Some more advice please.

louise1_3

Another job!? Im a single mum with 2 kids and I already work full time! So no, I don't think thats possible

I'll copy and paste my outgoings onto here as I posted them recently on a different page.
I applied for an Egg card but it was refused

louise1_3

Mortgage - £503
Home insurance - £26
Council Tax - £93
Gas - £25
Electric- £20
Home phone - £15
Mobile - £35
Broadband - £18
TV licsence - £10
Food - £200 (approx)
Car (lease car) £148
Car insurance - £40 ( approx)
petrol - £160
Childcare - £86

TOTAL £1379

Income

Salary - £1190
Maintanence - £500 (approx)
Child benefit - £100

TOTAL - £1790

Surplus - £411

mountainofdebt

I don't really know of any but one way around the problem would be to transfer the balance from the LOB card to a card that allows SBT so for example transferring from a Texaco card to an egg card (although be very aware of any fees relating to the transfers though)

We did this to clear hubby's overdraft.....I stopped him using the account and we were paying £100 per month into his account plus an amount equivalent to the month's interest charge. However we realised it was cheaper to transfer the debt to a texaco card via his egg card and then carry on paying the same £100 per month but this time to texaco...a reduction in apr from 16% to 3.9%.

I appreciate that you have done a budget planner but do you ACTUALLY know where you are 'wasting' money? Without knowing this you may only be adding to the problem (hands up whose had a loan to clear a credit card debt only to put more on the card.....can I be first please,lol!) so it might also be an idea to keep a spending diary and put absolutely everything in there that you spend for a fortnight.

louise1_3

Thanks for your advice Mountainofdebt (love the name, lol) Good idea about keeping a diary, Im sure Ive just squandered away money over the last few months. Im first to admit that Ive been silly and not taken it too seriously until recently when I suddenly realised that this is going o get worse if I don't do something constructive to get myself straight again.
Im really not sure about borrowing money, think I might just have a real good look at where I can cut costs and reduce my overdraft month by month.

johannamse

hi louise,

where does the 411 go?

How much do you spend on clothes / clubs (things for the kids) / going out etc?

ALso, do you have any kids stuff you can sell on ebay or at a car boot? Or cd's / books?

Maybe if you did a big sell and had a few "bare" months with no new clothes etc you could make a really big dent in it before xmas? Hope this helps.

louise1_3

I recently moved out of the family home with my 2 kids, so we had to have a good clear out then as I was moving into a smaller house, so I don't think I'd have much worth selling to be honest!
Im very confused with it all to be honest, I really don't know if a loan is the right choice? It seems that my credit rating/scoring isn't that good as Ive had a couple of applications for loans and credit cards declined, although Ive never had problems with debts before (?) So getting an unsecured loan or a card to do a SBT on is proving quite difficult. And Ive read on here that Secured Loans are a big NO NO,lol.
I'd just like to get a hold of my financial situation, once and for all.