Finally going to solve this debt once and for all

abaka

Result. So I had made a complaint with Halifax (my joint account provider) regarding what was a pretty trivial manner but annoyed the life out of me as I had to phone up to clarify something.

They have offered me £60 as a gesture of goodwill alongside an apology!

Incidentally this has motivated me to make a complaint to Santander! Remember the issues with my ID/Name. They confirmed to me there was never an issue with the name, but the hold up was because the photo was blurry!

However they admitted that there was a system error that kept emailing me to upload the ID despite the fact it was parked for a manual review. Since they’ve admitted a fault. I’m deffo gonna complain and see what they’ll give me! 😂😂😂

Makingabobor2

Ooh excellent result, an extra £60 to the debt. We did that back in the early days of DMP, wrote to a couple of creditors to complain they had kept adding interest even after we had told them we were having problems paying & were starting a DMP. Got all the interest taken off & some compo as well. It was very useful

abaka

Yes - I have read about that happening. I didn't expect anything back tbh so it's a great win!

TBH - It'll probably go to building up my pots right now rather than repaying debt because the sooner I sort those pots out and have sufficient funds in them, i can then refocus more into the debts!!

I think setting up these pots and the finally closing and not using cards has made a massive change to how I manage these debts. Stupid to think, I was continuing to spend more than I was paying each month and wondering why I wasn't getting anywhere!

amber03

Would be good to have some sufficient amounts in those pots, hopefully then you won’t need to use credit cards, when some unexpected bill hits. Gives you a good feeling when you do.

ArtyJ931

I'm another one new to pots in the last 6 months and it has been a revelation. It helps so much with budgeting.

abaka

It really is - Wish I had have done this ages ago. But in fairness if I had that sense I wouldn't be in debt and needing pots to survive from. Just a shame I've started them at a time when I have a few expensive overheads. Alongside the car repair, I'm also pretty sure I need to buy 3 new tires. And at this point it completely falls on me to replace those until my wife is back to work following maternity.

Balqnce updates on my loan and that is likely to my last payment on any debts for this month!

Credit Cards:

NatWest - 4051 - Interest free until Sept 2029)
Virgin - 950 (Interest free until Feb 2028)
Halifax - 2473 (Interest Free Until Feb 2028)
Barclay - 7210 (Interest free until 31 March 2029)

Loans:

Nationwide - 15,309
Credit Union - 2173
Credit Union - 21,240

Total:

£53,614 £53,406

(This would have decreased more after today’s payment but my balances increased due to the balance transfer fee! And as I’m awaiting to do the same with Santander from the Virgin/Halifax balances my balances won’t show any significant fall until next month but a huge win to have secured all my card debts are interest free until 2029!

Makingabobor2

I think saving pots are brilliant regardless of whether or not you are in debt. A lot of diaries I read, are from people now out of debt, but they still have savings pots & budget properly.

daisy_1571

Just a shame I've started them at a time when I have a few expensive overheads

This is a common theme. Basically I think every month is a month like this but its still better to start the pots so you've at least got something. Well done getting yourself sorted

abaka

Indeed - Anyway today, I decided to fill all my pots with money from my Savings/EF. So my pots are filled and will need filled up/maintaned each month. Meaning I can focus on rebuilding my EF to where I want it to be. Once I do that I can then switch to focusing on the debts.

Was looking at my Student Loan today - The allowance threshold is due to go up in April next year which means my Student Loan debt free date is likely to take 3 years now instead of 2.5! (boo!!!!) So my student loan should be cleared freeing up about £140 a month just in time for to proper start tackling the loans!

Makingabobor2

So glad we never went to uni & got student loans. We managed to get debts anyway, without that . Lol.