Becoming debt free in 2018

[iammeegan]

I've decided to make a plan to become debt free in 2018.
Money and debt give me terrible anxiety which means I bury my head in the sand and it's become out of control!
So starting in the new year and I'm going to stop spending and start paying everything off.
I would love some support and people to help motivate me.
I have already worked out that I can be debt free in 14 months with some serious cut backs and forward planning.
I'm currently on mat leave but will be returning to work in March which will allow me to pay off more each month

So would anyone like to join me?

IamMeegan Also keeping fingers and toes crossed for you.

boldlygoingsomewhere credit card linked to Paypal was a HUGE mistake for me, far to easy to get click happy. I've now only got my debit card attached to stop me being frivolous

I think PayPal and amazon are terrible for this, it's way to easy to spend with them, you don't even need to think about it. You should try and make it as difficult as possible to use your card.

I've cancelled contactless on my card, 1. Because it's to easy and 2. It takes a minimum of 3 days to show on your bank, so you think you have more money then you do.
I have also taken my card off Apple Pay and am only using cash

Fingers crossed iammegan

Just set my expenses credit card to clear the balance every month to stop me spending my ‘bonus’ expense payments.

That's good buster, have you set it for the date you get your expenses paid?

Okay the loan company have sent me a contract to sign and have requested my pay slip, that's a good sign right?

iamMeegan yes a good sign, but....did they ask if you are on maternity leave? You go back to work in March which is frustrating because it wont be long until your income goes back up. My only thought is they want a payslip to prove you have the income you've put on the application?

I've told them my income for what it is now, I do two kit days a month and get paid any holiday owed monthly, they've also taken into account the tax credits I receive and child benefit

in that case that all sounds fantastic - that must be a huge relief, and to free up £200 a month means at the end of each month you can pay extra and know you have some for emergencies that crop up

HAng on in there meegan
Yes, yes, yes to removing credit cards (in fact ALL cards ) from all website.
Check your statements THOROUGHLY
are there any recurring payments / direct debits you no longer need / know what they are ?
Have you checked to see if there is any PPI you can reclaim for yourself

it WILL get there

I think I may have PPI from an old EGG card and loan but I no longer have the details.

I'm also trying to clear my debts in 2018. One tip I have been given recently is to be recited before you press order online or put something in my basket or trolley.
" Do I need it? Can I do without it? Will I feel guilty for spending the money?"
Its still early days for me but so far so good.

You guys have motivated me to change my spending habits and actually pay off my cc rather than just worrying about them. Thank you for all the advice

boldly
If you have een a single statement or letter with old account number it should be easy
if not, contact Egg and ask

prettywhite
Go for it
you'll feel so much better after

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a really silly question but I promise I have tried google without success!

I want to change my/DH's credit card payments from direct debits to standing orders...but how do I do it?!

I'm sure it's probably something super simple but I can't work it out 🙈

Thanks in anticipation x

Hi there Constantly
Go into your online banking : you can then set up any standing order you like.

Make all of the payment and reference details be EXACTLY the same as the current direct debit.
To be extra safe, make it leave your bank the day before the direct debit normally goes (soe you can never have a late payment)

Once the standing order is set up by you

• log out of your backing and log back in to check its there

then you go in and cancel the direct debit

No need to contact anybody at all
job done :-)

Thank you so much Talk!! Very much appreciated!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday evening x

It's been approved!!!

I can honestly say that it has been a very stressful 36 hours.

I can't tell you all how relieved I am.

I really wish it had never got to this point and I urge you all now to make a different while you can. You never know what will happen tomorrow

Great news! I've got a loan at 7.9% apr and wondering if its worth trying to refinance it at a lower rate, except there might be a fee to pay for paying it off early. Also dh and i both just took out new credit cards so not sure if this will cause too many red flags on our credit scores.

Can you overpay on the loan? I was doing this and I had refund of interest every month

I don't think we have the option to overpay. My thinking was, getting a lower interest loan will lower the monthly payments and we can use that difference to pay off the credit cards.

It is an option, If I we're you and able to get a lower interest loan I would opt for a shorter term and keep the payments the same, that way you will have paid it off sooner. Like talkinpeace said. With the standing order truck you can pay off cc within 3 years. So I theory you could clear it all in a shorter time

Also if it rejected you will probably have to wait 6 months to reapply, and it will go against you credit score

Jolly
As Iammeegan rightly says, the standing order trick should deal with your cards for you while the loan is being dealt with.

I'd be surprised if you cannot repay the loan early- probably best is to clear the cards and then throw all of that cash at the loan afterwards

iammeegan
WELL DONE on getting the loan through.
Now focus really hard on budgeting and deciding on need rather than want and you'll never have that stress again

I am in the position of being self employed and I have a few different income streams, some reliable some occasional dumps of cash. I have promised myself that that the steady stream of income will be over paying on the cc and the occasional dumps of cash, half can go on holidays and the other half towards cc too.

My problem is that I know how to budget, I have been on a really tight budget. And I can be good for ages then I mess it up by splurging and I know it's a pattern I must break.

I want to save for the future so I'm going to try and direct my obsessive behaviour towards that and so hopefully if I feel the need to splurge I can treat myself from some savings rather than going into debt.

That's the plan anyway

I need to mention that the cc debt has been from maternity leave, very extended as I lost a job when I tried to return and then my ds would refuse anyone but me until 6 months ago. So I have been spending like I was good back to work soon.