Our road to recovery-Part 2

embarrassed_about_my_debt

hi ltm,

thought i'd pop in and say hello! You look like your doing well. It takes a while to get everything sorted out and in place but once it is you feel so much better for doing it!

I had to adjust my light bulb moment figures aswell with things that i didnt take into account!

Keep up the good work!

ltm07

firesidemaid wrote: »

hi there

there will proablbly be a fee for these cheques (normally is) that will be added to the balance - usually 2.5-3%. so this would bring the rate closer to 10%. still better than 14%. have a quick read of the small print just in case.

don't know whether you can get another card, but goldfish are doing LOB transfers for 4.9%, again there is a BT fee. you can get £41 through quidco too!

Thanks very much,I will look into that. There is a 3% fee for cheques but then the interest is only 6.95%,as you say alot better than 13.35%. If Virgin turn us down then we will try to apply for the goldfish card. All the best!!

ltm07

Thanks EAMD. Yes we were gutted when we worked out that we owed more than £1k than we thought on 2 of our loans. Very nearly gave up & consolidated but we thankfully rode the storm & are starting to feel the benefits. Just one pesky loan that will be finished in July for £97.62 & we should start to see our debts go down alot quicker!! All the best & I will catch up with your diary over the next few days. Off for a kip now as I have been up since 3am!!

ltm07

Hi all! Well not heard anything from Virgin CC yet but hopefully no news is good news! Forgot to give the Halifax CC cheque to OH to put in the bank this morning. I will give her the cheque tonight & she will put it in cash machine when she finishes shift in the morning. Once this clears then we will have cleared the 13.35% overdraft:j ! Then all being well we can transfer the Mint card onto the Virgin card at 0% & then start working on clearing our Nationwide overdrafts at 9.9%. If Virgin turn us down then we will apply for the Goldfish 4.9% LOB card! Managed to clear over £200 this week,just wish we could clear that much every week! Was going to go out for my mate's birthday tomorrow & i did have the money set aside for this,but my Mum has offered to take OH,DD & me for a Chinese meal on Sunday,so will use the money set aside for a few drinks on Sunday instead! Thanks for reading & here is our new update.

Debt at LBM(July 1st 07)-£33,744.48
Debt today(April 11th 08)-£31,450.73

ltm07

Hi all! Well been switching as many debts as possible onto lower rate cards so decided to redo our snowball calculator. Because there are a few transactions going from one place to another,our debt total is a little more,but once transactions are through our total should start to look alot better. According to the calculator we have knocked our DFD down to December 2011 if we manage to follow the payments:j ! Overtime starting to dry up at work,so have jotted down SOA again to make sure we are keeping within our budget & it is going to be tough,but we should be ok. Will sift out all our paperwork when I'm off in May to see if it's worth cancelling one of our Life Insurance policies & also to see if it's worth cashing in Endowment & switching the whole mortgage onto repayment. Thanks for reading & will update debt total on Friday.

ltm07

:hello: all! Received a letter from Virgin CC turning us down for 0% deal:( ! Not the first time we have been turned down by them so no big surprise really. Going to apply for Goldfish 4.9% til 2011 through Quidco(thanks firesidemaid) & keep our fingers crossed! As I said in my last post we have redone our snowball. The new tool where you can add an extra creditor(if that's the right word) is great. Still waiting for a transaction to come through so put down the balance of our overdraft that will be cleared next week so please don't be alarmed at our new debt update:D ! We must be doing something right as our DFD has come right down,even though the debt is higher on paper! Had a lovely meal at a new Chinese restuarant last Sunday,courtesy of my smashing Mum! Had to pay out £22.50 for 6 dancing lessons for DD & will also be paying £12 for 2 tickets to go & see her in a show a week tomorrow. She is really enjoying the lessons & it is good to see her enjoying a hobby. I was a bit soppy yesterday & bought OH a bunch of flowers from Aldi. She has been feeling a bit down lately with one thing & another so I thought I'd cheer her up a bit! I have £50 saved up out of the £20 each we allow each other each week so going to take her out for a drink & a bite to eat with that money either tomorrow or Monday,as we are both off Monday. Was going to go out & take DD but she isn't too bothered about going out,I think she can sense we need a night out alone together to be honest,as we haven't been out alone this year. It will either be the local or the Wetherspoons in town,both do some good deals so we can have a good day or night without breaking the bank! Anyway here is our new update & no,we haven't gone & spent over £2,400 in a week! Thanks for reading & all the best!

Debt at LBM(July 1st 07)-£33,744.48
Debt today(April 18th 08)-£33,886.60(it will look much better next week;) )

firesidemaid

shame about the virgin card, but here's to the goldfish one!

you are very good at saving your money. we are in a lucky position and allow ourselves £70 a week pocket money - i can manage on less than this, but OH likes his money (and this has come down would you believe!). he has usually spent 2 weeks worth in a few days, whereas i take mine weekly (also paying for meals/takeaways from mine) and the money i have left over goes off the mortgage.

i am trying to pay one our 0% credit cards (3% actually when you factor in BT costs) off within the next year so that we are just left with the mortgage and the 1.9% one. i have worked out that i will need one more 12 month ccard deal to BT to in approx. july - another 12/13 months from then should do it. i have had quite a few over the last 3 years so i hope i can get another one then.

ltm07

Well done to you on the balance transferring & what a lovely position to be in by just having the mortgage to pay & 1.9% CC. Tried to apply for Goldfish card but they are no longer accepting new applications,but are part of Barclays. I did have a Barclaycard a few years back but never activated it. Will trawl the market again to try & get a better rate than 12.9%. Going to depress myself now by watching Rip Off Britain! Back soon!!

ltm07

Well that show made me laugh. The pharmacist tells the 4 ladies that the brand product medicines & generic ones are exactly the same,but the brand one is alot more expensive. Three of them were wise enough to say that they will switch to generic,but the other lady said she don't think that she will be able to switch. WAKE UP WOMAN! The gentlman has just told youit's exactly the same & that you are being ripped off!Some people have money to burn! Rant over!!

ltm07

Hi all! Well whilst we are doing well in chipping away at our debts things aren' going great in trying to lower the interest rates. Applied for an HSBC card @ 2.9% but been turned down for that. Also had a letter from Nationwide saying that they are decreasing our overdraft from £750 to £400 in May. Going to stop applying for lower rate cards for the time being as we don't want it to mess up our credit rating for when we need to BT later in the year. Paid off Mint Card with Halifax overdraft as although overdraft is 13.35% & Mint Card is 12.9%,the first £300 of overdraft is 0%,so it works out cheaper to have the debt there. On the + side we have sent the cheque for our holiday & I receive £400 pre tax bonus on Friday & OH's wages also go in,which will include money for the extra shift she worked last month, so our new weekly update should be really good. Thanks for reading & will update on Friday!!