Kezzy's debt journey 2024

MFWannabe

Well done, great start! 

I would leave the balance transfer search in approx 5 months, there’s no point doing it now when you still have seven months left and by month 5 you will have paid off more debt

kezzygirl

Thanks mfw, it's been nice to get this all down on paper. Feels like some sort of achievement! 

Aimingforthegoodlife

Good work on paying one debt off so far! Sounds like you have a good plan, best of luck!

kezzygirl

Good morning all, thought I would update as it has been a month!! 

 I am on leave this week which is blissful given how much I have been working to save for holiday spending. Over the next 2 weeks I am working 52hr weeks, with the 3rd week of the month I am working 65hrs before our holiday at the end of the month. Trying to gather the energy to actually do the work now that I have booked it! But anyway, enough of that. 

Last month I looked at our soa and have reduced those payments I have been able to:
Mortgage overpayment reduced to £50 a month 
Gas and electricity reduced to £180 a month, given we are almost £500 in credit. Would rather the money in my pocket than theirs!
This will allow for additional payments to the sainsburys credit card which is due in August!! Current balances:
Sainsburys bank £3382-i have been doing round ups from my bank every couple of days so this will reduce through the month. I am loathe to seek out another balance transfer card to transfer this to and feeling motivated to clear it before it expires.

Barclaycard £7469  we owe £4328 of this and our daughter owes the remainder

Natwest £6800 I managed to do a balance transfer from my husbands hsbc card which would have expired August 23, 0% and no fee til March 2025. First statement has not yet been produced so I am not sure what the monthly payment will be. 

Mbna loan over four years £9601 owed

I must confess to taking out a virgin 0%purchases card for 13 month which has a balance of £490, though I am due a refund for some clothes I returned to very. I purchased some holiday clothing and had every intention of paying it off on payday but our focus has been adding to holiday savings. Il pay it off in March pay. 

Currently we have £3200 saved for our trip, where we are going is very cheap for food etc and the resort we are staying at includes meals but not drinks so I anticipate we will not spend all of this. 

I am planning on adding my extra shifts to the savings to accumulate a £1000 emergency fund and on return from holiday will be hitting the debts hard. Come April I will also be asking for a refund on my student loan, unsure how much that will be!

On the gambling front, I did purchase, with my husband, a couple of £5 scratchcards and we won £30! Put the money straight into our pot in the cupboard which is sealed and will be opened just before hol.

We are also managing to keep to budget for food and I am making an itinerary of food we actually need every week, rather than guessing and shoving straight in online basket. 

All in all, it's nice to feel a bit more in control of money and to have some focus. The debt is big, but manageable. We are lucky to have the resources to pay it down-just need to keep that focus and determination!!

enthusiasticsaver

As you have a surplus each month is there a reason you bought clothes on a 0% card rather than use your own money?  It might be worth moving away from using credit as it can very easily spiral especially if you have a gambling personality. Do you use savings pots for things like clothes, car expenses, holidays? 

You have a decent surplus but you do have high credit card balances a lot of which will start charging interest in August if you don't BT so I think I would focus on paying that down after your holiday.

kezzygirl

enthusiasticsaver said:

As you have a surplus each month is there a reason you bought clothes on a 0% card rather than use your own money?  It might be worth moving away from using credit as it can very easily spiral especially if you have a gambling personality. Do you use savings pots for things like clothes, car expenses, holidays? 

You have a decent surplus but you do have high credit card balances a lot of which will start charging interest in August if you don't BT so I think I would focus on paying that down after your holiday.

I have a couple of pots- a joint account with my husband for yearly expenses (insurances, car tax etc) and we add £300 to this every month. That said, we usually dip into this. 
I have an 8% saver with nationwide which I'm using for background savings for future. Currently has a rather pitiful £180 in as I withdrew some last month. 
I don't have pots as such for particular expenses, these come out of the £300 a month we are supposed to be saving for yearly expenses. Maybe it would be a good idea to set up individual pots? But barclays, my main provider don't do this. I have a starling account card that I use for holiday spending as conversion rate is good. 

I admit I'm needing to get out of the mindset of using credit to make purchases. After our holiday at the end of this month I'm going to really dip into paying off sainsburys. Just need to stop spending!

enthusiasticsaver

Starling do savings pots.  We have five attached to our joint current account. Monthly Bills,  Christmas, Holidays, Car and House. 

Moving away from using credit cards gets you into a mindful habit of spending as you have to think about whether you can really afford something before buying.  Spending on credit is generally easier as dealing with it is at some point in the future hence why it is much easier to get into debt and then worry about repaying it later. 

kezzygirl

enthusiasticsaver said:

Starling do savings pots.  We have five attached to our joint current account. Monthly Bills,  Christmas, Holidays, Car and House. 

Moving away from using credit cards gets you into a mindful habit of spending as you have to think about whether you can really afford something before buying.  Spending on credit is generally easier as dealing with it is at some point in the future hence why it is much easier to get into debt and then worry about repaying it later. 

There is the option to pay into a savings pot, do I just set one up for each yearly expense? It says to set up payment, would this be direct from my wage? Guess il need to work out insurances, tax, home insurance etc cost and set a pot for each. I think this would defo be better than having a lump sum in an account every month which usually gets spent!

LeedsOnTheUp

I was in the mindset of just waiting for 0% deals to roll around and it never happened, now I've cancelled all direct debits and awaiting defaults from all creditors. You've made some great moves here but getting the extra virgin 0% deal is not a great idea. I'm just telling you from experience that it's easy to think you're in control but there are circumstances beyond your control here (waiting for 0% renewals) and by getting out yet more credit you've further hampered the chances of those working out. I'm not meaning to scare you here but just trying to be realistic.

kezzygirl

LeedsOnTheUp said:

I was in the mindset of just waiting for 0% deals to roll around and it never happened, now I've cancelled all direct debits and awaiting defaults from all creditors. You've made some great moves here but getting the extra virgin 0% deal is not a great idea. I'm just telling you from experience that it's easy to think you're in control but there are circumstances beyond your control here (waiting for 0% renewals) and by getting out yet more credit you've further hampered the chances of those working out. I'm not meaning to scare you here but just trying to be realistic.

No no, you aren't scaring me, I completely agree. I am due a refund to the virgin card of about £120 from very, going to chase them up for that tomorrow. My concern too is that the 0%deals will run out. I am lucky in my job that bank shifts are bountiful, therefore I have the option to work more and earn extra. The 13hr shifts are exhausting though.