It's so simple in theory!

Trishiapp

Cornucopia wrote: »

I'm slightly confused - are you juggling these debts on a monthly basis because you struggle with them all, or is it that you want to pay them off because it would be good to do it.

I think our advice would be different for the two different scenarios.

Maybe it's the loan you should tackle first - because it's the smallest?

I'm sorry for creating confusion...


Luckily I'm not struggling with them, but would rather get rid of them, as I don't want to be in debt any-more.

Cornucopia

In which case, it should be a simple matter of comparing the monthly cost, the monthly payments and how much extra you can put by each month to work out the best approach.

Trishiapp

Neil_948 wrote: »

If you could move it to a card with a lower APR and a interest free period on balance transfers it can help you pay it off faster as you will probably have an admin fee to pay but then nothing more until the end of the interest free period meaning every penny you put towards it will come off the balance not the interest.

That's true Neil. I shall look into it this afternoon ( I've noticed some offers/ ideas on this site already!) Thank you.

quidsy

Use a debt snowball calculator. it will tell you what to pay of first in order to make the smallest amount of interest payments.

tiny_courageous

I've seen many times on here people struggling because banks have recalled overdrafts at very short notice. It's definitely worth considering that when deciding what to pay off first.

foxgloves

When we first started debt-busting, I decided to tackle the overdraft first, even though we had cards/loans with higher interest rates. I did this because I found it difficult to budget effectively while I was going well into overdraft every month. So for a little while, I concentrated on getting current account solvent & having achieved this, it became much easier to see how much money I had each month. I snowballed the other debts & picked them off one by one. We have not gone into overdraft one single time since getting rid of it in 2010.. When you know that all your monthly income is available, rather than disappearing down the overdraft black hole, focussing on a proper budget which includes overpaying your remaining debts somehow does seem a lot more straightforward, at least that was our experience.

Trishiapp

Thank you all for your kind advice.

Based on your past knowledge, I have decided to tackle my overdraft first. I think foxgloves is very right in that, unless I have 'clear' money in my bank account, I will not be able to budget properly as I always end up overdrawn!


Also, the idea of my bank withdrawing this facility has frightened me-may I ask, under what circumstances does this happens?


I have taken Neil's advice and will transfer ( if I can) the £800 credit card debt onto 0 % card ASAP. I've not had a chance to research it yet, as my poor daughter came back from college feeling very unwell with sore throat and high temperature.


I am also considering selling some valuable objects from my house which I don't use or need, but would hopefully provide me with extra money.


Ah yes! I've returned two audio books to Audible, so extra £20 towards my overdraft I've not spent a single penny so far today, and I'm intending to keep it that way until, at least, end of the week, when I might have to get some cat food.


Yet again, thank you all so very much for your valuable input.

Trishiapp

Just a quick question...

What would be better for selling stuff, Ebay or Gumtree? I've never used either, so not sure which one to go for.


Thank you in advance for your answers.

Tixy

Hi Trish

What would be better for selling stuff, Ebay or Gumtree? I've never used either, so not sure which one to go for.

I think it usually depends on what items you are selling. If its large fairly low value items then gumtree can be better as it will be local people who will collect in person. Some people say that gumtree can attract a lot of timewasters though.

Ebay reaches a wider audience but does have higher fees for listing/selling plus your buyers also usually need to pay postage on top.

The Boost Your Income section of the forum has some useful tips as does Ebay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales - including an article on selling by ebay (if you do go that route) eBay Selling Tricks Easily declutter, flog & make money

lurvlyloz

i sell a lot on face book local selling pages now.