Overdraft Help

ultra123

Hi i am having a bit of trouble, and its weighing heavily on my mind.
a bit of details 1st:
-am putting into my account just over 1k a month
-my ovedraft limit is £500
-i have no savings

my trouble is straightforward but worrying. my balance is -£500. my rent costs is £570 alone. so, every month my balance becomes,+£500, i withdraw £570 for my rent and am immedialtly back in the red by £30, and im not taking into account my other bills here.

how on earth do i clear this? i have been living like this for 3 months + now and feel like im guna spend the next 20 years or at least until i get some luck getting a higher paid job not able to do anything leisure-wise, since all my money goes directly to bills.
- i am not able to borrow from family
- i live in london and simply cant find a cheaper place to live
- have applied to social for some help but was refused, as i 'am not eligible for financial help' in their words
- i am quite young(21) and am not the greatest at financial terms.

am considering getting a credit card to pay off overdraft, but in laymans terms is this worthwhile and if so how on earth does it work and how to i go about it? can i use my credit card account as my current account? do i pay overdraft off and set up a direct debit of a specific amount a month to pay off this card? never had a credit card have googled it but it all seems to be in another language if you know what i mean. i am sure if i pay this overdraft off i can seriously cut back on my monthly expenditure (food, heating, walk half way to work.. etc) its just right now i am quite demorolised and dont know what to do.

thank you for any help you can give to this desperate soul!

bottleofred

Hi ultra and welcome to the forum. I strongly recommend not getting a credit card, as it will only result in you ending up in even more debt and then having even less money available for bills etc. Do your statement of affairs (there is a link near the top of page 1) and you'll get loads of tips/advice on how to save money. You could consider a flat/house share which may be cheaper though.

crazyguy

If your single and working more than 16 hours per week I think you may be able to get working tax credits look at the link :

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

ultra123

bottleofred- > did SOA, and apparently im -13.3 a month over what i get paid! and all i inputted was main bills

crazyguy- > i ran that test before about 6 months ago and i just ran it again and both times i am not able to claim any benefit.

crazyguy

Well then its a case of cutting even more costs, shopping bills and other expenses like phones and treats

Pinksparkles26

Hey there Ultra i can completly understand how you feel. For the past seven years i've had an overdraft starting as £100 on one account and ending up at £1950 and £1200 on another account! I just started writing down everything i spent and where i could cut back. Even things like reducing my mobile phone tariff etc, it all helps. A year on i'm overdraft free and its the biggest weight off m mind ever. DO NOT get a credit card to pay them off though as i did that and ended up £3000 in debt on a credit card. Once you have one they are near impossible to get rid of. As you would have to make repayments on a credit card can you put this money aside to take down your overdraft with?

DizzyDizzy

Hi, what a frustrating situation to be in!

I echo what others have said - do not get a credit card - it is the start of a slippery slope ...

I think you may have to slog it out until you can clear it. Can you get an evening job, or weekends? In London there must be loads of evening bar jobs, or cleaning jobs going?

May be treat this overdraft as an actual debt? (Don't mean to imply overdrafts are not debt, of course they are but hopefully you know what I mean?) Open another bank account with no overdraft, and then just pay in a small amount into the over draft to clear it. That way you won't be tempted to dip in it again.

carrielovesfanta

crazyguy wrote: »

If your single and working more than 16 hours per week I think you may be able to get working tax credits look at the link :

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

as the OP is only 21, they are not eligible for WTC, you must be over 25.

Unfortunately there is very little help for people this age with no children - I've been there myself.

If the OP could post an SOA, I'm sure someone will come and make some excellent suggestions for you. Try to cut down on your electricity and water usage possibly?

ultra123

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 1051
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1051

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 125.3
Rent.................................... 570
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 10
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 9
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1064.3


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 3500.....(125.3)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 3500......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,051
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,064.3
Available for debt repayments........... -13.3
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -13.3

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -3,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. -3,500




here is my SOA, thank you all so much for your time and help it is appreciated.

so from what i gather i will NOT take out a credit card to pay it off and simply attempt to cut down on my expnditure?
and to dizzydizzy i have considered your suggestion before but m finding it hard to get employment in the time after my 'main' job, IE i finish work at 5PM and most evening jobs im seeing are starting between 4-6, it would be pretty tough tryin to get from a 5 o'clock finish to a 6 o'clock job without being late as it is rush hour and i dont drive. im still looking though.

pinksparkles26 i see where you coming from that is what i was considering its just that because im so bloody much over it would take possibly months to get rid of it so that was why i was considering a card to clear it immediatly, though perhaps i was thinking that in desperation. its just where will i find the extra cash to pay it off with, ive been as honest as i can with my SOA and you can see that i live life pretty basic thanks to this overdraft!

curlytop12

what is your secured debt for?and what is it actually secured on,as you don't have mortgage/car etc??well,as far as i can see there isnt much room for cutting back except for your rent,is it a bedsit/flat or house you live in?
and you could look at your gas/elec usage of course.
def don't go down the CC route.
i had OD for years,until i got a new bank account,changed pay to go into that,dd's to come out and just left the OD in the old one,then set up standing order to pay a little off each month.
good lucl:)

JLL

I've just finished this month a payment plan with Barclays to pay back my overdraft each month. My overdraft was just over £1100. I phoned Barclays up and asked for a payment plan. They didn't think i needed it because my wages was clearing it each month, but at the end of the month i was back to where i started in it. I insisted on being put on it. It's taken 6 months but i'm now clear of it, i feel like a big weight off my shoulders. They asked me how much a month i could afford to repay. We've cut our shopping bill in half by going to Aldi instead of Asda. Some months i didn't know how we would do it and still manage to pay all our bills. But we did do it. Phone the bank and ask them and see what they say.