Help needed!!

BrokeStudent115

I feel really stupid for getting myself into this situation but i think im in over my head.

Last year I took out a payday loan with Wonga (silly i know but had no other option) to cover expenses of moving house. This escalated into £1200 which i am now repaying off monthly. I have about £700 of that left. Now to cover a few unexpected expenses i have taken out a few payday loans (txt loan and mini credit) which i have paid back but have to keep taking them out to survive. Now i have the added pressure of getting up some money to move house next month and a very large gas and electricity bill (£300) which the company are refusing to let me pay it off monthly and I feel like i have no options. I was going to take out a loan at my Local credit union to cover all the cost but is it wise?

[Deleted User]

a credit union loan would be wise yes,however most of them wont lend until you have saved with them for a few months

longtermplanner

Shuffling your debt to a credit union will reduce the interest rate a lot. However it sounds as though you are in a situation where your budget doesn't balance. Budgets have to include provision for the unexpected. And the electricity company will definitely reach some agreement with you about monthly payments, so don't borrow to cover this.

I suggest that you should try to draw up a very realistic budget (there are lots of calculators online, try this one https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/budget-planner) and then go and discuss in and your full financial situation either with your uni/college financial advisers or with your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

foxgloves

Hi,
I agree with the previous post about getting a serious & realistic budget in place. I say that not in judgement, but because my own debts started when I was a student. Overspending my available funds & failing to budget set me on a course of bad spending habits which lasted till I was in my early 40s. My partner was just the same. I wish I had got a grip on budgeting so much earlier as it's such an important life skill. So, I would take what advice you can get about dealing with your immediate problem, but also have a clear hard look at how the situation has arisen, where cutbacks can be made, & check that you are spending your limited funds on essential 'needs' not 'wants'. You can turn it around, but don't wait two & a half decades to do it like we did! Good luck.

National_Debtline

BrokeStudent115 wrote: »

I feel really stupid for getting myself into this situation but i think im in over my head.

Last year I took out a payday loan with Wonga (silly i know but had no other option) to cover expenses of moving house. This escalated into £1200 which i am now repaying off monthly. I have about £700 of that left. Now to cover a few unexpected expenses i have taken out a few payday loans (txt loan and mini credit) which i have paid back but have to keep taking them out to survive. Now i have the added pressure of getting up some money to move house next month and a very large gas and electricity bill (£300) which the company are refusing to let me pay it off monthly and I feel like i have no options. I was going to take out a loan at my Local credit union to cover all the cost but is it wise?

Hi OP

As John says above you can't necessarily bank on a credit union loan being immediately available, and in any case, do you really want to prolong the cycle of taking out loan after loan?

The most important thing to do right now is to safeguard your funds. That may mean having to open a basic bank account away from your current bank. If you don't owe your current bank anything, but your payday lenders have the account details, you need to contact the bank ASAP to cancel the lenders' powers to grab funds. Have a read of this fact sheet for more information:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/41%20EW%20Payday%20loans/Default.aspx

Once you've taken these steps, you'll be in more control, but as others have said above, doing a realistic budget is crucial. You could then use this to negotiate affordable arrangements with those you owe.

If you are about to move house, then the gas/electric bill is not necessarily your top priority right now, as you could choose to be supplied by a different company at the new address. You could negotiate to pay off that bill in the same way as the other payday debts.

Do please get further advice on what to do from either one of the free charities or someone at your uni/college like a student welfare advisor.

Regards

Dennis @NDL

BrokeStudent115

Thanks for all your advice. I have planned a budget for next month and its going to be tight but I want to pay them all off ASAP. Should be cleared by the summer Going to ring up gas/electricity company tomorrow and explain the situation to them.