Finally going to solve this debt once and for all

Makingabobor2

That will be great if you can clear it all in 4 years. Mine has taken longer & still ongoing, but its going in the right direction and I am planning in trying to get it down quicker.

But our income has fallen a lot since we started. Being made redundant twice didn't help & several things that happened unexpectedly before we had an EF in place, and then later to eat into the EF. That is why I now budget so much & have multiple savings pots as well as the EF.

abaka

I'm lucky that me and my wife are both extremely lucky career wise. Both have good public sector jobs. And there's never been a history of compulsory redundancies in either of our employers, which I know doesn't count for much in this day and age, but highly unlikely as our roles are both unlikely to be replaced by automation etc.

There will be periods where our disposable cash will dry up, for example. From January, we're going to be sending both kids to daycare for a few months which will work out at over £800. Our eldest goes after school and they do pick ups etc but she's old enough to attend the afterschool clubs in School. However she is desperate to go to daycare with her sister so we've agreed to let her continue there for a few months so the astronomical daycare costs I'm factoring in will only be an issue for a few months.

I'm not also taking into consideration any pay awards I might get each year - This years increase was an extra £60 take home which makes a bit of a difference.

And another factor is in 2 years time, my Student Loan should all be paid off which will free up about £150 an extra in my wages.

I firmly believe I could wipe out my credit cards in 2 years and once these are wiped out, it frees up a significant amount that let's me pump into my debts.

So my focus is 2 years to pay off credit cards and 2 years further to pay off Loans. I'm setting October 2030 as my hopeful debt free date.

I've also considered the expenses I'm projecting with the car, and I'm going to increase my "savings pot" to 5k, once it hits 5k - I'll reduce the amount I'm saving and maybe throw in just £50 each month, freeing up even more money for debt.

Ambitions plan but fingers crossed!! The most important thing is that my debts don't increase **Unless it's via a balance transfer fee**

Makingabobor2

Good luck. Will follow with interest & hope you get to your DF date ok

abaka

I did read an article that a researcher has estimated that there's now a 10% chance that AI could kill all humans within 10 years! Maybe I should just let the debt linger on a bit longer in that case.

Had another phone call with Santander about the card application - They have sent me a request to reupload docs for third time, and after a 40 minute call it was said that those requests were sent in error as the application is still in a queue for a person to look at and make a decision. The guy asked me if I wished to complaint….Might have got a little bit of compensation!!

I've also reactivated my YouGov survey account and signed up prolific, so hopefully more ways to boost my income!

Cara_

Hi abaka

I have just started reading your diary and see you have an issue re the spelling of your name. I think in legal terms you are a 'known as.' This means the name on your birth certificate is the correct spelling of your name but you are known as how you spell your name in every day life.

Santander just need to know that you are who you say you are so it's possible if you speak to someone and provide an up to date utility bill / bank statement etc then they will be OK with the slight variation in the spelling. I'm not 100% sure this is correct so hopefully someone with better knowledge will come along and provide more information.

The change your name by deed poll page provides some useful information.

Cara

Makingabobor2

Good luck with surveys. Prolific is definitely a good little earner.

abaka

Yes - They sound really good. Heres hoping they will get back to me soon about a place.

Makingabobor2

You mentioned ( in jest) about leaving the debts lingering a bit longer in case we are all killed off by AI. My DH keeps saying we should leave them as we will inherit from both our parents eventually. As I told him, that is a really stupid idea, as who knows what the future may hold and parents may end up in a care home, and need all their money to pay for that. Just because they tell us it is all left for us, there is no guarantee. And it looks as though my dad is going to go on forever anyway.

abaka

No, I 100% don’t plan to leave my debts for any longer than is needed.

Had the dentist today, £15 for a checkup and & £50 cost next month for fillings.

Will be coming out of the overpayment I was hoping to make to Virgin at the end of the month!

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131951#Comment_82131951

A good idea is to set up a savings account for things like this. We have one I call my Eyes/Teeth and NHS pot. So basically for dentist, optician, prescriptions, vitamin supplements, any sort of Medical stuff needed. We pay weekly into it as DH gets paid weekly. I think you need to get savings pots for your basic things before you can think about making any sort of overpayments. Also, once you get into the habit of this, I think it will become 2nd nature even once you have paid off your debts. I know I intend to carry on budgeting and having separate savings pots. (all attached to our bank account so easy to pay into and access when needed), even when we are finally out of debt. I think if I'd done this in the first place, we would never have got in debt to start with.