How should I begin to deal with this?
oldfashioned_girl
Forumite 6 Posts
I have always been careful with money, but a combination of maternity leave, covid and one or two other things have left me in a bit of a pickle.
My overdraft is £1,000 and I just cannot get out of it.
At the moment my income varies between 500-1000 a month, and every other month I'm maxing out my overdraft again.
I also have £800 on a credit card and £300 on a store card. My husband has an overdraft of a few hundred,and a few hundred left to pay on a small home improvements loan that we took out a few years ago when we bought our house.
I am to blame for this. My eldest child is a teen, and has suffered from mental health issues post covid, so I have said "yes" to every opportunity going- Duke of Ed, music tuition, hobbies- in an effort to get them out of the house and socialising.
My youngest is a preschooler, we have no childcare costs as my husband and i work around each other, but this will limit how much I can work for some time yet.
We thought about getting a Credit Union loan out to clear all debts, cancel the overdraft, and consolidate it into one monthly repayable debt, but they want three months of my bank statements, and I've just gone over by £20- they will never accept that.
My overdraft and credit card are with Nationwide. They won't decrease the overdraft limit until you are out of it, but I can't get out of it to start decreasing it!
Our outgoings aren't huge and on paper we should manage, but here I am with not a penny in my account and £150 of PE kit to buy, £70 to pay preschool....
Where should I start first? I hate the overdraft most of all, it was a bad days work when I opened it and I regret it. The worry keeps me up at night. I estimate I pay about £50 in fees and interest a month on the overdraft and credit card
My overdraft is £1,000 and I just cannot get out of it.
At the moment my income varies between 500-1000 a month, and every other month I'm maxing out my overdraft again.
I also have £800 on a credit card and £300 on a store card. My husband has an overdraft of a few hundred,and a few hundred left to pay on a small home improvements loan that we took out a few years ago when we bought our house.
I am to blame for this. My eldest child is a teen, and has suffered from mental health issues post covid, so I have said "yes" to every opportunity going- Duke of Ed, music tuition, hobbies- in an effort to get them out of the house and socialising.
My youngest is a preschooler, we have no childcare costs as my husband and i work around each other, but this will limit how much I can work for some time yet.
We thought about getting a Credit Union loan out to clear all debts, cancel the overdraft, and consolidate it into one monthly repayable debt, but they want three months of my bank statements, and I've just gone over by £20- they will never accept that.
My overdraft and credit card are with Nationwide. They won't decrease the overdraft limit until you are out of it, but I can't get out of it to start decreasing it!
Our outgoings aren't huge and on paper we should manage, but here I am with not a penny in my account and £150 of PE kit to buy, £70 to pay preschool....
Where should I start first? I hate the overdraft most of all, it was a bad days work when I opened it and I regret it. The worry keeps me up at night. I estimate I pay about £50 in fees and interest a month on the overdraft and credit card
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Replies
Have you seen Martin's guide?
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/cut-overdraft-costs/
It would be useful if you could post a statement of affaires. Calculator here. Please format for mse.
Save £12k in 2023 Challenge #8 £12,000/£5700
The 365 day 1p Challenge 2023 #1 £670.00/£72.00
The 365 £1 a day Challenge for Christmas 2023 #43 £1000/£300
I'll have a look at the statement of affairs page now
2023 £1 a day £54.26/365
In September one of our debts- the household loan- should be paid, plus the bulk of the teens activities will not be renewed as the most expensive ones have been dropped as it is GCSEs starting, plus we will no longer have to pay for nursery for the littlest. So that's a saving of about £150 plus whatever the activities would have cost (a lot)
I've just tried to post my statement of affairs, a very rough one as my husband isn't here for me to double check a few things, plus I'm not very good at working it!
Allow yourself something for clothes and presents
Are you in Scotland? No water costs
Save £12k in 2023 Challenge #8 £12,000/£5700
The 365 day 1p Challenge 2023 #1 £670.00/£72.00
The 365 £1 a day Challenge for Christmas 2023 #43 £1000/£300