Geriatricmum vs inner voice: A monologue

MFWannabe

Have you ever looked at the Ramsey podcasts? 

He states to build up an emergency fund of £1000 and then smashing the debts. It makes sense as you don’t then have to rely on credit in an emergency 

id also look to see if you could get the high interest credit cards on to 0%. Use the link on this site and it will tell you if you’re likely to get a new 0% card without doing a hard search 

Geriatricmum

Had a chat with hubby last night, he has a similar amount of credit card debt to me but his are all on 0% deals just now and for roughly the next year. We agreed we needed an emergency fund but I really want to pay down my higher interest debt.
We agreed to start popping money into an emergency fund once I've gotten rid of my barclaycard and once a loan we took out is paid off (last payment date is May) that gives me 4 months to get Barclaycard off my back.

We've added all our debt CC's, loans, Mortgage onto the spreadsheet (inner voice is OBSESSED with it) so we can keep track of where we are, I think having something I can look at and see the numbers going down will help me tackle my debt and curb my spending.

We have changed the password to the next account also, I do not know it. ><

Geriatricmum

MFWannabe said:

Have you ever looked at the Ramsey podcasts? 

He states to build up an emergency fund of £1000 and then smashing the debts. It makes sense as you don’t then have to rely on credit in an emergency 

id also look to see if you could get the high interest credit cards on to 0%. Use the link on this site and it will tell you if you’re likely to get a new 0% card without doing a hard search 

I'll have a wee listen of the podcasts, thank you.

I've had a look and I can get a couple of balance transfer cards but they are all high interest rates (over 30%) I'm also nervous to apply as I've only been in my job for 3 months and I don't want a failed credit application on my credit report.

I've got some space on my Mbna card at 0% for 12 months. I'll have a proper look tonight while the kids are in bed and have a discussion with inner voice. 

Geriatricmum

enthusiasticsaver said:

Having emergency savings mean you don't need to rely on credit if you have an unavoidable bill.  It is very demotivating to pay down the cards then have to put an expense on them increasing the debt again.  However if you have debts on high interest I think there is a case for throwing all spare income at the debts until a plan is in place before saving for emergencies. 

I'll be decreasing the limit on my Barclaycard so I don't spend on it, so I don't get into that situation. If the money isn't there I can't spend it! 

Spendless

How are you paying the 0% debts off? Are they due to be paid once the 0% deal finishes? What we do with ours is we divided how much we needed to pay back till 0% finishes. This is £700pm. We then pay £100 p.m off the CC as the min payment, the other £600 is saved in a higher interest account. The interest gained can then be used for an alternative reason including but not limited to  creating an EF, paying back other debt, reducing the debt term or having something for the house/family/yourself. 

twiggy86

Sorry I'm siding with the inner voice! I have been back here a few times and had the same view as you - i.e. debts being priority 1. However this time around I saved up my emergency fund first and I feel in such a better place! Yes it was hard not seeing the debt numbers go down whilst I was saving up the EF, but I feel like I have so much more control of things now I have it. 

Geriatricmum

Spendless said:

How are you paying the 0% debts off? Are they due to be paid once the 0% deal finishes? What we do with ours is we divided how much we needed to pay back till 0% finishes. This is £700pm. We then pay £100 p.m off the CC as the min payment, the other £600 is saved in a higher interest account. The interest gained can then be used for an alternative reason including but not limited to  creating an EF, paying back other debt, reducing the debt term or having something for the house/family/yourself. 

I haven't come up with a plan yet. Before I started listening to inner voice I was just paying the minimum on a direct debit.
Right now inner voice thinks it's a good idea to continue with minimum payments to Virgin and MBNA and throwing whatever spare cash I have at Barclaycard.

Inner voice: "you should run your cards through a credit card repayment calculator"
Me: "that will make me feel low, it'll take years to pay off these cards"
Inner voice: "time to face reality, put your big girl pants on and do it"
Me: "FINE!" *STOMPS OFF

Inner voice: "oh, and delete the shopping apps from your phone!" 
Me: “UGH, WHY DO YOU HATE ME?!“

Geriatricmum

twiggy86 said:

Sorry I'm siding with the inner voice! I have been back here a few times and had the same view as you - i.e. debts being priority 1. However this time around I saved up my emergency fund first and I feel in such a better place! Yes it was hard not seeing the debt numbers go down whilst I was saving up the EF, but I feel like I have so much more control of things now I have it. 

Inner voice thanks you. 

MFWannabe

twiggy86 said:

Sorry I'm siding with the inner voice! I have been back here a few times and had the same view as you - i.e. debts being priority 1. However this time around I saved up my emergency fund first and I feel in such a better place! Yes it was hard not seeing the debt numbers go down whilst I was saving up the EF, but I feel like I have so much more control of things now I have it. 

Me too! Even if it’s a few hundred pound to start off with 
You’ll feel so much better having something to fall back on 

enthusiasticsaver

Geriatricmum said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

Thats a good start to your diary.  Love the introduction and the constant battle between the inner voice and your  brain.  

Tackling the Barclaycard given that is the most expensive card and building up some savings for emergencies seems to be a good plan moving forward. It must be tricky keeping track of all those different 0% deals as well. 

Inner voice told me to make a spreadsheet! So I asked my husband to make one ha! I was going to pop a screen grab of it on here but it doesn't seem to work, there's colours and everything, DH is so talented.

I love spreadsheets.  Even better if they are in colour.  Is that to flag up when the deals are up? 

Did you manage to pay the car repair bill without using the credit cards?  If so that is a positive but if your grocery budget has taken a bashing I guess juggling money for January may be your only option.  That is why you need an EF but you were so unlucky to have an emergency on the first month of trying to get sorted.