Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

When I started snowballing I loved it in a strange, masochistic sort of way! :rotfl: I used to love updating it each month and would stare at it for ages! How weird was I.:D

Thanks also for the yoghurt tip. I love Total Greek yoghurt with a vengeance! Have just stocked up for the month but will definitely be popping into Aldi to give theirs a try!

I don't think it sounds weird - I love my spreadsheet Even more now that I've got a % Repaid column so I can see progress on each debt rather than the overall total (which is quite depressing). I'm telling myself that this is the first of many snowballs - a pebble can start an avalanche after all!

Let me know if you try the Aldi Greek yoghurt, we usually get through 2-3 pots a week so it has made a big difference to our yoghurt spends :rotfl:

leon103 wrote: »

You can't beat Lidl low fat greek yoghurt. Despite low fat it takes creamy like the normal version.

Ooh thank you, I will keep that in mind - there is a Lidl near my parents place

May 2018 Debt Totals ... (I've added a % paid column to my spreadsheet, which appears below in green. I'm counting from the highest debt figure on each of the accounts, not from my April update)

Total debt is £30508.57

HSBC Personal Loan : £7953.57
Interest rate 8.9%, 21 payments left
41.66% Paid

Credit Account Balances

MBNA £7090.00
£2898.59 @ 6.9% (rate ends 9th July 2019)
£4191.41 @ 6.9% (rate ends 2nd Dec 2019)
13.49% paid

Barclaycard £8690
£6405.81 @ 6.9% (until paid off)
£2284.19@ 18.6
13.45% paid

Lloyds £3250
Interest rate 0%, promo rate ends September 2019
9.87% paid

Tesco 1 £0.00 Balance Transfer
Interest rate 0%, promo rate ends 27 June 2018
100% paid
:T


Tesco 2 £1100.00
Interest rate 0%, promo rate ends 8 Feb 2019
43.64% paid

Paypal £1450.00
Interest rate 17.9%
22.76% paid

Very 1 £175.00
Interest rate 0%, until 28 Sept 2018
59.21% paid

Very 2 £800.00
Interest rate 0%, until 30 April 2019
1.11% paid

Priorities and Goals

2018

#1. Pay off Tesco 1 debt (£772.50) before 0% promo rate finishes at end of June 2018.
DONE :T
Full amount paid off and account closed

#2. Barclaycard 18.6% Balance
Current balance at £2284.19 so we've made some progress on this thanks to the bonus. I've snowballed the £25 direct debit I was paying for Tesco 1 over to B/Card. My first proper snowball!
I've also reduced my Barclaycard credit limit to £8750.

#3 Very - Pay Off 0% Offers Before Expiry (Very 1 Exp 28 Sept 2018 / Very 2 Exp 31 May 2019)
Very 1 Balance now at £175
Very 2 Balance now at £800

#4 is Paypal - 17.9% Balance
Current balance is £1450 and I've reduced the credit limit to £1500.

Now that Tesco1 is paid off, I'll be promoting my other priorities so #1 is Barclaycard, #2 is Very and #3 is Paypal. Priority #4 is to continue to add to our emergency fund

I suppose #5 is to try to relax about my other accounts.These debts are on lowest possible interest rate for the time being and I need to stop stressing out that these figures are going down slowly and concentrate instead on the Top 4. Eyes on the teaspoon, not the lake!

2019 Goals

#1 Pay upfront for insurance policies in early 2019. So far so good!

#2 Move house! We're budgeting for a £200 pcm rent increase and additional travel costs of around £200 per year.

#3 Pay off Student Loan. I'm continuing with PAYE deductions until April 2019, then I'll revisit and look at switching to Direct Debit. I think that I'll have repaid my Student Loan by the end of 2019.

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Looks like great progress and a good solid set of goals, well done! Will you not snowball the Paypal before the Very accounts? Just thinking of the interest levels.

I know what you mean about worrying about the other figures - I try not to post/think about my overall figure too often, just concentrate on one teaspoon at a time!

Thank you

I want to pay off the Very debt first because the normal interest rate is astronomical, I don't want the balance to revert to that rate (especially as the whole point of Very was to take care of some things that we urgently needed for the house as cheaply as possible). I might rejig my priorities as I get closer to the end of the promo rates on Lloyds and Tesco though!