Need help to get out of debt!

x.jem.x

Hello all!

This is my first post post on here, please be nice to me as I am a newbie

I am currently trying to get out of my £750 overdraft:mad:. I am the full £750 into my overdraft. I know this is not an awful lot in terms of things but it is still getting me down, as I am sure you all can relate to.

I am working temporarily at the moment and I am doing extended hours to get all the money I can get as if I just work the hours I am asked to, I get just under £200 a week which is not really enough in terms of paying off debt FAST.

If I work extended hours, I am expected to take home around £250 a week which is excellent if I can stick to the hours.

I give my fiance £100 a week for rent and bills etc etc.
I also owe him over £1000 as he helped me out with paying my loan when I didnt have a job although I am currently just concentrating on getting my overdraft sorted out as I would love my account to be in the black, even if its just a £1!!!

I am currently in the middle of paying off a £2000 loan. I have just over £1000 left to pay and that finishes on 1/2/2012. I pay £103.49 a month for my loan.

So all in all, I get around £1000 a month (if i do the extended hours.......for as long as my boss will let me!), and I pay out £100 a week to the other half, £103.49 per month for my loan and £45 a month for my phone contract (which I can lower soon!)

All I need is advice on how to get out of this overdraft as soon as possible really.....

ANY ADVICE WILL HELP! Just want to be made to feel like i'm not alone!

Thank you!

Tixy

Hi jem and welcome

Sounds like you have a plan in place. Aside from the items you listed do you have anything else you have to pay for each month (or does the payment to fiance cover groceries etc as well).

Hope you manage to stay on the increased hours, at least whilst you clear this.

Have you tried keeping a spending diary at all? this can sometimes help highlight where else you are spending money or even wasting money and might then help you cut back so you can clear the overdraft quicker.

If your finances suggest that you should have say £200 or £300 to reduce the overdraft with each month but you find you actually respend it all each month then for some people it helps to open a new bank account elsewhere and then set up a standing order to pay off a set amount each month from the old overdraft. (Its not usually the cheapest way to clear the debt but some find it easier to control by doing it this way).

x.jem.x

Hi Tixy

Thank you so much for getting back to me & thank you for the warm welcome!:rotfl:

I am contracted here until June which has been confirmed with my boss. Quite often the company that I am working for keeps temps on for a bit longer so fingers crossed on that front! Will do as many hours as I can!

Yes the payment to the fiance covers the bills, groceries, rent etc etc. If I can work a few more hours, I may start giving him a bit more money so I can start paying money to him but he has said there is no immediate hurry & that he wants me deal with my overdraft first.

I am really trying hard not to respend any of the money that goes into my bank account. I am buying food when I go for the weekly shop for lunch so that I dont find myself going down to the work canteen and buying things! (I'm terrible at that!)

I think I will start a spending diary so that I can see exactly how much extra money leaves my account each month that is not 'essential' e.g hair dye indulgences which is my guilty pleasure haha!:p

climbgirl

x.jem.x wrote: »

I am really trying hard not to respend any of the money that goes into my bank account.

You can ring the bank and ask them to lower the overdraft amount when you pay a bit off. They might get annoyed by lowering it by £20, but most will do it!

Another option is to take out the money in cash that you have to spend for the week / month and give your card to your fiance. Then you can't spend the bit that's going towards your overdraft. Doing something like this teaches you to be disciplined in your spending.

Use things like your hair dye indulgence as a reward - let yourself buy some hair dye (not a lot!) when you've paid off £100 of the overdraft and only then.

Good luck!

x.jem.x

Hi climbgirl:)

That sounds like a good idea about lowering the overdraft.

I really like the idea about giving my card to my fiance (he better not lose it! Haha!). I literally use a max of £10 a week if I dont buy anything other than using the £10 to put on my card at work to use in the resturant for lunches & drinks. I need to disipline myself with that though. The next shopping trip we go on, I'm going to get loads of things I can take to work for lunch. Sound like a plan?

Really good idea about the hair dye as well. Wish they did smaller packets of hair dye so I wouldnt have to spend as much as I recently got my hair cut quite short so whenever I dye my hair now, I have it all dripping down my forehead HAHA! What a state lol!

I think I have finally got myself into the mind-set that I dont NEED new clothes (even if they are from Primark as I cant afford anywher else) and that I dont NEED snacks and to go out for meals once a week.

Me and my fiance havent been out for a meal since out 3 year anniversary on the 10th Feb and I can safely say I dont think we have missed not going out as often as we used to. We had a takeaway when I got paid the other day but that was a treat and it lasted us for the meal and lunch the next day!

I am so glad I people have heard my cry....this forum is great!:rotfl:

kazwookie

Ring up your mobile phone company and see if they will let you go onto a lower tariff, or see if they will let you cancel it altogther and go on to payg.

Some people freeze their c cards in blocks of ice!

x.jem.x

Hi!

I think I can lower my tariff anyday now so I might give them a call and see if i can do it today:). If I remember correctly, you can only go down by £5 but every little helps!

I looked my Orange account online the other day and it had some good deals for a lot less than what I paying now so I might see if I can switch to one of those instead somehow. It's worth an ask I spose!:D

Wow really? I bet it works though!:)

climbgirl

Setting yourself little targets and goals is a great way to motivate yourself - then saving money and paying down the debt becomes like a game, teaching you discipline and budgeting skills at the same time.

x.jem.x

I agree!

I am actually getting quite excited about challenging myself to see how much I can save each week. I think I am going to do it weekly as I get paid weekly (Get paid on Friday so I will count from one Friday to the next) and then I can tally up at the end of the month

Cant wait for the day when I actually fall into the black! Dont want to see that - anymore!

climbgirl

Sounds like a good plan - post on here each week to let us know how you're doing. Then we can praise or tell you off, depending on how it's gone . I find it you're accountable to someone and need to update on your progress, it makes you much more conscious of what you're spending.

Tixy

You might also want to consider joining up with one or 2 of the DFW challenges - the No Spend Day is a popular one (you set yourself a target number of days in the month where you won't spend) or you could try one for maybe something like the No buying toiletries in March challenge?
On these challenges we all motivate and encourage each other along our debt free plans.

List of Challenges 2011