Life's a climb. But the view is great.

So just come off the phone with MBNA...they clarified that where there are more than one 0% promotional balances the minimum payment will be taken from the earliest balance transfer - the one you transferred first. So in my case, I opened the account with a transfer which ends in 2020, then a few months later used another offer with a much shorter promotion period ending in Feb 2018. So what will happen is that the payments will continue to be deducted from the 2020 balance until Feb 2018, at which point interest will then start on the 2018 balance and then any payment I make will go to clear this 2018 balance of £300. I will have to try and find the £300 to see if I can avoid the interest charges. As the balance is relatively small the interest won't be too much, but I have another MBNA card with several different balance transfers which will really mess things up. On the bright side (HA!) I have learned a valuable lesson re multiple transfers to the same card!!

Now to revamp the snowball calculator.

OK I have posted on the DFW board - I can only hope I will get some clear advice and guidance. I fully expect some brutal honesty but hope it can be constructive too...

Anyway enough about debt as my head is aching...

Goals for the Week

* Get back on my low carb diet.

This week away I have been completely off plan so much so I have not even tested my sugar as too afraid to see what the damage has been. You know, once you remove carbs there is so very little to eat as not even fruit is allowed and only certain low carb veg. Then I end up eating more protein than I should which of course is not MSE but also no good for diabetics!

* Have at least 4 NSD - not hard to do as flat broke LOL

* Call Tesco Opticians to check if direct debit has been frozen pending DD''s eye test as the DD has
not gone out. It happened before so might have again, which is good news

* back to work and it will be hectic, although off on Friday as DD has a voucher for iFly. So only petrol to worry about

* Keep DD on track as she has loads of school work to do and she has been procrastinating all holiday

* Do as many surveys as I can

* Keep checking in on MSE even if don't post until the weekend.

Have a good week!

Morning


Well an epic fail with my diet. Started the day well but didn't last. Having said that finally tested my sugar and it was mega high. Also can tell my eyesight has deteriorated slightly so have no choice but to really get back on it or I will end up not being able to drive for a while again! Cross with myself as I was doing well before the holiday.

Off to the GP later for a pneumonia vaccination. Not had one before but being offered one because of the diabetes.

Have loads of work to get through today.

motivated wrote: »

I've just read your diary and wanted to subscribe to cheer you along.

Glad you had a lovely break away. I love Cornwall and would love to go back. Maybe I could plan for next year. Even though we have debt, doesn't mean we can't live a little eh.

There will be many ups and downs on your journey but keep going you WILL get there eventually.

As for the surveys, im not sure which ones you do but I have recently joined Prolific Academic and already I have just short of £15.00 to withdraw.

Thanks for stopping by and subscribing. Yes it's a long journey - just have to keep going.

I too joined Prolific Academic but haven't had any surveys apart from one. I have logged in a couple of times to find a survey available but as soon as I click on it it says I am not eligible. No questions asked to filter me out,just instant rejection. I haven't had any invites by email hence me logging on every day. Am I doing something wrong?

I am really trying to keep up with surveys but it's all so slow going. Currently on valued opinions, crowdology, swag bucks and prolific.

Right off to start the day as I have tons to do.

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

PA is very dependent upon your profile. I rarely get an email but by logging on a few times a day, I may get three or four surveys a week. I hope for £20 a month by way of a pay out.

You know, shortly after posting I suddenly became eligible for studies and over the last 2 days I have made £3.50. I was gutted to lose out on a £7 survey but I could not do it as you needed to use twitter and I just never use it. I really don't get twitter. Mind you I only in the last couple of years joined face book but I don't use it for personal stuff, just diets, recipe, useful info, selling stuff etc. I check in several times per day and the studies are there - I never get invites and so I think the moral of the story is don't wait for an invite.

So even though I have not been posting on the diary I have been on the forum and my mind has been racing. I can't believe how obsessed I have become - all i do is think about the budget and debt. However, that is a personality flaw of mine....I get all on fire for something and then it fizzles out. But I am determined not to let this happen - hence me really committing to this diary.

While I have had some good advice re my CC, I have decided on a different course of action. I know it makes little financial sense, but I need a psychological boost. Mostly I need to feel I am making progress. So here goes, happy to accept comments or other POV - its entirely possible I have not thought of something and glad to have this pointed out. Half my problem has been in not thinking things through!

When my final loan payment goes out on 4 Sept, apparently 7 days after that I will get a £400 rebate as part of the perks of my bank account. I did not even know this until a nice HSBC lady told me.

I know it makes sense to pay the HSBC card first because it has a high interest rate but if you look at Post 1, I have a few promotions ending on all my cards. I have decided to pay the minimum on everything except the BC for the next 2 months.

With the £177 Sept minimum payment, plus the £400 rebate and then another £400 at the end of September and end of October (which used to be the loan repayment) I will have effectively cleared the next 4 promotion endings avoiding interest. I will then continue with the minimum payments as normal

I will then move my attention to the MBNA cards where the interest starts to kick in - there is no point me paying extra on them at this point for the reasons already mentioned in the previous posts :mad:

My hope is that paying a decent chunk off BC will open again for BT and then maybe I can transfer some from the HSBC card; at least BC allocates the payments in a way that makes sense. Of course I may not get another BT but that is a risk I am willing to take as I still think this plan is best of not so brilliant options.

I know I can't avoid interest on the BT cards but I see no point in paying off chunks off the HSBC only to let all of my promotions start to incur interest as well, thus paying interest all round. Call me crazy but that makes sense to me, practically and emotionally.

Now to other matters - I have done better with the diet again today. I am determined to get back to the LCHF so that I can get my diabetes into remission. And hopefully lose weight too. Waiting for a telephonic discussion with the GP to discuss my last bloods - earliest appointment is next Thursday :eek:

Off to London for work tomorrow, so an early start, will be taking my own lunch as I know there be nothing that I can eat in the lunch provided.

Another example of my stupidity - I never realised the Economy 7 tariff is best for people who have electric heaters and who use less electricity in the day. *Blushes in embarrassment* And what do I do??...well I work from home of course and have done for 7 years.....on the laptop all bloody day! Lights on, TV on during lunch time etc. It never occurred to me that we should not be on E7 tariffs - My total gas and leccy bill is £156 per month.

I called FU last night and to be fair the lady did a comparison as to what I would pay if they put me on a standard tariff and install a smart meter and it did not work out cheaper cos all that does is increase my night tariff loads but only dropping the day tariff by a penny or so. BUT it does tell me that when the time come for me to switch in November, I will be looking for a plan that offers better day rates!! In the meantime I may ring back and ask if I can have a smart meter anyway (for free of course). Seems like a good thing to have regardless of your tariff.

Right that's enough from me, crikey its like writing a novel!