Hello - new to DFW and desperate to cut debts!

chickflick1066

Hello. I was wondering if I could seek your advice - I know there is a font of knowledge on this forum and I'm not sure where to begin. I'll tell you a bit about me. I work permenantly FT as a registered nurse and my OH is currently 3 weeks into an 8 week temporary contract. My debt is £3000 from my student overdraft (finished uni August 2010) and my OH has a about £5000 in credit card debts. Each month I pay out: £425PCM rent, £100 council tax, £18 Gas and electric, £40 internet & phone, £10 phone credit, £200 food bills £200 fuel and £15 interest on my overdraft. I also pay £60 to part loan a horse but my quick calculations show that each month I should have £192 PCM leftover. My OH has approx £300 credit card payments, £100 car insurance, £300 fuel and £20 credit. His monthly income, despite working FT, is only about £800 PCM. As OH has credit cards to pay it's me who pays the day-to-day bills but with a monthly income of £1250 it can be a bit of struggle. We can afford to live but only because of my overdraft. My wages make a small dent in my overdraft for two days and then obviously all my direct debits go out so I'm nearly back to my £3k limit. I am desperate to pay off my £3k overdraft but even if I pay back £100 per month it'll take me two years. That just seems forever to me. Do I have to sacrifice going out, spending money on clothes etc, for the next two years if I'm desperate to pay this overdraft off? I would like to start to pay into my NHS pension but I'll come out with even less. How can I save pennies on shopping etc?

tealady

Hi
First you have to see where every penny goes, and I mean EVERY penny so you both need to keep a spending diary
Also check to see if you pare getting the best price on everything from insurance to utilities, food and petrol.
Also so an SOA (sticky at the top) it may show up areas where you can cut back (whether it be your TV/broadband package or just that habit coffee at work that costs you a few quid a day).
No one says it will be easy but if you want to get out of debt then something has to give.
Best of luck

tallyhoh

Only £18 gas & electric. is that right?

Try filling out your expenses (SOA) from the sticky at the top of this forum just in case you have missed items.

chickflick1066

Yeah £18 gas and electric goes out by DD each month. I will do the SOA, thanks.

lika_86

Who is your account with? RBS do a good deal on graduate accounts (mine is with them), they'll give you a £2,000 overdraft in the first year interest free and it gradually reduces. That might give you a chance to work on the other £1,000 and reduce the interest as much as possible so you can increase your actual payments.

In terms of cutting back, food is the obvious (and I think easiest) choice. But yes, if you want to get rid of the debt as quickly as possible, it will mean sacrifices. It isn't easy.