Credit card / overdraft / cash advance dilemma - HELP!

Johnny_Chaos

I will give a hundred peacock feathers to anyone who can help with my dilemma.

I've had a heavy month in terms of spending, and I checked my current account balance today to find that I am 70 pounds over my agreed overdraft. (So, basically I am 2060 overdrawn.) My fault - not budgeting, not keeping an eye on things.

The bank has written to say that I've been charged 22 pounds (hey-ho) and that unless my balance is brought below the OD limit within 5 working days, then I'll be clobbered with a 22 quid charge. And then another 22 quid charge if I'm still over 5 days after that. And so on and so on.

Now, basically I'm skint till payday (11 days away). Luckily, I have food, petrol and a tenner in my wallet, so I should survive. But I could do with getting my OD below the agreed limit - or I know the bank will pile on the charges.

I have a credit card, which I currently owe several thousand pounds on, and it does allow cash advances.

So, do I get a cash advance (and ultimately pay the advance fee plus interest) to bring my OD below its limit, or is there some other way I can use my credit card to put 60 quid in my current account without using the cash advance facility?

Help!

Johnny.

james32_uk

Do you have any chums who would be paying cash for something around the £60 mark that would agree to let you pay on credit card in exchange for their cash? You could even offer them a small incentive (5% off or something).

bottleofred

Hi Johnny,

If I was in your position I'd try to borrow the money from a family member or friend until payday as it would be interest free. However, if you can't do this you should probably work out which is going to cost less. The bank will charge again which would make it £66 until payday, but the cash advance on the credit card will probably cost more in the long term as you already owe a few thousand on it and don't appear to be in a position to pay it off. Have you tried speaking to the bank to see if they'll let this go until payday without adding additional charges. It could be worth a try.

Good luck with whatever you decide