My SOA - help please!

Jesthar

elyphant wrote: »

Jesthar - the overdraft is £2000. The loan I am not so worried about (I know this is debt-free wannabes, but really at the mo I am just looking to start spending less than we earn). My worry about using the savings is that if we are still spending more than we earn, the £6000 will just disappear. Feel like maybe if we can get to be every month within budget, maybe we could use it and set up a direct debit to pay back. The overdraft isn't interest free, so yes it is costing us. Have just had a thought - is there a system for getting a 0% credit card and doing a bal t/f from your current account? Might this be another way round it - get in a +ve balance, pay off CC with direct debit? Any advice please!!

Spending diary already underway - and helping me really think every time i reach for the purse!

Good start! :T

There are superbalance cards, yes (as someone has posted for you), but you usually have to pay a percentage fee to transfer. Whereas if you use some of the £6000 to pay off your overdraft it won't cost you anything - in fact, you'll be in 'profit' as you'll have stopped paying more interest than your savings will ever earn!

And, of course, the fact remains that if you continue to overspend the money would all be gone at some point anyway. Therefore, it might as well help you reduce your debt now rather than later, even though you are still learning about reducing your outgoings. Think of it as giving you added incentive to change your habits, as if you manage to get back within budget from next month on you'll never need to dip into your savings again!

~Jes

elyphant

Thank you all so much for your replies, sorry not to have replied sooner. I am feeling better as have made a few small changes, and really concentrating with teh spending diary, and I think this month we might just make it. I have got a list now of things to tackle thanks to this thread, and hopefully that will get us back on an even keel and able to start reducing the debt. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!