Newbie

debtfreeyesplease_2

hiya guys,
I love this forum/site as it really helps and has some gold advice.

Heres my debt story, and please dont think im taking the pee as Im really not.

Im a student with a £1400 overdraft, I have two credit cards-one student at £500 and a normal one at £250.

so alot of debt! I know its not as much as some, but to me its huge and its my first realy 'taste' of it.

Anyway, the £250 credit card is behind on payments, in 38 days time I get my student loan through and will pay them both off and be done with!
However, I lost a job so I cant keep up with the monthly repayments. What can I do?
Im with Natwest, will they be understanding in that when I get my loan il be able to pay them off straight away, but they'll have to wait untill loan day?
Il be going into my bank today to talk to them about getting a better repayment plan untill loan day.
Every time i get a letter through I feel sick to my stomach.
I have made a minumum payment yesterday to the £250 card, and I hope they know that Im trying to pay it off with what little I have.
Bah, I dont meant to drag on about it.
thanks

jade-evie

So have you made minimum payments this month?

I don't know a student without an overdraft but obviously the credit cards are playing on your mind- the minimum payments on these will be about £15 / £7.50 respectively- is there no way that you can scrape this together or borrow from friends or family until your loan comes through?

Good luck with finding a new job ASAP

Jade x

debtfreeyesplease_2

Its finding the funds is the part im struggling with. I guess its my pride that stops me from asking friends for money, and also family.
I made a minimum payment for this month, but the cerdit card is in arreas by £60.
It is playing on my mind and I cant wait for it to be gone.
Im hoping its a learning experience.

DizzyDizzy

One thing to be wary of with Natwest is that they will always try to make you take out a consolidation loan to cover the CC's and overdraft etc. I know this was the start of the slippery slope for me! You will incur some late payment charges, but if you are confident that the loan will pay them off then let them know that and then make sure you have them both paid off asap!

Personally what I would do then is cut up the larger CC and just keep the smaller one for emergencies. But you will have to start a spending plan and be very strict with yourself so you don't need to use it at all if you can help it!

best of luck x

debtfreeyesplease_2

Thanks for the advice Dizzy Dizzy and Jade-eve. Im going to go into my local branch and tell them the situation.
I just dont want to get fined, or taken to court or anything like that. (Im a terrible worrier)
My partner has agreed to help make me a budget and spending plan for the new term so I wont be completely lost.

elaine12022

It's important to leave yourself enough money to live on for the term or you could end up worse off. That is what the money is there for after all. After allocating money for living expenses (allow yourself some extra too) then have a look and see what you can afford to pay off any outstanding debts. (banks, credit cards etc are very good at making us feel that paying them off is the priority but they are not). If you google 'debt wizard' there is a spreadsheet on that site which gives a guide to how much living expenses can be taken into account before non-priority debt repayments.

Citizens Advice may be able to help, also our bank advised us to go to CCCS if we can't afford loan repayments as the banks are meant to take them seriously.

debtfreeyesplease_2

thanks for the advice,
went to the bank and they said that they couldnt deal with it in store (boo) so I had to ring the number on the back of the credit card.

So I rang and the lady on the other end was SO helpful!
I've got 30 days breathing space which means il wont get any charges, also I just have to pay on friday £35 towards the card and its pretty much up to date.

So come september 20th I get my final pay cheque through which will be around £200. Hopfully il be able to put some money towards the credit card, then on the 28th the loan comes through. So Il be on top of the £250 credit card and done.

I have to say that I feel TONS better getting it sorted, I wish I could have told my self this morning not to worry.

Thanks again for all the advice, its really helped!
xx