Debt support thread #2

[Nerfmother]

Here we are! Can't be bothered to think of an exciting title, sorry

The letter says that my actual repayments won't change but the life of the loan will shorten. It's given me a definite boost, especially as I can't take the money back unlike a credit card. I'm going to pay the 150 extra straight to it each month and just get on with it. Too many bright and cunning plans before!

Wow nerf, so at that rate, potentially 50% interest saved per month?? So possibly £75 ish per month? What's the total payback figure, it would be interesting to know how much it would shorten the length by.

6000 over five years. Will shorten to just over two if I pay it at an extra 150!

Wow, that's fantastic going!

Love this thread. Will come back with my story ASAP. Just marking place for now.

Morning all, quiet few days for me...NSDs apart from bread/milk here and there. Have scrambled together enough money to see me through to pay day (thankfully, it's 3 days early due to the Bank Holidays)...have made £20 from selling some stuff locally.

I'm taking next week off work just to take stock of things, clear out last of xP stuff, and review my budget in light of the recent changes. I'll be ok but will not make as significant a contribution to the debt overpayments as I was planning. Main focus is still to get rid of the overdraft...unfortunately my Bank doesn't allow for adhoc reductions so I'm saving the repayment in my ISA for timebeing...500 down, 2000 to go! Still focusing on clearing this by end June...

That's an amazing stat Nerf...well done you! My current loan is a 7.4pcnt interest rate...but am hoping plan to snowball OD and CC repayments towards it will still allow me to repay it much earlier

We are rejigging our financial plans to include the mortgage as a debt that Needs To Go. A 5 year v frugal plan could be life changing, but feels a bit scary committing to it. (won't be mortgage free in that time, but would be able to buy dream house - nothing fancy, but one we can work some grand design-esque magic on).

So plan for next payday is double minimum payment to CC (0% interest), max allowed to mortgage (there's a limit for the next year) and then any excess (unlikely) also to CC.

Whoop whoop! £110 cheque from CPP in the post! Don't even know which card it relates to so am well happy with that!

And, seeing as my head hurts today from end of term shenanigans, I'm spending some of it on a McDonalds breakfast...

single when did you send the form off?

Can't remember exactly but it was the day after I received it.

mum2fergus I am so impressed with your continuing positivity and determination despite everything recently. You are v inspiring!

themoneyone great plan to include the mortgage - I think the best way to feel rich without earning tons more has to be to get rid of one the major outgoings (ie rent/mortgage). We are focused on repaying debt and then saving as big a deposit as humanly possible to avoid a massive mortgage.

Frugal win today: DVD for £3 in Morrisons for kids birthday party we were attending. Wrapping paper and card already purchased in cheapie job lot earlier this year. Hurrah!

Need to catch up. Am away so marking place. Stupid money spent today .

Cheap DVDs are a great idea for party presents - thanks possibly!

Single did you have to fill in a section saying why you thought you were entitled to it? I have a form to fill in but I don't know what to put for that bit. My honest answer is "I haven't got a clue but everyone else seems to be getting some money". Was meaning to ask TiPs advice on that actually.

What's CPP?

Pixie - I just copied the reasons from the letter that came with the form. There is a guide on mse about how to do it.

Puffy - CPP is Card Protection Policy. They have sent a form out to those with policies which may have been missold and if you fill it in you get your money back plus interest.

We used MSE guide too pixie

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/CPP-card-protection

Beautiful, thanks both. I will be over the moon if I get some money back.

I'm not sure we ever had CPP, and have claimed all our PpI back.

So I was playing around with the mortgage overpayment calculator on the MSE website last night, wow!! I had no idea that overpaying could drastically reduce our mortgage length! A real eye opener.

Yes it's amazing isn't it. Sadly we are still interest only, which terrifies me when I let it - at forty and fifty we are basically renting from the bank. But, what's the point in making it worse - might as well try to get debt free before writing about that.

One thing at a time Nerf

Question re tax bill: has anyone managed to arrange payment by installments and if so how? What reasons might they accept?

Puffer they can take it in installments out of your pay, I didn't even have to give a reason. I actually wish I'd just paid it up front now and will be doing that for the 2012-13 tax return when I fill that in.