My SOA :( any help would be MUCH appreciated!

toontastic

I don't see the need to keep the Capital one card open. It's only got £11 in it so just pay it off and get rid of the card then it's one less place to spend any cash. If you have no credit cards then you can only use whats in your bank and that should then control your spending else you'll have no money for the month.

How much are you currently paying off on your other card each month ? To pay it off in the 7 months before you went back to Uni you would have to throw about £256 a month at it which is possible if you took that off your socialising and clothes.

Basically your going to have to stop in

toontastic

You say you spend £300 on rent but do you realise you spent £800 on drinking, clothes and going out last month. If you managed to stop in all of March (thats only 4 weeks and you have a nice holiday to look forward to) then you would have saved yourself £800 to either go towards paying off your credit card or making your bank balance looking healthier.

louby_lou

thats a shocking and very good point. I will be on holiday for 2 weeks of March so no unallocated spending there - I wont be going out this week or next week much as my usual partner in crime is away in south africa on holiday. please dont think i'm trying to justify myself. I cannot. I am disgusted at the way in which I have treated money and am resolute on reducing this debt. thank you so much for your words of encouragement it means the world to me. I think I shall have to take some pictures for eBay tonight as there is a 50% off day on listing and some features on Friday. Sounds like a plan before I go away. thanks again guys

skintchick

Do mention in your listings you are going away though - you don;t want to come hom to a load of annoyed buyers doing NPS on you!!!

And do a sig - they are very encouraging!

toontastic

No problem, like I say I was a student a year ago and had to sort out all my debts. I was spending in about the same places as yourself (well apart from the clothes, I'll never understand how woman can spend so much on clothes ) Just make sure you enjoy your time as a student.

toontastic

Thats a very good point Skintchick don't want bad ratings to come back to.

louby_lou

thanks guys have made an avatar and a signature and its motivated me loads! will probably only do a 5 day auction and get the items sent off before I go away. Thanks so much for your tips - I really appreciate it! xxx

**purpleprincess**

Hello!!! I'm 21 too and understand the pressures of going out with friends, it's a huge pain in the @rse!!!! But I've learnt to say no to cut down my spending, and for example rather than going out for dinner I've got a friend coming to mine for dinner tomorrow night, I'm going to cook a pasta bake and she's going to bring the plonk!! Little things like that help, and I also find now that I have a better night out when I'm not going out every night.

Good luck!!

vixxen

Hello

Don't know if I'm going to be much help but it's worth a try! I was in a right state a few years back and the first thing I did was get rid of any storecards as these tend to have the highest apr. You stated the balance was £0 for topshop so get rid of that first. What I did when paying off my CCs was to reduce the limit each time I had decreased it by a significant amount. I started with a £5000 limit but now it's only £750 and I have just asked for that to be reduced to £500, that way even if I am tempted I know I can't add anymore onto it.

There's loads of great people on here who will help and support you for as long as you need us.

Good luck!

roswell

Call me nuts but firstly take your isa out and pay it into your debts.

Result ? That 3K you saved so hard is gone, Your gettign 5% interest it on it but looks like your paying over 10% on debts ... the spiral is already there and the quick fix is right infront of you.

Set a budget working the following sections.

Life NEEDS.
Rent
Food
Council Tax.
Water
Debts

Discretionary spend shoud be last, Once debts is removed replace it with savings, save a set amount each month and treat it as a bill.

Close any cards you pay off to remove temptation