Not sure what to do. Help please

joanna84

Hello, i have read some of the posts on here and realise im not in such a bad situation but im still worrying. I have the following debts;
3300 credit card
1700 overdrafts - 3 different accounts
£700 store card

I had a call from my bank last night and was told from december the charges for each account would be £30 per month + interest for using the overdrafts. We cant get out of the overdrafts because we dont have enough after the bills are paid to get food and whatever, they are paid off each month but then we are staright back in them.

The credit card is on a 0% but only til october i think and im only paying the minimum and i usually pay about £5 over on the store card and i pay them both on time so dont get any late payment charges.

bottleofred

Hi Joanna & welcome to the forum,

Firstly don't panic, as there is no debt too large that can't be tackled eventually (I owed 36k before I realised I'd been an idiot!). You need to post your statement of affairs first and then you'll get loads of tips/advice on how to save money that can go towards the debts. I've put the link for the SOA below.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.htm.

joanna84

Hi,

I dont mean to be thick but what do you mean by statement of affairs?

Sorry

bottleofred

Hi Joanna,

Your statement of affairs is a list of all your incomings and outgoings every month. If you use the link I posted on the previous reply it will open up for you. You then list you incomings and outgoings (absolutely everything you pay out!) and you'll get advice on how to save cash.

Marisco

Hi Jo, it's just an incomes and outgoings statement. If you go on the link that bottle has put up it's ready to fill in. Post it on here and you'll get a lot of help to cut down:)

josephine82

Hi Joanna!

Definitely do the statement of affairs as the others suggested, its a great way of seeing your finances in black and white. Then people here can give you some tips in how to cut back and how to pay off your debts more quickly.

My first piece of advice would be for you to open up new basic bank accounts elsewhere, and get your pay transferred into there and all of your direct debits/standing orders. Then treat the overdrafts as debts and pay it off bit by bit by standing order. Then you will be able to see all of your wages and see exactly what you have left at the end of the month.

I'll subscribe and come back when you've posted an SOA.
Don't worry, all is not lost, we can help!
Jo