Having a bit of a flap

123rottie

Sorry to moan to you guys, I'm not sure who else to rant to right now haha.

I'm a self-funded post grad student and while I was saving up I was in the habit of putting money on my credit card and paying it off again. I got a bit stupid with it (will never be able to stop kicking myself now that I'm in a stress about it!) and have about £1300 at the moment on my credit card which has rather high interest. I just tried to apply to Halifax for a balance transfer and got rejected, I'm assuming because I have a lower income now I'm back at university as I've never missed a payment or anything on my card. I just feel in such a flap now because with the interest it feels like I'm never going to get it to 0, I really hate this feeling of having money on the card and not knowing when it will all be gone.

I work part time, anywhere between 8 and 20 hours a week so I don't have huge sums of money I can just dump onto the card to get rid of it even though I would love love love to do that.

Does anyone have any advice for me? Is there another provider that may give me a balance transfer even though I only earn about 8-9000?

I understand it isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but when you don't earn a lot of money either it feels huge.:(

asparagus1968

any chance you could get an interest free over draft if you are a student ?

strandedinaber

I'm sure someone who knows more about this than me will come along in a bit, but in the meantime you could try this: https://creditcards.moneysavingexpert.com/?balance-transfer. It lets you know which cards might work for you.

123rottie

I tried one of those, the Halifax one, but didn't get it. I can't apply for more right now as I understand it, you have to wait 30 days or it affects your credit score?

I've got an interest free overdraft which I will have to use some of to pay for my rent at university. I'm tempted to put a chunk of that money onto the credit card but then worry that in a few months I'll be lacking pennies for rent/food/etc.

lambda

Hi There,

I think the first thing to do is to not panic, don't apply for any more credit and do an SOA (statement of affairs) and post it on here. Before you do that, it's hard for anyone to offer you any real advice, I'm afraid.

123rottie

Hi Lambda, ok I will do that once I've worked out what my hours will add up to for this month!

lambda

OK. But try to also take an average look at the your incomes and expenses over the last few months if possible.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Hi rottie,

Agree with the above: do an SoA - you also need to remember the annoying annual subs you get (institute fees etc.) and make allowance for them. A lot of people take their last 12 months statements, divide by 12 and use that as the basis, although if your income has taken a dip you'll have to use your current income rather than your average. This is always wise even if you don't do anything else.

I'd call your CC company - the "general" adviser (just press 0) rather than the "if you're having trouble paying" adviser and just state that while you're not in financial difficulty, your circumstances have changed and, while you can afford the minimum payment you don't like the interest rate. CC advisers are, in my limited experience, quite reasonable about that sort of thing.

123rottie

Hi guys,

OK that's great advice, I'll definitely do that SPL thank you very much!

This afternoon I'm going to find some time to sit down and work out my wages this month and next and do an SoA and then I'll post again.

Thank you so much for the advice so far, I really appreciate it

123rottie

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 680
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 680

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 390
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 33
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 6
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 10
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 761


Assets
Rent stash.................................... 1700
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 4200

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................1280......40........18.9
Total unsecured debts..........1280......40........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 680
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 761
Available for debt repayments........... -81
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 40
Amount short for making debt repayments. -121

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,280
Net Assets.............................. 2,920



ok so I feel like I need to explain that I have about £1700 available in cash/overdraft which is for my rent payments. I'm a little short for the whole year's worth of rent (last payment is July) so my pay isn't really needed for rent entirely. I think that because it's calculating the rent coming out of my pay it's making my situation look even worse than it is on paper! However, I've calculated this with my christmas working hours which are a bit higher than normal but I also have my own little side project which makes me a bit of money so it's very difficult to calculate how much I earn in a "typical" month.

My gas/electric/water are also estimates as we don't pay them monthly and I live in a shared hosue so split between 5 of us.

What I would love to do is be able to put about £100 on the card and £100 (more if I can) towards the rent that I'm short on each month. How easy is it to open a seperate bank account each month so I can keep that money seperated? I think I just need to learn to be very strict and stop saying yes to every social outing! Grr uni!

lambda

Hi!

Thanks for doing the SOA. Things are looking much clearer now.

On first glance - what is the cash for? Can you not use that £1700 to just pay off your card? Or is this "rent" you were talking about? I didn't quite understand that, sorry...

You have a car, but don't put anything away for when it needs serviced/MOT/repairs/Taxed/insurance - where is the money coming from to pay for these?

You can probably reduce your groceries by about half. For a household of two, we spend about £120 a month on groceries so you can certainly cut that. Switch to ALDI/LIDL and meal plan. Entertainment and clothing: I know you probably need some beer money, but I would seriously consider looking at free alternatives to keep yourself entertained. As for clothes: can you not just put up with the clothes you have until you finish

Also, one last thing. Do you absolutely need your car? I remember when I was a student I had a car - and it cost me a fortune. Looking back now I am older and wiser I wonder why on earth I bothered with it. Can you not sell it and use the bus instead?