debt free in 1200 months!?

bountiful

what does being in credit mean when relating to an account with an overdraft?

bountiful

Thanks Annie Fanny - for challenging the wimp in me who tries to avoid dealing with this money stuff. I have just phoned the bank and left a message for the customer adviser to call me back (they are all busy at the moment).

Seaxwyn

It means that at some point you have to have been NOT overdrawn. I achieved this with the help of a generous short term loan from my sister - just long enough for a positive figure to appear on a statement and then out again. But check the rules as this was over a year ago.

bountiful

Have just spoken to A&L and you're right - when I get my January statement - need to take it in so they can see my overdraft limit and that I put money into the account to bring it into credit. I am learning SO much SO quickly!
Thanks xxxxx

bountiful

Hey Pennywise - just to let you know, I have just got a new credit card with 0% interest for 9 months from Halifax.

bountiful

Seaxwyn: Moving to Cornwall was the fulfillment of a life-long dream. Borrowed £5,000 to do it - but knew at the time that a window of opportunity had opened up to me - the timing etc - like a portal - it was a now-or-never moment and I leapt through it! So glad I did. xxxxx

bountiful

I have only been tackling my debt for a couple of weeks (if that?) and already made a lot of improvements thanks to the help offered on this board.

Income (comprising salary, son's board & lodging, housing benefit) 1321.72 increasing to 1386 due to son increasing contribution
Outgoings 1202.38 will increase to 1297 when I move but I will lose a lot of blues from the list below swings and roundabouts?!
550 Rent increasing to 625 when I move
38.00 Overdraft now transferred to 0% & reducing by £20 a month
55.83 Council Tax I think this will go up when I move - have to see
38 Water
40 Gas this will go when I move - but may have solid fuel costs
40 Electricity
11 BT
10.50 TV might be able to lose this when I move .....
20 Mobile phone I am using landline, e-mail and Skype as much as poss to reduce this PAYGO
28.15 Launderette aiming to get a machine from freecycle and dry outdoors
150 Food
80 Bus to work this soon to go when I move to new flat 1 March
109 Loan repayment not sure what to do about this - may try getting a lower interest loan
40 Credit Card Now transferred to 0% and snowballing this as fast as I can manage
20 Savings I am going to stop this and use it to pay off debts
5 Haircut I am going to stop this and start getting hair cut by student hairdressers
5 DVD rental I am going to stop this as soon as my current account is switched
20 miscellaneous social expenses eg enjoying myself and being sociable!

bountiful

Today I suddenly had a sort of "what's the point?" moment and felt quite down - slogging away at my low-paid job, living in short-term rented accommodation, dreading unexpected expenses, paying away at debts - no prospect of savings or pensions - if it takes me 10 years to pay off my debts (which amount to about a year's income) then I'll be 64.

Will you still need me? Will you still feed me? When I'm 64.!

The Alliance & Leicester have started the 'switching' process for transferring my current account and overdraft from the Halifax - they sent me a 'list' of my regular payments - it made no sense at all - all numbers and codes - so it'll be another telephone call tomorrow to try to see if I can get clarification on that. As a result I have decided not to do an assignment for uni that is due in tomorrow - I am just too absorbed in money management at the moment - I'm dreaming about it!
My son is planning a trip to USA in the summer and has it all planned out (I told him to check out WhatsTheCost to get a realistic view of the impact of his borrowing) - he had the nerve to ask me if I could give him a 5-week rent break whilst he's away - as a birthday present - that'd be £250 because I was already letting him reduce his rent to £50 a week from £75 whilst he was away. I told him there is no way I can afford to give anyone a £250 present! :rolleyes:

Seaxwyn

Oh yes, I remember the A&L switching process... slow, inefficient and irritating but worth it in the end.

Those 'what's the point?' moments are par for the course. I feel my debt-busting journey is like a roller coaster constantly being elated or depressed by the twists and turns in the journey. Hope your down moment is short lived.

I'm sure yours won't be ten years though. How about aiming to have the OD and CC gone in 63 months, to be gone when your debt ends? Then you will still be a young 50-something!

And might you not be able to get a higher paying job in that time? Could you rent out your son's room to someone else when he's away? Just an idea - sorry if not reasonable.

bountiful

Thanks Seaxwyn - do you know, I hadn't thought of taking the 63 months as a target - which I suppose it probably is, as it's a fixed payment and I am paying that at the same time as the OD and CC. Thanks for that :A

I went into the Halifax this morning and got a print-out of all my payments - then phoned A&L. They were switching the wrong account........erm......:rolleyes: got that all sorted then. Yes, looks like it will be a slow process - could have done it quicker myself!
I just sat and worked out the cost of buses for the month and decided it wasn't worth getting a monthly pass - that's saved me about £14 in Feb but will still draw out the cash and keep it in a bus fare purse to make sure I don't run out!

I am going out with a friend tonight to see a play :beer: she has given me the ticket as a gift and I am only taking £5 with me - so can't spend any more.

When I took my £10 to top-up my phone, I thought, I'll just put £5 on it and see how far I can stretch it. I have paid lots of bills - water, council tax, tax credit overpayment, gas and realised that I have two more debts I didn't think of:

1. tax credit repayments 2 x £20.18 still to go (overdue by about 3 months)
2. water bill 1 x 37.50 still to go (overdue by 2 months

Am waiting to hear if I am going to be moving to a new flat on 1 March - I have no idea really how I am going to pay for it - I need £1300 to move in and I have £530 in the bank...... I had a letter from the Halifax this morning saying that my application for a One Card had been accepted, and I started thinking - great! I can use that £1400 for my removal expenses - then pay that back as fast as I can, then do a balance transfer from my current credit card (which was why I got the new one) - in effect I would be increasing my debt by £1300 instead of paying it off - HELP!
My shaky plan for moving (which I have to do) is £550 rent I would normally pay at end of Feb anyway + £550 returned deposit from current place + £200 borrow from my friend if I haven't got enough in bank. I am hopefully going to get about £93 housing benefit before end of Feb - so that should help - and of, course, I get paid at the end of Feb about £1000 - oh God, I can't work it out - I am doing a kind of head-in-the-sand ostrich-mated-with-road-runner thing :eek: and feeling :eek: