After investing a boob job, time to tackle my debts

spaghettibytheseaside

Hi all and thank you for clicking on my post. This is my first proper post on here so please let me know if I said/ done something wrong when writing it and apologies in advance.

A little bit of background story: I (25F) have joined this forum specifically for taking for accountability and working towards clearing my debt this year. I am self employed so my income varies significantly from month to month. I've put wants over needs once again and just got a breast augmentation. I have wanted one since high school and I have worked really hard in the past few months and managed to save enough to get the surgery and to sustain myself for 2 months whilist in recovery (hopefully). My job is reliant on my looks so I am taking 8 weeks off to completely heal before I return to work. 

Over the years I have read many books about finance and the psychology of money, read about all the rules and theories but I still didn't manage to change my mindset about finances. I used to think I am earning so much money but I didn't have the disclipline to save and live within my means so I was spending everything I made and more. I was spending money on online shopping for clothes and makeup to get instant gratification, going out and for travel (which is my biggest passion). I didn't learn a good foundation at home, and I have been this way ever since I've received my first allowance: spent it all and then some. 

I took a loan in 2023. At the end of that financial year I was hit with a huge tax bill that I had no money set aside for, and a big credit card bill. No one in my life knows I took this loan except for new friends I made but they don't know all the details. I felt so overwhelmt and I didn't know better (blame it on being young, naive, and not properly researching how to get out of my situation). So instead of transferring my Amex debt to a 0%, I took a loan instead... I used it to pay off my cc and my tax bill and kept living the same way. Lacking a proper structure, of course soon enough my cc reached the same point as before.

I've been keeping afloat because I earn good money and managed to improve my spending habits but I am still a long way from where I'd like to be. 

Sainsbury's Loan 10,171.00 (£392.48 for 2 more years)
Virgin Money CC 6,150.24 (0% until July 2025)
Amex CC balance £2,549.73 (30.4% APR)
Amex CC Plan it £1,729.97 (4 active plans)
Monzo Flex £480.00 (interest free, 2 payments of £241 and £239)
Debt: £19,428

Tax bill: £5,562.61 until July 2025
Total: £24,990.61

I've added my tax bill on here, because even though I am now putting aside 30% on my income for tax, I haven't been good with it in the past and I have dipped in there quite a few times. So I am now saving for my future tax bill (24/25) and aiming to pay this one from my current earnings if that makes sense. 

Plan: I am transffering my Amex balance to a 0% Barclaycard. I have currently lowered all my contributions (except for loan) to make sure I have enough to cover my basic expenses since I am off work. I will restart repaying in April once I start having an income again.

I will pay everything off by importance: tax bill, Monzo (because it's a monthly payment), VM (because interest rate finishes soon and I need to do a new balance transfer), Amex.

Reg the loan, I can either save up to pay it off early or keep paying it and save up for my emergency and investment funds instead. I can't log in at the moment so I cannot check how much interest I'm paying on it.

Thank you for reading! Please roast my payment plan, wish me luck or add anything you deem necessary. I aim to come back here every month to record my progress, starting end of April. 

xx

QrizB

spaghettibytheseaside said:

Thank you for reading! Please roast my payment plan, wish me luck or add anything you deem necessary. I aim to come back here every month to record my progress, starting end of April.

I'm not a regular in this part of the forum (one of the regulars will be along eventually) but here are my thoughts. If the regulars say I'm wrong, listen to them not me!

Can you prepare a Statement of Affairs (SoA) and share it here? It'll give a better overview of where you are with everything, and peole can suggest areas where you might want to focus attention.

This calculator is commonly used:

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

spaghettibytheseaside said:

Plan: I am transffering my Amex balance to a 0% Barclaycard.

Do you already have the Barclaycard? Is there enough headroom in the 0% to take the Amex balance and some of the Virgin card too?

spaghettibytheseaside said:

I've added my tax bill on here, because even though I am now putting aside 30% on my income for tax, I haven't been good with it in the past and I have dipped in there quite a few times.

I assume you're under Self Assessment and you're making payments on account? Are you up to date or are you being charged interest/penalties?

spaghettibytheseaside said:

I will pay everything off by importance: tax bill, Monzo (because it's a monthly payment), VM (because interest rate finishes soon and I need to do a new balance transfer), Amex.

I'd prioritise the Amex over the Virgin as you're paying Amex interest. Once you've transferred it to the Barclaycard it makes sense to start on the Virgin card.
Good luck, I hope everything goes to plan!