hi im new need advice

veggielove

Hi all I'm new here. I have just cleared my credit card but last payment there was big. Now we are short on cash for the rest of the month and my mum has already bailed us out lots but giving money for bills and I may need dental work and the £1000 available on my card is temping me to use a bit till pay day for food and maybe dentist. I don't want to... but our cash is extremely low for next 3 weeks. Suppose could eat rice lol...

Tixy

Always a personal decision.
But i'd ask myself whether if I did use it I could definitely repay in full the next month - without needing to put anything new on the card or borrow from family. Its easy to get back in to the trap of building debt up once your card is clear.

Could the dental work wait until after next payday?
If you don't want to use it but do need to buy food on a very limited budget there are some interesting threads on the old style money saving section of the forum, - including suggestions to feed a family of 4 for £20 for a month. An alternative might be to set yourself that sort of short term challenge to get you through to payday.

Idiophreak

You need to work on budgeting better - there's little point paying debts if it's going to leave you short and looking for other debts by the end of the month.

You have to be realistic about how much debt you actually pay each month. You say you cleared your credit card this month, but really you didn't...If you've £1000 on a CC and you pay it all, but then borrow £800 on another card etc, you've only really paid back £200 come the end of the month.

Once you've established how much you can actually afford to pay, you can work out how long it will take you to properly clear that debt - and thus where the best place to have it is. If, for instance, it's going to take a year to finally clear the thing, maybe transferring to a 0% card is more sensible. If, on the other hand, it will be clear next month, just spending on a CC and paying in full next month will be cheaper.

Once you're happy the debt's as cheap as it can be, you just transfer the amount you can afford each month and live from the money in your account. Much more sustainable.

veggielove

Thanks it all makes sense Yes I cleared the card over 2 months and parents helped out for general expenses but I did not want to ask money from mum again as she never takes it back. So she gives me it like charity lol. And I feel guilty but grateful so much. Fellow cheeky asking for more by will see how far I can stretch without using Cc if we get through next 3 weeks then not need to use it I'm cutting it up. Then it's just hubbies debt we paying and! What we owe the n laws.:T

FireWyrm

veggielove wrote: »

Thanks it all makes sense Yes I cleared the card over 2 months and parents helped out for general expenses but I did not want to ask money from mum again as she never takes it back. So she gives me it like charity lol. And I feel guilty but grateful so much. Fellow cheeky asking for more by will see how far I can stretch without using Cc if we get through next 3 weeks then not need to use it I'm cutting it up. Then it's just hubbies debt we paying and! What we owe the n laws.:T

Post your query over at the DFW board and I'm sure we can help. You will almost certainly need to do an SOA (statement of affairs - sticky on that forum).

I feed a family of 4 on around £150 a month (I could do it for £100 if I wanted) routinely.

veggielove

Thanks will do. I'm veggie so is hubby no kids yet...