myself and partner, just more in moderation now and have cut out what got me into debt.

Superhoopza

Plan for the next 3 months:

Not a cheap period, got some big events/trips, aim is to not increase credit balances in that period whilst still paying down the loans by £1270 a month. Then I can attack the balances in Q3 which is far quieter.

In terms of the cards:
I have a £3k balance on barclaycard, I have about £1500 available credit on other cards. I am hopeful for a small pay rise, small bonus and potentially a tax relief rebate because of not recovering the full 40% on my pension contributions for the past 2 years, all to hopefully come in April. Hopefully all of this can add up to paying off the barclaycard in full. That means I can then have monthly spending on barclaycard and pay no interest monthly after the 3 month interest holiday is over. If I am then able to do that, I won't need to have my monthly spending on 118 and can close that card. This is where I have a question so wondered people's opinions. Closing the 118 card will reduce my total credit available by £4k, potentially helping to get a 0% card down the line, but also increase my utilisation. Which would have a bigger impact if my total debt remains pretty much the same?