A support thread for people paying off debt #2

[moneyworries9]

Hi all... hope you manage to find the thread?

The last one seemed to be such a success 😃 I will be honest and say that I haven't cleared as much as I would have liked but I know if I hadn't been on here, the debts would most likely have increased rather than decreased. I currently owe

£3,355 - loan
£1,600 - credit card

We do have some cash in our bank accounts. I'm in the process of paying for driving lessons so have about £1,000 in our current account, most of which is to cover that.

On the plus side, when I started the other thread, I had around £2,500 on my credit card and £3900 loan so I'm taking baby steps in the right direction.

The other thread was a huge source of support and motivation for me and I hope that this one will be for many others.

Feel free to give a quick summary to introduce yourself

@HigaDequasLuoff thank you. I'm feeling quite proud of myself. I need to pluck up courage to cut the card up now 😂
@ListeningQuietly the card application gave options for repayments so I chose fixed monthly amount £20 more than my current minimum monthly payment. Plan is to use any cash leftover at the end of each month to pay it down further. Also any other cash I come into

the card application gave options for repayments so I chose fixed monthly amount £20 more than my current minimum monthly payment
Blimey, that is a real leap in the right direction by a card company

I started out on the thread just after last Christmas with a total debt of £5300.
I had hoped to be below £3000 by Christmas but when I last checked in during November I was at £3700 and likely to miss my target.
I did miss my target as my total debt at Christmas was £3248.

I will be paying off at least £500 this month.
I have no council tax to pay during February and March so I intend to add my usual council tax payment amounts into my debt repayments and I should be able to pay total of £500 in each of those months too.
By the start of the new tax year I aim to have my debt below £1800.

I have had to start building a buffer even though I have outstanding debt because I expect a significant income drop later this year. Current buffer is standing at £1000 saved. This is the first time In years I have anything in savings and it is also my lowest debt levels for as long as I can remember.

I'm getting us more sorted. Speaking to the mortgage provider on Saturday and will move the £6k at 10% onto the mortgage, which will consolidate our house debt and makes the rest feel more manageable. 0% credit card applied for last night. Plan to pay of £150 a month and clear that by Jan 2021. Leaving the money I owe my mum ticking at £100 a month this year. Also saving £100 a month. Aims are to have cleared the cards and saved £1500 this year. Then clear the debt to my mum next year. Hoping to keep my car on the road this year and get another year out of my flat roof.

Hello all

Checking in, for accountability and a bit of support at times

Over the past year we've paid off £10k of wedding and house purchase debt and had got credit cards to zero, albeit briefly. Then, life got in the way a tad so there are some changes!

I realised I've never before included furniture finance in my calculations so have added now. I'm militant on checking my credit card and updating spreadsheet daily to manage all our accounts. Currently prioritising saving enough to cover a year of maternity leave so we can ttc.

Start of Jan 2019
Credit cards (various): £4650
Furniture 0%: £1575.86
Savings: £0

Current status
Credit card (0%): £2320 (£1380 Christmas, £940 misc )
Furniture 0%: £1036.75
Savings: £4720

Happy that savings outweigh debt at present but need to be £6k "clear" for a potential future mat leave.

Currently paying cc minimum, plus rounding off every purchase (another £40) then making targeted payments from savings around £600 per month.

Aiming to install nest or hive to help manage fuel bills so an initial outgoing but hoping for long term gain on bills reduction.

Longer than I thought, sorry!

!!!! At the furniture
BUT Well done for owning up
and even more so for highlighting that for others

and yes, card balances go up and down
but the key thing is to be aware of why its gone up and what needs doing to get it back down again

onwards and upwards

I got sick of trying different budget apps and have just got an Excel spreadsheet on my phone now with a tab each for food, leisure (these first 2 are I think the main culprits, presents etc), buses, petrol, parking. Determined to just record everything as I know how much that helps for sticking to a budget!

Thanks HungryHazelEyes that is helpful, yeah unfortunately the larger CC has quite a high minimum so have gone standing order above that, but can't spare much more for smaller CC. But will try to up it when have more income coming in as some other costs reducing. It's really helpful checking in here for motivation!

Ok, I've took on board what's been said and ive slowly repaid some debt. Klarna is now paid off, Argos is down to £80 will be paid next month and only a couple of payments on the furniture hp

Loan is reduced to £7150, car 1 £3000, car 2 £5300, cc1 £1000, cc2 still £3800.

Plan for any spare money this month will be to make a payment on cc2 but it's a long month neither of us will get paid now til the end of the month

February I'm aiming to definitely clear Argos and to pay £160 extra off cc2 which is the council tax money.

Hopefully that'll take me to under £20k, aiming for £12k by the end of the year

Good luck to everyone else

Thanks @ListeningQuietly

We're off to a strong start, eating our way through the freezer and we've withdrawn £200 to last us the first couple of weeks this month. Feeling really motivated! But similar to another poster, definitely feeling like I'm thinking about spending money more than usual now I know I cant!

Last posted about 6 months ago, its been 2 years since I became serious about tackling my debt. Calculated that I have reduced it from 18k to 10k now which I am very pleased about. Managed this mainly through negotiating low final settlements with creditors. Aiming to pay off at least 3k by the end of the year.

lannister that's very good!!

I have to call the credit union tomorrow to see for sure how many more payments there are on our vehicle. The last credit union that got paid off continued to take the payments but deposit into the savings account they opened for us, jammy buggers. I think this one will do the same. I wouldn't mind, except we have other debt that needs to be paid off. I'm excited as it should be either 1 or 2 payments left (the end of this week, or in Feb)!

I have 2 payments left on the vehicle! One this week, then Feb. They said there will be a small amount of interest I will need to pay to clear it completely (which I think is stupid - it should be completely paid off with the last payment, grrr) but it is what it is. So excited to actually get to pay it off in full.

@HungryHazelEyes I feel your excitement!
Just a quick update from me I've been on the original thread and now this one. 2019 was my year. Jan 19 I had £11913 cc debt. I should be able to make the last payment this month but will definitely be clear next month. I have worked so many hours to do this 60 plus weeks and I worked 14 days in a row at one point! Not recommended however it is done now and I can cut back. Get paid in 2 weeks then I'll know if i can pa y in full. Absolutely cant believe I'm going to debt free other than the mortgage.

Can I join for the motivation.

I cleared around £12k last year and increased my savings.

I have £11k on credit card but it's all interest free. I planned to have much less but I was ill last year and it meant I had to knock the overtime on the head as it was making me worse.

I would love to be paid off by Dec 2020 but I have a holiday to Florida planned for this year in June. And even though j have the money in savings for it, I will need some spending money.

I'm decluttering this month and my plan is to try and make £250. I'll then buy USD with that as it means I'll need less out of my wages for spending when I go away.

Currently paying £900 per month off my card, but end of jan I'm down £600 due to having some urgent unpaid leave in December. So may only be able to do £300.

I want to keep on here and just keep chipping away at it.

Coffeechoc
That is absolutely fantastic.
I think the firm grasp of the shoulder gets replaces with a round of applause at this stage

Ratbag
Well done for having a clear plan.
The US is very expensive because of tips and sales tax so do make sure you put some extra aside
but if you are on 0% then everything you pay off is the capital

I wanna join!

I have

5,700 cc1 (30m 0% from Nov 18)
4.100 cc2 (28m 0% from Jan 19)
2,100 loan (11m into a 24 month 0% loan)
574 phone loan (1m into a 25 month 0% loan)

12,474 total

I pay the loans every month and am saving to pay off the credit cards, currently paying 100 pounds off each and buying fuel with cc1 as I get cashback. Ideally I want to get both credit cards paid off in the 0% term but if not I will do 1 and see if I can balance transfer the other.

q

Coffeechoc that is amazing! I can't wait to be in that position - So close to paying off the CCs, although it does feel good knowing we're almost done with the vehicle loan!
Ratbag welcome! It sounds like you have a good plan.
Batqueen I live in the U.S. and believe Florida is a lot more expensive than where I'm at. My family of 4 can eat out for $25-35 (fast food lunch) to $60-100+ for a nice sit down meal. Although places like Red Lobster is about $100 for just DH and myself! Of course I don't know how many you're paying for and what's included in your trip. I hope that at least helps a little bit.

Oops I messed up the names! I have a horrible memory. The eating out info was for ratbag off course!
Welcome to batqueen!

Batqueen,,
If you can throw more at the first card plus whatever you spend on it monthly. There's less time on there to pay off a high balance.
Divide the amount by the months left.
As youve got lots of 0% on the go you may not get another in future

Hi, I’m saving in a separate account to pay it off and then will pay it off in a lump sum or two. It generates 1% in the savings account so better than nothing and at the moment I need it in there in case of emergency also. My credit score is fair at the moment and was good last month so only dropped due to taking out the 0% for the phone, a couple more months it should go up again but I get your point so I need to keep monitoring it!

Bit gutted at the mo, spoke to the mortgage company about putting our old house loan onto the mortgage, which is £6500. Hadn't realised they'll only let you put minimum £10k on. So feel a bit stuck with it. Not sure what to do with it now. It's at a 10% interest rate but has a low monthly repayment figure £76 a month. If we move it onto a new loan with a better interest rate, the monthly payments will be higher there's a danger that we won't be able to afford the monthly repayments. It could also cause problems if my car dies this year, which is on the cards.

Hi everybody. Can I join in? After suffering a major panic attack, increased anxiety and realising that after 5 years of hiding and trying to "fix" my secret debt the wheel were about to come off, I told my husband about the £13k I racked up on excess food shopping and the knock on effects of general life. Genuinely thought he was going to divorce me but he took it really really well and we've sat down and worked everything out.

His dad has kindly lent me half of what I owe to pay off the credit cards and credit accounts and I've still got the other half that is a consolidation loan.

I've sat down and picked apart every single spend I've made over the last four months and trimmed as much as possible - while keeping t a few comforts for my mental health (cleaner and discounted gym membership).

Other than that we're actually In a good position. The mortgage has been over paid, anything on credit like sofa and car he's taken out in his name and has been incredibly shrewd with. We have a pot of money tied up in shares for if things get into dire straights.

It's going to be a long and tricky road and I'm having to unlearn an entire lifetime of immediate self fulfilment (my parents were terrible with money and would throw money at me to treat myself rather than parenting, but that's another story).

For once in just glad I can go to sleep and not be petrified he's going to find out.

cheesen
WELL DONE on talking to him.
This truly is a case of a problem shared in a problem halved
and well done on starting to look at your spending right away.
Separating want from need and learning the different between earning a treat and just frittering^ money will set you and your family up for the rest of your lives.

Make sure any remaining cards are on standing orders so the interest comes under control
and stay in the habit of reminding your husband that he enjoyed the fruits of that hidden debt as well

onward and upwards.