advice needed please!

daisy_duke_3

i posted my SOA a while ago and got some great advice. i've reduced my outgoings as much as poss. we're paying £450 a month in debt repayments (ouch) but we've transferred these debts to 0% cards and have almost managed to stop using credit cards altogether. so i think we can limp on like this without going the more drastic routes. BUT... main problem is we don't earn enough and need to earn about £500 a month more. i need some wisdom on how to manage our overdraft. we routinely go overdrawn by about £500 a month, which is an agreed overdraft facility and is interest free. but obviously every time we get paid £500 gets swallowed up into the overdraft and we stay in this cycle of always being overdrawn. do i just accept it'll be this way until we start earning more, or is there something else i should be doing to stop this getting out of hand?? THANKS

glitzy

wow its like looking into a mirror reading your post - im in the same position but £1000 overdraft - we have just got a loan to pay off overdraft & 2 cards, cos the int was £600 for £5000 loan over 3 years, and i thought by the time i bt to 0% cards for 3 years the fee i would pay is similar - plus we were getting turned down by credit cards so had no option. - have you tried doing online surveys toluna, lightspeed etc there is a thread about them, also quidco & pigsback are good, all the best with it.x

pania

hi guys.

Just a quickie. how about setting up a plan with your bank whereby your overdraft automatically decreases by say £10 or £20 per month or whatever you can afford. Most banks will agree to do this and you can set it to reduce the day after payday, thus bringing it down gradually and the next month not quite so much of your money is swallowed up by the overdraft?
Good luck
xx

GettingThingsDone

hi - is there anything you can sell (e.g. ebay) to make a dent in your overdraft? Any old credit card charges you can reclaim?

If your credit rating is ok, can you get another £500 on a 0% credit card and then get rid of your overdraft?

gtd

daisy_duke_3

thanks guys. i don't think it'll help to reduce the overdraft just now cos we don't earn enough just now (i'm at home with our 2 boys until they start school) so i'm afraid of reducing it cos then we're more likely to exceed the agreed facility and then risk charges and extra interest. i'm trying to sell some stuff on ebay. can't see much point in transferring to another 0% card cos the overdraft is interest free up to £500. i spose i'm just wondering how much of a problem it is to live in my overdraft like this. does it matter that we're in this cycle if we're taking steps to earn more in the longer term? whenever we get some money in i tend to 'keep' it to spend rather than paying it into the overdraft. i'm just really not sure what my priorities should be, what i should be focusing on or trying to achieve.