Debt advice required

Sncjw

Can I ask do you buy your own groceries or do they form part of family food. Also your mobile phone what kind of package you got as sim only is cheaper if end of contract

enthusiasticsaver

That sounds like a good start. Repaying the overdraft will save you more than £300 over the year in overdraft charges and make a solid basis going forward. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your progress. Have you allowed for annual bills and food for February? Making the overdraft a priority is a good start and at least you have some savings to fall back on although I know you are earmarking that for car costs/holiday etc. If Very finishes in October should that one be next before Tesco 1?

Si1983_uk

I tend to buy my own groceries for work but the other meals come with the food at home. My phone contract is tied up until November 2019 so there’s not a lot I can do with it unfortunately.

Enthusiasticsaver, it’s a funny one with my wages because it’s every four weeks, so sometimes I’m paid in the middle of the month so I have to make sure I’ve got enough to cover all dd’s and s/o that fall in that four week period, I basically allow myself £250 which is for those four weeks which could fall half way through a month - not sure if I’ve made sense there?

The very one, I’m already going to pay £92 each month until August which would then clear it, my thinking is that as well as clearing Very, I’ll already be able to make a start on clearing Tesco 1 from my April pay onwards? Is that doable do you think? Or am I best just paying off Very Straight off in April?

enthusiasticsaver

It is more tricky when you are paid every 4 weeks but with careful budgeting it is possible to keep on top of it. Just make sure you leave enough in your current account to cover direct debits up to the next salary date. Ideally once the overdraft is repaid I would leave a small buffer in there too.

Yes, your plan to pay £92 to Very to clear within the 0% period sounds sensible.

Once the overdraft is cleared then and you have the Very direct debit set up any extra can go to Tesco 1. You may have to balance transfer the remaining amount on Tesco 1 if you cannot clear that by December and as the balance is quite high that may be necessary. If you get the balance as low as you can though the fee will be less.

phizzimum

Hello Si

Thank you for being honest with us about your gambling. I know that took a lot of courage. When I read that post suddenly your situation made sense. I understand that you dont want to get others involved but please realise that this is a huge addiction to break free from. The more people that know about it the more help and support you will have.

So, back to budgeting...

It would seem you have several bank accounts. Do all your direct debits come out of the same one?

If I were you, I would have one account for paying bills with all DDs coming from that account. When you are paid, transfer the amount you need to cover those to that account. As your bills are monthly and your pay 4 weekly you should build up a buffer zone. Your other account can be used for your £250 personal spends.

That’s what I’d do anyway!

Get that £100 change paid in, or use it at the supermarket in the self checkout and reduce your £250 to £150

phizzimum

Once your overdraft is paid off, you will be £27 a month better off so don’t forget to increase your credit card payment by that much

Si1983_uk

Thankyou Phizzimum and Enthusiastic saver for both your inputs and advice.

To be honest, I have direct debits and standing orders all over the place but I’m going to sort it all out so that I purely have that one ‘Bills account’ and the other to use as my spending. I have different savers dotted around and saved in my ‘to pay’ list so that makes that easy enough to sort when it comes to saving.

I was thinking what I might do with the change, is wait till the 14th feb and use that 100 I’m change as part of my spending and send the extra 100 to nationwide, I find it a pain counting every penny into bags lol or if I used the coin machine at Asda then they charge 9.9% fee and I ain’t having that!

I certainly feel better after posting on here and had some good ideas that I will be using to sort this out.

Silver_Queen

Most banks have coin machines nowadays that are free! Just chuck it all in, don't even need to separate it out.

Si1983_uk

Hi folkes,

Just a quick update regarding my situation. I’ve taken the bottle money that I have and I have now cleared £100 off my Nationwide overdraft.

Next plan of action is to sort my bank accounts so that I’ve got the same dd’s and s/o going from the same place, I am also going to do a spending diary to see what’s happening with my money day in day out.

14th February is my next pay day, so will clear some more off my overdrafts then.

Thanks for all your messages, replies on this thread and for your TRUE support.

Best wishes
Simon

AngiBear

Another small thing is that if a genuine woman likes you Si then your money should be the last thing they like you for. I don't think I have ever been with a man who has money and I wouldn't ask for anything off a man anyway, I would rather work for it myself. You seem like a very nice person and paying off your debt and paying back your lovely sister should be your priority at the moment but I also think you have to factor in yourself too and see that a nice, genuine woman who wants to spend time with you will not let money come between you, there are plenty of activities you can do for free and loads that are fun too!