Hello, i need a little bit of advice.

forest_frank

first of all, i have been brousing this site regularly for the past couple of years, it really is a fantastic read, i have found some great bargins on here in the past.

basically, i have got myself into a bit of a muddle with my finances, not a huge amount but its enough to bother me, about £400 - £500 in debt on my maestro card, i need a way of borrowing some money to help me out before i get a low credit rating. i have been looking at taking out a loan but as i am only 18 its kind of a no-go road,

so i am looking to get just one credit card, but i know nearly nothing about them , i soon get in a bit of a huff when it comes to balance transfers ????? ££.£% APR (variable) ??????? and that kind of stuff

i am looking for one to pay off my debts and then to pay back a nice easy amout every month, say £50 - £70, if thats how it works lol

any help will be absoloutly greatfully recieved, have a virtual pint on me just for reading this :beer:

thanks again, frankie

mountainofdebt

As you say its not a huge amount but better to nip it in the bud now. (btw do you mean you have an overdraft of £500?)

If a loan is a no go area then you may have problems in getting a credit card. In any event I wouldn't recommend a loan for such a small amount.

If you can get a credit card then I would go for one where you can make a transfer off your credit card into your balance at 0% for as long as possible. I know Virgin will let you transfer money into your bank account but I don't know for how long though. The &More card offers Balance transfers at 0% for 9 months but I don't know if they allow balance transfers into your bank account (someone I'm sure can provide the answers to this!)

The main thing though is NEVER NEVER NEVER spend on these cards once you have made a transfer - for the reasons Martin talks about in his article on SBT, which explains it far far better than I ever could) - in fact once (assuning you are accepted of course) you get the card I would be tempted to cut the damn thing up.

However if a cc isn't an option either then I would simply put the £50 - £70 into the hole and aim to reduce the debt by £50 - £70 per month. It will also be worth you not using the account for your day to day stuff. At the start of each month, I would withdraw any money that isn't needed for dds, put back in £50 - £70 and then only use what's left for your day to day expenditure. This is what we've done with hubby's account and we've knocked £700 off his overdraft already. I personally don't think (and I might be knocked down in flames for this) that unless you are over your overdraft limit (assuming it is an overdraft) that this would have too much of an impact on your credit rating.

btw how did you manage to create teh debt in the first place?

Chadsman

A&L do an interest free overdraft for 12 months. There are also plenty of current acs that have a low long term overdraft. Have you considered swapping current ac.
:beer:

YorkshireBoy

Hang on a minute guys! The lad's(?) only 18 years of age and we're talking about SBT cards and credit ratings and all sorts of other stuff. He may not even be able to get a credit card. We're jumping into 'solution mode' without knowing all the facts!

Who's the current account with?
Are you earning?
How much?
What's the APR on the overdraft?

The taking on of a loan/credit card at 18 years of age is not something I'd advocate personally (I've a son of 20 and a daughter nearly 18). 2 or 3 months of part-time work should easily clear a £400-500 overdraft, including any interest accrued on the account. Providing that the overdraft does not exceed the authorised limit, clearing this over the period mentioned will improve his(her?) rating ready for when they are are financially 'mature' enough to handle credit cards.

I think the OP needs to post back some more information before we can 'properly' help, before he/she gets deeper in trouble.

Finally, I believe this thread might be better on the 'debt-free wannabe' board?

forest_frank

hi, thank you all for your advice,

yes, i mean i have an overdraft limit of £500 but each month i seem to be getting closer and closer to it.

i have a job paying £660 p/m after deductions (mon - fri 6.30 till 3.30 and sat or sun 6am - 11am)

i passed my driving test in december and the insurance is out of this world which doesnt help (£160 p/m) also last month i had the mot (£180) and this month the tax (£60) so thats £560 for the last two months alone without petrol, crazy money,

then all it takes is the phone bill to be up n im kinda shot, the rent i pay is £150 p/m shared with 3 other ppl (£600 althogether)

all this coupled together with a debt of bout £100 from xmas doest look pritty.

the thing that i want to get straight is my finances so that in the future if i come to want to settle down and i wanna buy a house or buy a car i will be ok, not on black list or ccjs or poor credit rating.


thanks for your advice.

mountainofdebt

I fully accept your comments and given the OP's income/expenditure, perhaps my comments seemed a little rash but,in my defence (if there can be one!), I did qualify my comments about the credit card and offer a non credit card/loan solution! ( Agree with you though as well this might be better moved to the debt free wanabee board)

Anyway OP can I just ask what sort of car you drive - do you realise that insurance takes up 24% of your monthly income???? I guess that your insurance is high because you are considered to be a young driver but seriously that (to me) is a silly amount to be paying. Not sure if this is an option (as I'm only a mere girl and know nothing about car insurance!) but could you not get an older driver to insure the car for you and have you down as an additional driver to bring down the costs?

Alternatively would you consider getting a bar job for the short term?

forest_frank

thanks mountianofdebt, unfortunatly neither my mum or dad drive and i cant think of anyone else who would let me on their insurance, i suppose like you say its one of thoses young driver things,

i have considered getting a bar job or something like that but with the hours i work it would be a killer, working over 15 hours a day if i worked through from 6.30am till 10pm, but i will have a look round and see whats available, mabye a total job change might help??

anyways thanks again to everyone, its appreciated

frankie

klondyke

Phone bill? Have a look at the threads on the Telepone Board for the cheapest way to make calls, eg call18866. I bet you could save something there!