Paying off £37065 unsecured debt by July 2027 while continuing to travel this amazing world

Nintud

£37065, it’s a challenge, but I’m up for it.
The debt is made up of three credit cards, Very, a car loan, and a boob job loan 😆

I’m planning on combining the avalanche and snowball methods. I know it makes sense to overpay the higher interest Very debt first, but I need the quick win of waving goodbye to my smallest credit card.

I haven’t included my overdrafts in the challenge. I’m reducing my biggest overdraft facility by £50 each month, and I’m happy to let them both tick over for now.

Will take onboard any advice to the contrary though.

As of today;
MBNA £14,041.49 @ 23.76% pa (£14,000 limit)
Santander £10,647.69 @ 21.66% pa (£10,500 limit)
Nationwide £464.90 @ 16.9% pa (£500 limit)
Very £943.16 @ 42.9%

Car loan £5,204.85 (ends Dec 2025)
Boob loan £5748.60 (ends July 2026)

I’ve paid a tiny bit today, meaning the starting figure is from last night, and the debt figures are where I stand at this moment in time.

Nationwide O/D -£175.59 (£200 limit)
Santander O/D  -£2900 (£2900 limit, reducing by £50 per month)

As for travelling; I’m almost 54 and travelling while I’m still fit enough to do so. Mainly long weekends in Europe, but I also have longer trips to India (summer 2025) and New Zealand (summer 2026). I have reduced my weekend breaks while I pay off, and save for, the two big trips. Currently have five weekends away that are fully paid for. I do need to save money for travel and excursions while I’m away.

Thank you for reading this far 😁

Nintud

The repayment plan.

Chip away at MBNA with daily round ups (this will be pennies). Pay off Very (Feb 2025) and use that payment to overpay MBNA. Pay off car loan (Dec 2025) and add that repayment to MBNA. Pay off Surgery loan (July 2026) and add that repayment to MBNA. MBNA paid off Feb 2027. Throw everything at Santander until it’s all paid off July 2027.  Along the way I will throw some coppers at the Nationwide CC and add that payment (currently pay £25 plus odds and ends) to the MBNA payment.

I’m also selling my life on Vinted. I’m a dreadful hoarder of books, clothes, money boxes (who needs 70 empty money boxes 😆), Alice in Wonderland oddments and unicorns (yes, you read that right. I need to grow up). It’s all going.

I made £17.50 in sales today. Three dresses and a candle gone from the clutter 😁

liselle

Will you be posting a S.o.A.,Nintud?
Your life sounds very interesting and well-planned.Have you always loved to travel?

Very best wishes for all your journeys, to being debt-free and otherwise

Nintud

I .liselle said:

Will you be posting a S.o.A.,Nintud?
Your life sounds very interesting and well-planned.Have you always loved to travel?

Very best wishes for all your journeys, to being debt-free and otherwise

Thanks for dropping by 😁

will be doing a SOA in a few days time. I’m flying out to Switzerland early tomorrow and travelling to Liechtenstein on Saturday. Busy packing and tidying up today.

I’ve only been able to travel since my children grew up, and I jumped in feet first a year ago. In the last 12 months I’ve been to Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Albania and Cyprus. I travel as cheaply as possible but ensure I visit everything I want to while I’m away.  Hitting the buy button on a cheap flight is going to be hard.

My passport only has 8 months left on it, so that’s an expense I need to budget for very soon.

Just a £1.58 mortgage overpayment today.  I’ve budgeted £250 for my trip. Anything left over will be going to my MBNA card. I’m not expecting that to be much, Switzerland is expensive!

kezzygirl

You're over the limit on two of them-mbna and santander- so I would take those first as you're no doubt getting caned with charges?

Nintud

kezzygirl said:

You're over the limit on two of them-mbna and santander- so I would take those first as you're no doubt getting caned with charges?

I’m over the limits due to the interest being added to the cards. When that’s happened previously there has been no penalty charges Fingers crossed I escape charges this time.  I’ll definitely throw any ‘spare’ cash their way though.

11 days until pay day. Must not wish my life away.

Nintud

Another £1 from a Vinted sale. Better than spending a pound 😆

Sarahwithlove

I'm guessing you aren't eligible for any balance transfer cards? Is your overdraft interest free or does it have a cap? Just wondering if you are being charged more in interest on those than your cards? 

Nintud

Sarahwithlove said:

I'm guessing you aren't eligible for any balance transfer cards? Is your overdraft interest free or does it have a cap? Just wondering if you are being charged more in interest on those than your cards? 

No hope of a balance transfer, my credit rating is fair at best.

There is interest charged on my overdrafts. Not much on Nationwide as I bounce in and out of that throughout the month. Santander interest is high as my salary paid to that account isn’t enough to get me out of overdraft. It’s been like this for years. I’ve put my big girl pants on and started to reduce the overdraft limit by £50 per month since August. It’s down from £3000 to £2900 and will be reduced by another £50 during October. From January onwards I will drop the limit by £75 per month. I’m hoping to see a small credit balance on pay day from April 2025. 

I have a fixed savings bond paying out £270 on Monday.  I opened the bond two years ago and planned to use it to cover food and transport expenses for my next weekend away. I’ve decided to work on a £200 budget for my next trip and pay £70 off the MBNA card.

i arrived in Switzerland this morning. I’m only here one night. Only spending in Switzerland has been on a train ticket from the airport to walking distance from the hotel, and dinner. I paid for a lake tour before I came away, but I will include that in my final costs. Today’s ‘ on the day’ trip expenses add up to £51.87. Slightly over my £50 daily allowance, but does include a meal deal, latte, antihistamines and nicotine lozenges bought at the airport. Will pack my lunch at home for my next trip, and won’t forget my meds!

Traveling to Austria early tomorrow. Train tickets pre-paid for that. Let’s see if I can keep the ‘on the day’ costs below £50 and still enjoy Austria.

Token £1.13 round-up overpayment made to mortgage.

Nintud

I’m sat in a cafe in Austria, drinking a really nice Latte and pondering life before I head off to look around a museum.

i love traveling. I’m not getting any younger, so this is not something I am prepared to give up. Cut back, probably, quit… absolutely not.  What I should quit is vaping. I replaced cigarettes with large disposable vapes a year ago. Terrible for the environment, not great for my lungs, tough on my debt repayment plan. So, this is the last Vape I will buy. Approximate monthly saving, £50. With working from home, the Vape is constantly in my hand, I even fall asleep holding it at night. Foolish and anti-frugal. It won’t be easy to give up, but I should at least try.

Time to pay my bill and head for the museum.

Nintud

£15.67 ‘on the day’ spending as I got a croissant from the train station rather than pay €24 euro for the hotel breakfast . Lunch was my Latte en route to the castle museum as per earlier post and the other spending was on the museum entry fee, a large beer (I am in Austria after all!) , a sandwich and a postcard. Coffee is free (and decent) in the hotel lobby, so I strolled to the railway station with a steaming cup of crema this morning. There’s a coffee pod machine in the bedroom, so that is keeping me going this evening.

i had a lovely day mooching around this chocolate box town, people watching and fitting in some history. The view from the castle was stunning.

i could have joined the folk I’ve traveled with for dinner, but the beer did me in (I’m not a drinker usually) and tomorrow is a busy day. 

£6 from Vinted sales went straight to my MBNA cc plus a £2.03 tidy to my mortgage overpayment.

10 days until payday.