Seriuosly running out of ideas...please help!!

mintymoneysaver

You are trying really hard with this, just one question?
It says overdraft £200 in your outgoings, what does this mean? That you are £200 overdrawn or that you are paying £200 off your overdraft each month?
If it's just the first why not change to A and L who offer 0% overdraft for the first year, and you get £50 for switching to them if you are referred. ( See referrer's board for details) If it's the scond what interest rate are you paying because if it's less than you're paying on your cards or loan then you're better paying them off first.

kinkypixie

I just have a £200 overdraft, I'm not sure of the interest rate on it, I pay about £1.50 in interest each month, everytime I reduce my overdraft I go overdrawn but something silly like a quid and then up it again!!

Well done on being debt free Minty Money Saver!!!!!!!

calleyw

I was under the impression if you earnt less than £15K a year before you could defer and that if you went bankrupt it did not wipe out your student loans.

I wish you all the best. But think that you maybe need to downsize and rent a room from someone rather then than paying all that rent and bills.

That would help a lot. I know that you might not want to do that. But you could for say a year until you get on top of your debts. Unless you can get a lodger in or something.

As has already been mentioned sell everything that is not nailed down on ebay/amazon etc.

I wish you all the best as you will get there.


Yours


Calley

kinkypixie

My salary is 18,780 before tax, the studant loan is only £22 a month and it goes out before I get to miss it. I was living with my boyfriend in the house before and we shared the bills. It's the closest I can get to work without having to pay more on petrol etc. Catch 22.

I am looking for a new job, frantically!!!

Need advice on this though, What is better, a balance transfer with no fee at 4.9% apr for the life of the balance or a fee to transfer with 0% interest?

OberonSH

I'd put the figures through each senario. What would you pay interest wise over the life of the balance on the 4.9%, and then what would you pay to tranfer at 0%? Then go with the cheaper option!

findingmyownway

Could you move to a cheaper flat? Or if your boyf lived with you how can the landlord object to someone else moving in now he's gone?

I agree with the posters above that your spending is not particularly excessive - this means that the fastest way to get out of debt is to increase your income.

Sites like pigsback and quidco (see other threads on this site for info) are good for helping to buy presents and xmas savings etc.

Ebay and amazon are great ways to turn your junk into cash. Don't suppose your boyf left any of his stuff lying around when he moved out?:rotfl:

There is a thread on mystery shopping too which can be a good way to earn extra money. Or how about a part time job?? What is your current job - is it something where you can use your skills to earn a little extra 'on the side'?

Its going to take effort - but you will get there!

DontDoDebtKids

You seem to have done most of the obvious things - well done! I know I'll just be repeating things above but there are several rich veins of things still to do:

1) Move. You need to cut back on your expenses and this is obviously too much on your current budget - you have very little wriggle room. When does your current tenancy agreement run out?

2) Earn more money. If you don't have much of a social life, how about getting a job in a nearby pub to earn a bit more and also "go out"? This need only be in the evenings or at weekends, but will definately help out on the money front. It's not something everyone is willing to consider, but desperate times call for you know what...

3) Earn more money (again). Use Quidco - you can get free money by doing searches on Kelkoo, carsource and another site I can't remember the name of every day and for renewing car insurance, shopping online for groceries, applying for savings accounts etc. You need not actually spend anything of your own money.

4) Earn more money (yet again). You can also earn money for signing up to gambling websites and placing a first bet (and then never doing it again, obviously). Also, have a look at the "Gambling Introductory Offer Loopholes" board on this website to figure out how to actually make quite a bit of money from matched betting (betting on all outcomes using free bets to generate money from nothing).

5) Keep track of things: draw up a budget in a spreadsheet and track what you spend in a (paper) spending diary, which you can then enter into a spreadsheet at the end of every week. I never did this until very recently and it's an eye opener - and also has the benefit of there not being any surprises...

DDDK

Swishter

It may be far from ideal but could you moved to shared accomodation, this would reduce your outgoings a fair bit.
Alternatively what about a weekend job? If your open minded maybe chatline work? This is what I do, not for the shy but a great way to earn extra cash, and its up to you how much you work and therefore earn. I am upping my hours big style at the moment to reduce my debt. I don't want to offend its just an idea, if you are interested please PM me, some company I've worked for have been a bit dodgy but the one i'm with now is fantastic!