Let's get this sorted then!

Rhyddid2026

Have a duckling photo to lighten the mood...

Dakota_Rose

Well hello hobby twin 😂 your photo is glorious too - look how much they’ve grown!

Sun_Addict

Just adorable 🥰

They say it’s harder to make new friends when you get older. Like you none of my friends live locally. I make sure I have regular catch ups with them though.

Rhyddid2026

That made me laugh @Dakota_Rose !

I know, I need to make a bit more effort @Sun_Addict and find suitable things to suggest to the friends I have within easy travel distance.

I just paid 22p off my loan because that's how much interest I earned across my accounts. Every little helps and the odd number is going to drive me potty til I can pay more off. 6739.78 😱

Rhyddid2026

Oooooo it's Friday! Time to update my tables!

Also, things to be grateful for - my friend who I house sit for gave me a super duper security camera because one of mine had stopped working and I was worried about the animals while I was away. They also gave me a wifi plug socket thing so I could put my lamp on a timer. It also means I can turn my lamp on from my phone when I am being lazy on the other sofa.

My acupuncturist gave me some weird tomato plants including one called Rebel Starfighter and one called Fred.

I survived another week at work and now just one more week until the new person starts to help out.

Rhyddid2026

Just watched a podcast - "I Started Investing at 44" so I've logged on to Nest and changed my pension fund to the higher risk option until 10years before my retirement date. I had been wondering about it for a while, but hadn't done it because I wasn't sure it was the right thing to do given how old I am and how little pension I have.

Done now.

I'm not likely to start investing until my loan is paid off, but it's good to keep learning about it the mean time.

"Turn your waiting room into a classroom" as one of my favourite gardeners says.

Rhyddid2026

Over the weekend my CC balance showed on both the old cards and the new card. Annoying.

The balances have cleared on the old cards now, although I got the numbers slightly wrong during my stressy phone call so I still owe £125 on one of the cards. I'll either transfer that over (if the option ever shows on the app) or pay it off at the end of the month.

Preparing for my credit score to take a battering, but it will bounce back by December.

I was meant to have the day off today but I needed to go to a couple of meetings, so I've arranged to swap it for 2 half days later this week.

Rhyddid2026

I've transferred the last £125 to the new balance transfer credit card. Much easier to do it through the app now the option is available.

I have closed one of the NW cards but might keep the other one open for a while with a 0 balance, just because it'll be interesting to see what impact it has on my credit rating. I don't have a physical card for it so won't be tempted to spend on it.

The minimum payment for the new CC is 1% so will be £100 a month. I always stick to a minimum of £300 paid off across my credit cards because they scare me and feel risky and I want them gone as soon as possible. I'm trying to convince myself to pay £100 off each of the 2 cards monthly and pay the other £100 as a loan overpayment as that's the one that charges interest. I know that makes the most financial sense but having such a large amount on credit cards is terrifying. I thought maybe I'd do this when I got the CC balance to or under 10k or on to one card, which would probably be around the end of the year or start of next year.

C'mon brain, follow the logic!

Rhyddid2026

It's going to look like I'm talking to myself but I need to get my thoughts down for future reference.

I worked out that if I continue to pay £225 off my loan it will be 5170 in December. With the extra £100 taken from credit card payments it will be 4470 in December. Seeing a number under 5k seems much smaller.

I've also worked out if I can double my loan payments it will be 3875 and if I triple them it will be around 2440 left owing in December. That is much less likely but seeing that there is an option that gets my loan down to under 2.5k by Christmas is thrilling.

I was also thinking that it's a shame that I can't pay my loan off with what's left on my credit card limit at 0%, which led me to looking at money transfer cards, and whilst I really don't want to get another credit card (see earlier comment about them scaring me), I've been offered 0% for 12 months and a 4% one off fee. My loan is charged at 8.9% so I would be saving quite a bit if I could stomach the risk.

All that is something I can think about another time. For now I think I have convinced myself to pay £200 off the credit cards each month and move 100 to the loan repayment so it will be £325 a month. I'm still paying a minimum of £525 off them each month, just moved the numbers around a bit. I'll do that til December and also throw any extra funds to the loan repayments too.

I need ice cream after all that brain functioning.

Rhyddid2026

I got a refund on my gardening supplies (wall baskets for my strawberries and seed potatoes) because it had been almost 2 weeks and they still hadn't been dispatched. I bought a new pair of trainers off vntd for less. I'm hoping to go back to parkrun in the next few weeks, just walking it though.

I've volunteered a few times over the last few years but I don't think I've tried to participate since before covid.

I may never be able to run it again but taking part sometimes and helping out sometimes will be good for me.