Getting a grip on my money!

DanMuddle

Hello!

I'm Dan, 20, father of two amazing boys and got a brilliant fiance.

In the transition of building a family and getting a house I've managed to get £2500 into my overdraft. Something that I never imagined I'd do.

I guess we where living above our means each month but we have now managed to even out our income and outcome so we pretty much break even each month.

The problem is that I am paying roughly £100 a month in bank charges so I was thinking of getting a loan which meant I would actually be repaying the debt other than giving the money to the bank.

The problem is that I'm only 20 so getting a lone is near on impossible, do any of you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
Dan

Dobbibill

Hi Dan,

Welcome to the forum.

Post a SOA and the good members will look to see where savings can be made to free up money to pay off your overdraft.

A consolidation loan rarely works so being ineligible is a blessing disguise.

Sarastro

We had an overdraft for years and plenty of plans to pay it off, but just weren't disciplined enough to do it, so we'd keep slipping back into it. We didn't really sort it until we took out a loan on a zero % interest credit card and paid off the overdraft and cancelled the facility so we couldn't slip back. We saved a heap of interest. So, if you can find a loan, I'd go ahead - as long as you cancel the facility and budget! Your hundred pound a month fees should easily cover the payments on a loan for 2.5K. Have you tried talking to your existing bank that you have the overdraft with? They could hardly argue that you won't have £100 / month at least for repayment!

FTBuyerGlasgow

I had a 3 grand overdraft, I got an interest free Money Transfer card from Virgin.

You pay a small fee (a % of the amount transferred) then cancel the overdraft and pay the credit card off monthly.

I'm down to below £2k now, it's a much easier way to see yourself making progress.

You're still young, and have plenty of time to make this right.

Good luck.

DanMuddle

Thank you for the heads up on the car from Virgin, looks really good. I've just applied and been pre-approved so hopefully I'll get approval.:beer:

fatbelly

Generally speaking, Dobbi's comment is correct. However as long as you can handle money, and a budget, almost anything is better than a bank overdraft with fees and charges giving an effective apr higher than payday lenders.

When I needed some cash to avoid breaking into investments earlier this year, I also went the Virgin card route and found it ridiculously easy to get8k from them. After the fee it's a 1% payment for x months, with zero interest, but you do have to plan for the end of the fixed period

DanMuddle

Agree with you there fatbelly, it need discipline!

Very motivated to get this sorted though so I can start saving for my family.

Dobbibill

Dan you sound like you are ready to tackle this head on which is brilliant.

You will need discipline, you may sometimes need motivation to keep going so utilise this thread to update on your progress if you feel that will help.

It will take time to clear it (don't forget it didn't arrive overnight so isn't going to disappear overnight either)

Good luck with the Virgin card