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Littletinks · 4 January 2019 at 12:29AM

Somehow I stumbled across the DFW forum links quite by accident on 31st Dec ( this has to be one of the best sites I've ever been fortunate enough to find). I am a regular reader of the great Martin Lewis's emails :money:and trust me when I say this, having read loads of posts over the last couple of days, I have never felt this positive about getting rid of, or at least cutting down my debts one step at time :T

Since 1st Jan I've completed an excel spreadsheet, registered to join two MSE threads and working One Day at time at getting things cleared down. The truth is, I've been in and out of debt for more than 20years but have always considered it manageable and it is, in as far as I have never had a failed DD. But I clear my debts down and some how it creeps back up. An impulse buy here and there there and suddenly wham you owe £000's again!! But I need to clear my debt off and keep it off for good this time! I will not be using any cc's (I have cut one up) with the exception of one which is a points rewards card and paid in full each month.

My plan:
Debt 1 £531 store card clear by end of March
Debt 2 £2233 cc @ 4.9% clear by 01/01/2020
Debt 3 £6350 cc @ 0%

Joined two threads for added encouragement one is the virtual savings pot, the other debt free by Xmas.

To help clear down the debt I will be decluttering and selling on eBay and looking at new mortgage offers this week as my current fixed rate comes to an end soon and attempting to reduce my other outgoings .......... here goes .......

Littletinks · 4 January 2019 at 11:27AM

Woke up feeling really motivated -yah! I can't remember when I last felt like this and it feels great, I hope it lasts!!! It would be great to speak to anyone else in a similar boat for added encouragement, share stories with and face the good and bad times with that I'm sure will pop up over the year. I'm not silly, I know I wont feel this motivated everyday.

This morning I've opened my virtual savings pot and tfr my first payment of £4.51.

Deleted all sale emails without opening them - that way I can't be tempted to buy 'another impulse deal of the century' when I know I don't need it, but convince myself it's a great deal in the sales and not to be missed, and I love it ! and I will wear it (sigh) scenario.

Later today I have call with my mortgage lender and hoping to get a good deal when my fix rate ends. I'm sure I can get it for less than it is now as it's at 3.09%.

JohnJ76 · 4 January 2019 at 4:36PM

Good luck with clearing those debts and fingers crossed your mortgage meeting went well. If you snowball those then they will soon come down, clearing the smallest will be good encouragement and suddenly debt 2 wont look that big and before you know it you will be throwing everything at debt 3.

Littletinks · 4 January 2019 at 5:42PM

Happy new year to you JohnJ76 and thanks for your reply!

I did and my new rate for the next 2 years will be 1.79% :j So I'm feeling chuffed to bits! I need to think about this a bit, but I will either use the extra money to pay towards the mortgage as I don't believe rates will stay this low, or use it to pay towards clearing current cc debt.

Whilst some may not agree, I don't plan on putting every spare penny I have towards paying my debts off. As I said in my original post they are manageable, and I do still need to 'live' and enjoy myself or I'll go nuts and fall of the wagon. That said, I'm always looking for a good deal. Tonight the OH and I will be dinning at our local carvery. I have a 40% discount code so we can go out enjoy a fairly healthy meal and it'll be cheaper than a take away, so saving both £'s and lb's :rotfl:

Good luck on your journey too John.

JohnJ76 · 4 January 2019 at 6:17PM

I'm in your camp. I tried to clear debts years ago and made good inroads, but was doing it at the expense of everything else. Eventually I snapped and it fell by the wayside although the spending was not on rubbish, but we should have been a bit more relaxed, everything in moderation etc!

Well done on the rate, as your mortgage is 1.79% and debt 2 is 4.9% and ''only'' £2200, I'd pay it off that and hopefully it will have it clear within the two year fix. I don't know what your monthly cc payments are but if you were in a position to clear within 2 years then you can overpay your mortgage then. Or put the mortgage payment saving into a savings account and then when you come to remortgage, if rates have risen depending on the LTV you could pay down a lump sum off your mortgage if it helped bring your LTV into a more favourable bracket. If you already have a good LTV (say <70%) you will already have access to lots of good rates. If by the end of the 2 year fix rates are still good you will have the lump sum to finish off your credit cards, pay off your mortgage, or put towards a holiday! In the meantime it will be a little extra buffer for lifes unexpected surprises.

ImpulseSpender · 4 January 2019 at 7:11PM

Good luck on your journey!

I have a similar amount of debt to clear. How was your carvary? I love finding a good discount. Do you use cashback websites? I can’t believe I didn’t start using them years ago, I want to cry with all the cashback I could have had :eek:

Choccygirl123 · 4 January 2019 at 8:14PM

Well done littletinks, you sound really motivated to smash the debt!

I've been here before with the debt going up,down, gone abd back. I'm just tired of seeing those repayments going out everything abd think the of things I could do if I had it instead!

Good luck - keep us updated x

blue_eyed_girl123 · 5 January 2019 at 1:52AM

Yay for deleting sales emails, have you considered unsubscribing from the emails altogether? I did and it stopped me from looking unnecessarily - out of sight, out of mind as it were

.

Good luck on your journey

.

[Deleted User] · 7 January 2019 at 5:12PM

Good luck on your journey x

Littletinks · 7 January 2019 at 10:44PM

Thanks John. I hope to clear off my debts 1& 2 by the end of this year. Having thought for a bit I think I will pay these down as quick as poss and then save the difference.

Littletinks · 7 January 2019 at 10:48PM

ImpulseSpender wrote: »

Good luck on your journey!

I have a similar amount of debt to clear. How was your carvary? I love finding a good discount. Do you use cashback websites? I can’t believe I didn’t start using them years ago, I want to cry with all the cashback I could have had :eek:

Maybe we can keep each other motivated. The carvery was really nice thanks, no cooking or clearing up is always a plus lol. I don't tend to use cash back sites and have no reason why I don't. I've only just started using the one linked to my cc. I do always look out for discount codes before buying online though.

Good luck with your journey - WE CAN DO THIS!!

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