Newbie here... looking for advice

CLAPTON

Can you increase your income.. overtime.. or parttime job?

Snowball your debts... that is pay the minimum on each debt except the one with the highest APR .. pay as much as you can on that ..try this calculator

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

however, do reduce the OD as much as possible first as the fees are high and they may reduce or withdraw it.

The reason your Egg card say 2.008% and 26% APR is that the first is the monthly rate.

TotallyBroke

From what i can see you soa is showing an excess of £48. But if you are going over your overdraft occaisionally then you are spending it somewhere.
For the next few months (until you get the gym membership stopped) I think the most you can do is learn to stay within the overdraft. Do not try reducing it just yet. You have to take things one step at a time. Do you know how much interest they charge for the overdraft.
Once you are staying within the overdraft and have the spare cash from the phone and gym you can then start paying extra on your debts to reduce them. Start by paying off the one with the highest interest. This is showing as the Egg card at the minute (until you know the interest rate on the overdraft). It would only take you 3/4 months to pay that off. Then all that spare money would go on the Tesco card and that would be paid off in 6/7 moths so by the end of the year you will only have the one loan and the overdraft. Then it is upto you how pay them both off. You could start by reducing the overdraft by £50 per month until it is gone while continuing to slightly overpay on the loan.

Well done and good luck

bench187

Hi TotallyBroke, Ok, so I've phoned HSBC this morning and I've been told that my annual apr on the overdraft is 19.9% (1.65 monthly) and £25 charge for ever time I exceed my facility :eek:

Anyway I asked if there was a cheaper account with an overdraft and they said that for the first 3 months (as they've got a sale on it will cost me £6.47 per month for a rate of 16% and £12.95 per month thereafter!

So I guess I clear the Egg Card first!?

And Clapton, I can't really get another part time job as I'm commuting to work everyday which means I don't get back til 7.30 follwing an early morning 6.30 start.

TotallyBroke

Don't pay for a bank account the costs normally outweigh the benefits.

Because egg is charging you more I would say yes pay that first. But you really need to learn to stay within the overdraft so you don't incur anymore £25 charges.
Once you have learnt to do that over the next few months and you have the £90 from the gym and the £45 saving from the phone plus found where the spare £40 is you can start reducing your overdraft each month by £50 and use the £125 to put on your egg card or you can throw the whole £175 onto the egg card.

bench187

Ok no probs, like I say I'll make sure I don't exceed that o/draft.

I'll then make it my next step to get the egg card cleared asap. I've got some bits to put on ebay at the weekend as well so i'll see if I can generate some cash for the card then.

Cheers for listening guys, it does help to tell people. For years now I've hidden all this under the carpet and no one knows about my debts, not even those close to me... it's been very tough!!!!! I wish I'd never borrowed all those years ago.

natsplatnat

Hi Bench - and welcome!! I am with HSBC too and am trying to clear my OD before I tackle everything else! As I get paid weekly, I have allocated £40 per week to leave in my account. Once I have done this I withdraw the cash that I have budgeted for the week (food, diesel etc) and leave the rest to cover my OD. I have managed this and am now down to -£600 from -£800 (or more at £25 per go in charges!)
It can be done - so in agreeance with TB as to a plan of action!!!

Wishing you all the best - Nats

bench187

Do you guys also think that I should try and reclaim the overdraft charges back? Prob around 5-6 years worth... I know there has been a few times when the banks charges have actually put me over my 1500 facility!!

TotallyBroke

It's something you could consider. Have a search in the reclaim section and see what advice people are giving

Jesthar

bench187 wrote: »

Do you guys also think that I should try and reclaim the overdraft charges back? Prob around 5-6 years worth... I know there has been a few times when the banks charges have actually put me over my 1500 facility!!

Oh, absolutely! Add 'em all up then follow the guide here on this site to start the process. You need to start it ASAP, as you are only allowed to claim back the last six years worth of charges, or five years if you are in Scotland, so the sooner you start the more you can potentially get back.

You might not actually get them back in the near future, due to the current court case going on, but if you startnow you will be able to claim back further than if you wait.

shrimpy_80

Hi, not sure if this is helping or scaremongering but I had an overdraft with HSBC which I kept exceeding :embarasse , when my renewal date came around they refused to renew it. They sent me one letter (allegedly) giving me a month's notice of this which I never received. Consequently I answered the phone one day out of the blue to a man asking me to repay the £1500 there and then - you can imaging my reaction! :eek: They were less than helpful about the whole situation, all they were concerned with was getting me to make a debit card payment there and then and they couldn't sem to understand that my only debit card was connected to my HSBC account, hence how could I make a debit card payment! I kept geting referred back and forth from telephone banking to the branch and back again, a member of staff in branch even told me at one stage that 'telephone banking don't always know what they're doing!' Consequently I am glad to be welll rid of them now.

Sorry that turned into a bit of a rant, everyone posting here is right about paying off your highest interest card first but I would just make a note of when your overdraft is due for renewal and give some thought of paying it off first or at least having some contingency plan. To be fair I had gone over my limit quite regularly so I'm not saying you will receive the same treatment.

I have also reclaimed my bank charges, it is really simple to do if you follow the advice on this site, I have received a response telling me my case is on hold as is ususal but its definitely worth doing because you never know!

Good luck, I am in a similar position financially and this site has been a tremendous help, I feel much more positive than ever before.

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