Debt, Endo and Reno

birdsfoottrefoil

in_need_of_direction said:

Be grateful you didn’t bring the expensive wine

Thanks!!! Best way to look at it…

birdsfoottrefoil

Direct debits have gone out for all but 1 card. Had a bit of a panic as I owe more then I did on my SOA… have realised I made a mistake in that and S CC should have been £5,670 so the total debt should have been £28,741. 

So debt now stands at £28,415. When I have bits come in later in the month from the cottage I’ll start paying extra amounts off. I might round my DDs up to the next 10 from what the minimum is now and leave them at that for the start of the month going forward, then pay off extras as money comes in. Or is it better keeping at minimums and just focus on over paying the ones with the highest interest? I think psychologically I like the idea of having Dads that are above the minimum and stay the same each month.  I should probably prioritise my debts for what to pay off first as well… 

vampirotoothus

Hi, yes, use the snowball calculator. Set all the DDs up for slightly above the minimum (next £5) and then chuck everything at the first account the snowball identifies as your target. Good luck V x

birdsfoottrefoil

Direct Debits not dads….

birdsfoottrefoil

Having a bit of a nightmare with the lemon fool snow ball calculator. It won’t work as it keeps saying there’s errors as it’s assuming all optional bits ie the intro APR have to be filled in as the year bit is automatically at 2020. The same with the other debts lines I don’t need. 

jokono

I used this app when paying off debt

https://www.debtpayoffplanner.com/

birdsfoottrefoil

jokono said:

I used this app when paying off debt

https://www.debtpayoffplanner.com/

Great thanks I’ll give it a go!

birdsfoottrefoil

So my plan is to split my overpayments between the Tesco and Lloyds cards. It’s all split into the different interest rates on the SOA on each card as both have some in 0% and some paying interest. Tesco has the highest interest rate but Lloyds frequently offers me 0% balance transfers. So when I get over a £1000 space on that card I can transfer some of the balance from the Tesco one onto there and reduce
my interest. To get a bit of a start I’ve transferred an extra £50 from my savings to the Tesco card. 

I need to get the overall balance down before next April as I need to remortgage then. They’ve given me permission to let the house on my current deal but when that comes to an end I need to change to a new product for holiday letting. So I know people constantly say they don’t credit check you, but I’m with quite a small building society which doesn’t always operate in a normal way. Aim is to get it to at least under 25k by then, would have like to be sub 20k but I don’t think I’ll make enough per month for that! My salary has gone up to just over £39,000 so I’m hoping that will help as well with the mortgage application. 

birdsfoottrefoil

Morning!

It’s payday today and had a tot up of the debts. Sadly even with the extra income it’s only gone down £194 over the month. A bit dispiriting! Mainly interest and paid two bills off the Santander card (cash flow as I thought money would be in from guest but actually it takes 5 days after they leave to process) so need to add that money back in! Feel it should be better as I over paid the Tesco card earlier in the month. However it is the first month in probably a year that it’s actually gone down.

I was hoping to pay more off but it was a more expensive month than expected. I agreed to a few social things thinking I was more affluent and have rather learnt my lesson!! I was supposed to be going on a mini break abroad with the OH at the end of October. We hadn’t booked it yet so I’ve had a chat with him that I can’t afford it, instead we’re going to have a weekend away in the UK on a budget.

Looking at estimated earning on the cottage for the coming month I should be making about 50% more than September. Feeling rather knackered juggling a full time job and changeovers at the cottage but it will be worth it!! I have compromised with getting a laundry service for the linen (works out about £25 per stay) as it was impossible in our little house, also have put a min 2 nights on a Saturday night so theoretically I get one day off on the weekend. During the week I’m trying to book the day people leave out so I can clean that evening after work. 

So! Plan for this month:
- concentrate on staying in budget.
- build a better fund so I don’t end up with the cash flow issue again.
- pay off more debt!!!

birdsfoottrefoil

So! All my standard payments have gone out by now and debt stands at £27,850. This is likely to go up by about £215 with interest, so my aim is to overpay by at least that amount and definitely keep it under £28,000. 

I have had a positive today. I rang Santander as their bank to bank payments haven’t been working for me, after a long time on the phone and a sort of fix… they said they’d knock off the interest added as tried to over pay and it wouldn’t work. Thought they meant just the interest equivalent to the extra £70 I tried to transfer (so a couple of quid) but they’ve knocked off £100!! So unless they’ve made a mistake it’ll only be £115 in interest across my cards. Still going to aim for £215 in overpayments. On my Lloyds they’re offering me a 0% period, so I’ll over pay that a bit and then transfer at the end of the month so I can make the most of that. 

On the endo front periods are being weird (for want of a description!) , so just waiting at the GPs while I write this. I’ve booked myself for a yoga class on Friday night as I’ve not been in months and I think it’ll help with the stress. Busy day today and need to clean the house after work as I’ve guests coming in tomorrow. 

£300 in from the house so far this month, I’ve put £70 today towards Santander and will also do a payment towards my Lloyds. Do need to pay the laundry bill however which is £144.