best way to clear overdraft

ToothFairy

Oh do you know what this is the advise I need. I have lived in my overdraft now for maybe nearly 3yrs. I am £1,300 in my OD, and I am fed up. I hate being like this getting me down! I think I may try the second account option, Its worth a shot. I don't seem to be able to alter my OD online tho, which is a shame as i dont really wanna keep going in my local branch.
Thank you to everyone on here, this has given me the drive to finally do something about it!

CashRequired

I have an overdraft and i'm going to get a 0% card, then balance transfter, cancel the OD, cut the card up and pay it off with no charges.

Alternatively, setting up a new account and paying the od and treating it as a loan seems to be a popular choice but i'll be going with the former.

TotallyBroke

lauzt1987 wrote: »

Can't really shave anything off our joint account payments as this covers all our household bills, plus food and we're both already very careful with money. I really only got into this mess because I was out of work with no savings.

Feel so much better after just discussing this. many thanks everyone!

Honestly you would be surprised what you can shave off your bills. Utility swapping, insurance comparison etc.
For me it really was the shopping, I would go once a week and then find on a Thursday I would be throwing out tomatoes and other salad and veg ready to buy again on Friday.
I now blend all veg and salad bits that are going soft, freeze in the icecube tray and pop into a bag and keep in the freezer, I now have stock cubes instead of having to buy them. I don't buy pasta sauces, I make my own with puree and the homemade stock cubes so saving a bit.
I also now do not shop weekly, I drive past my Tesco everyday on my way home so now I pull in everyday and go to the reduced to clear section and get everything I can that will freeze. It is from this that I make my weekly meal planner.
If you are spending more than £50pw on groceries for the 2 of you then you can save a lot. Check out the oldstyle board on this site, it will show you great cleaning tips so you do not have to buy expensive cleaners which can bump up the cost of shopping.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

An extra job, in the evenings or weekends! For me it was winning a cash competition for £1001. I still have £500 to go, so I've taken on a decorating job to clear the rest!!!

AMD

DVardysShadow

lauzt1987 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply! Probably didn't make myself clear. I want to pay this off so eventually I am not in the red at all. And then I want to lower my overdraft limit right down (may keep it a couple of hundred for emergencies.)

I thought about maybe just bringing it down a little each month but not sure you can do that. I've heard rumours that you get credit checked very time you lower your overdraft. Thought about also opening another account that I could put a little into each month until I have 900. Then transfer it to the other account so my overdraft is paid off. But this seems a bit silly as I will be accruing interest on the full 900 during this time.

You are confusing 'overdraft' and 'overdraft limit'. You can reduce your overdraft by spending less than you put into the account, and this is what you should do until you can live without the overdraft limit. Once you have reached that stage, you should reduce your overdraft limit to 0 and I cannot think of any justification for a credit search for that.

hellsbells0405_2

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

An extra job, in the evenings or weekends! For me it was winning a cash competition for £1001. I still have £500 to go, so I've taken on a decorating job to clear the rest!!!

AMD

Thats what I'm doing as well 9-5 then a few evenings a week working at an off licence, hoping to see the changes soon