June was an eventful month. I spent it all at home recovering after my stint in hospital. Not being at work meant I saved a lot of money by not buying coffee and breakfast and expensive lunches from the shops near work. However, being on SSP, meant that my income was severely reduced (down to 25%) so any spare money I had went to paying for my usual expenses, like rent, water, gas and electricity, the usual modern comforts.

My balances adjusted slightly too, as my balance transfer from my Lloyds card went to the Barclaycard to take advantage of the interest-free offer. In total, I paid £243.20 onto my card, which was more than usual as I put a little bit more onto my Lloyds card (because of jump in interest).

I noticed an interesting point too from this month, around how banks calculate the minimum payment. Most of my cards work on a basis of a percentage of your balance or £5 (which ever is greater). However Lloyds recently changed to the following calculation:

> Total interest + any late fees and charges + 1% of your balance

What this means is that on a balance of £3206, I was paying back £52 worth of interest plus £32.06 plus my late fee, totalling £99. whereas on another card it would be much less. The reality being that as you pay off the interest each month, in my case, towards the end of the month, you’ve already then accrued more interest before your payment is even deducted. So bearing this in mind, I’ll be trying to change all my payments to come out soon after the bill is issued. At least on the accounts where I am paying interest.

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And here is a pretty chart showing the progress through the year. I have to admit I like the curve of the Barclaycard line.

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