A Spot of Bother. D=

Olliegami

To put it simply, I'm asking for advice.

At the moment I have a loan which is being dealt with, a flexible loan that I'm making regular payments on - I'm not concerned about those.

My problem lies with my overdrafts. I have two accounts, one with Abbey National - which has an overdraft limit of £600, I'm currently about £50 OVER my overdraft. I also have another account, which is now my main one, where I have a limit of £250. I'll be paid on the 23rd of the month, but probably won't have enough money to cover essential payments.

So, I'm looking for a way to borrow some extra money. My credit rating isn't great at all.

I have two main questions - what financial support can I get as an Open University student? Bearing in mind that my workplace pays for my qualification, and that I'm working full-time alongside the course.

The second is about balance transfers - If you have an overdraft, and you get a balance transfer card, does switching the overdraft count as a balance transfer? Or should I be getting a 0% credit card as normal?

Any help would be appreciated. This is beginning to break up my sleeping patterns in a way I'm not used to - and the small amounts of money I'm making online aren't quite cutting it.

angelicmary85

Hiya,

When you're doing an open uni course, are you classed as a student or working full time?

Olliegami

I think that you're still classed as working full time, although I believe I can apply for a student card for discounts and stuff.

angelicmary85

Could you maybe get reduced council tax? I think that lower CT is a benefit of being a student? Not sure though so you'd have to check.

Olliegami

I'll have to have a look at that, thanks~!

GeorgeUK

You will need to be very careful if you try to get a 0% card. Only a few allow transfers to a current account with the 0% offer and most see this as a money transfer and charge a higher interest rate than the standard card rate.

You will need to look for a card that allows super balance transfers such as Virgin, but if your credit rating is not too good - not sure if this would be a good idea or not.

RAS

A better idea might be a Statement of Affairs and a visit to the Old style Money Saving forum to explore living off the cupboards and freezer for a few weeks, plus a car boot sale?

Olliegami

Thanks for the input, I'll definately be having a look at ways that I can get by without spending any money this month.

My SoA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 880
Total monthly income.................... 880

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 159
Council tax............................. 33
Electricity............................. 33.33
Water rates............................. 13
Mobile phone............................ 55.79
Internet Services....................... 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 7.2
Total monthly expenses.................. 311.32


Assets

Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................0.........192.6.....0
Flexible Loan..................0.........58........0
New Look Card..................0.........15........0
Total unsecured debts..........0.........265.6.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 880
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 311.32
Available for debt repayments........... 568.68
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 265.6
Amount left after debt repayments....... 303.08

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

This month, however I need to make a repayments of £312 to cover missed payments last month, which leaves me needing to make about £9.

I also have £41.12 over my overdraft that I obviously need to work on reducing. I'm currently selling all my manga on greenmetropolis, earning money with slice the pie, doing surveys (I am so close to £40 payout with OnePoll) I do daily scratchcards too.

I'll definately check out the old-style money saving board, although there isn't much in my cupboard at the moment anyway, but I'm not going to be negative about it. I should be back on track by the end of May (which is also my birthday, I'll just be asking for money to help set myself straight, right?)

Honeybee_2

Do you get a course materials grant with your OU course?

Horace

Your mobile phone bill is extremely high, also you havent allowed any money for groceries. If you note down everything we will have a clearer idea. Is it only you that works, if so can the other adults get a job?

Keep a spending diary and note down everything that you spend - the odd coffee and newspaper soon add up.

Olliegami

Thanks for the advice - unfortunately, it wouldn't matter if the other adults had jobs or not - we split everything between three. The phone bill is huge at the moment - I have a lot of friends and family who live abroad, so I pay an extra £15 for International calls, and I'm also currently paying off two contracts, one ends in August - which I intend to cancel.

As for a spending diary I don't really buy anything I don't need anymore - I used to always get stuff, but now I find it much easier to ignore any desire to buy anything, so I guess the only thing I need to do is budget for food - which I haven't really done before.

I'm in the process of figuring out where to buy stuff that's the cheapest though, from the several shops that are in the surrounding area - but to be honest I don't think I'll actually be spending any money on food this month.

Also, the OU course provides all course materials, so I can't get a grant there - cause I don't need it I suppose.

This all sounds very negative of me... I know I need to start thinking positively.