Graduated- But now in debt!

benukb

:rotfl: Hi Guys,
Firstly I just wanna say what a fantastic website this is.. and to be honest its about time!! Hats off to Martin and the team! :money:

So let me tell you a little about myself and my debt confessions. Before I started uni I opened an bank account with Halifax which came with a £1000 overdraft.. temptation overulled and before I knew it I was already in £800 in debt. Before a knew it I had 'invitations' to apply for credit cards (for emergencies only.. that idea didn't last long!) and despte working part time I started to get deeper and deeper into debt opening various accounts but always ended up dipping into them when I was short on cash...

Now that I've graduated, I'm finding it hard to find the dream high paid job and work full time at minimum wage, I have rent to pay (shared with my partner) and the bank have refused me a graduate loan as they don't consider me to earn enough money.. which is ironic because they were all happy to lend me money in the first place although it was my own fault..
below are the debts I have do you guys have any suggestions / advice on how I could save money or another way to pay these debts?

Halifax Current 12%APR?? -890.51
Halifax Student 0% APR -971.90
Natwest 0% APR -1,635.18
(£2000 in first year after grad. £1500 2nd, £1000 3rd)
M&S Credit Card 3.9% (did a balance transfer) -726.00
Morgan Stanley 17.9% -184.85
Barclaycard 18.9% -203.23

=kev=

firstly i would pay as much as i could afford on to the credit cards, because they have the highest interest, but you also owe them the least money so once paid off you will feel a little more at ease and see some results sooner.

then with the money you used to be paying your credit cards with, plus more if you can afford to do so, start paying off your overdraft with halifax.

basically, and i know its hard as im guessing your quite young and want to get out and enjoy yourself, you have got to go without things for a few months to make a big dent in your debts to start benefiting from having more money.

dont look at my debts in my sig , i earn close on £3000 per month so have not been struggling to pay these and still enjoy life, but im now in the same boat as you - wanting rid of debts.

good luck

reformedEffortMaker_2

benukb

Have you tried using the budget planner on this site

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning


Also, before someone else says it, can I suggest you post your State Of Affairs

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

I was amazed at how having someone else look at my spending habits helped me to work out where to cut back

Lastly I would say Well Done for taking the first steps to clearing your debt, and Good Luck!