Got a Loan now need advice

Makeandsave

Update on Thread i am now total debt free, I even have about £500 savings now. I have got rid of one credit card and reduced my overdraft on one account. I will be getting rid of another card and reducing the main overdraft leaving me with one credit card. Its a nice feeling to enter 2011 debt free.

redpete

Well done for reducing debt but I don't understand how you are debt free if you have two overdrafts, or is it the overdraft limit that you have reduced? Have you paid off the CC that you did the BT from?

themull1

An overdraft isn't debt free - you still owe that money.

Makeandsave

themull1 wrote: »

An overdraft isn't debt free - you still owe that money.

Sorry i should have made it clear i had 500 overdraft on one account that was reduced to 100 and now i have a + balance of £300 in there. On my other main account i have £1000 overdraft and + balance of £250. In the next month i will reduce the overdraft from £1000 to £250.

Makeandsave

redpete wrote: »

Well done for reducing debt but I don't understand how you are debt free if you have two overdrafts, or is it the overdraft limit that you have reduced? Have you paid off the CC that you did the BT from?

Yeah all cards are paid in full now, I have overdrafts but they are not in use one for £100 (was £500) and there is one for £1000 that will be down to £250 soon. I only have 2 credit cards now

My next steps are
Reduce the main OD from £1000 to £250
Get rid of one more credit card (will leave only 1 then)
Cut the one card i have up and use online only.

Any other tips welcomed.

Tixy

Well done on clearing your debts.
Personally I would keep a credit card (whole not in pieces). If you might be tempted you could do the old trick of freezing it in a tub of water so you can't get to it easy but you have it for
-emergencies
-travelling abroad
-Using to buy anything over £100 so that you get the benefit of the section 75 cover.

Reducing the overdrafts sounds good though.

geoffky

well done for throwing the monkey off your back...

best tip i can give you is one i got at the age of 16 and i have stuck to it all my life....if you can not afford to pay cash for it then you can not afford it...it serves me well..

triticale

Just wanted to thank the OP for coming back to update the thread, so many don't bother.

Glad to hear you're moving forward, best of luck for the future.

CashRequired

geoffky wrote: »

well done for throwing the monkey off your back...

best tip i can give you is one i got at the age of 16 and i have stuck to it all my life....if you can not afford to pay cash for it then you can not afford it...it serves me well..

Yeah im going to save £150,000 to buy a house. Good advice.:cool:

Uncle_Rico

CashRequired wrote: »

Yeah im going to save £150,000 to buy a house. Good advice.:cool:

It is good advice.

I've saved circa £50k so far. I'm now at the point whereby i think rather than consider using any of this as a deposit, I should carry on saving, and in a few years probably could buy a house outright. (Yorkshire)

I earn just short of £24k. I realise this is not realistic for everyone, and I have no dependents to look after, but it is possible.