young and had too much fun!

Poosmate

loaner wrote: »

Hmm, we don't know the terms of the 0% CC's, but some of that advice could turn a 0% APR debt into an 18%+ APR debt. Cancelling CC's and reducing OD's might seem a good idea for people who can't control their spending, but it can easily backfire when you need the credit in an emergency, turning an authorised overdraft into an unauthorised overdraft.

Yes I know what you mean and I forgot to mention that about only moving the overdraft to the 0% credit card if they could pay it off within the 0% deal, Doh! Silly me!

Yes I advised him to cancel one of the credit cards and reduce his overdraft. The reason for this is because Sirross has proven that he has a tendency to get into debt, consolidate (as in his dad's load) and start to get into debt again. He's in a vicious cycle, that if not nipped in the bud now will only get worse. To his credit, he recognises this and is requesting help. Remember he is only 20 years old and is still learning about managing debt, some of that learning was taken away when his dad bailed him out the first time. Now he's showing maturity and responsibility in wanting to sort this out himself now.

In Siross's case he could easily stay out of debt in the future if he can learn how to budget effectively now. That means living within their (his and his girlfriends) means and thinking about his/their spending habits. To do that they need to live on the cash they have available and not rely on credit. Removing the credit available may seem harsh but if it's not there they can't spend it. He's currently paying £500pcm on £2337 of debt (excluding loan to dad). In 5 months he could clear it and have an extra £500pcm to save for his car insurance, tax and anything else that may come up.

Of course this will only be the case if he/they DON'T spend anymore on his credit card.

Poo

siross2203

Poosmate / poorandindenial.

i really really appreciate your helpful comments, nice to know that others have done adnw ill do in future no doubt, the same as me.

i think i need to really work on not spending, i know my SOA wasnt incredibly well detailed, my fault i know but the principles of what you are all saying is so true.

as long as i am making sure that i dont spend too much on the nice things (massive movie fan i admit) then i should be fine. I think that if i am reasonably clever and give myself £x a week for entertainment then i will be in a situation to know what i can afford. My gf and i are going through a freezer month this month and trying to cut down our bulging freezer!

we both read and discussed all of these posts last night and she passes on her thanks. we have agreed to be tight on food shopping with an accurate list and attempt to meal plan as accurately as possible (which isnt easy as i have days out with work and so forth). luckily, her company pays for lunch for her everyday which is a great result and i take food to work instead of buying.

my life will be a lot sweeter in about 6-9 months time and if i take a hit and pay as much as i can to debt now, i know i will have so much more money in the future to enjoy my youth while i still have it!

thank you all again for your help and i look forward to keeping in touch about how i am getting on.

oh and by the way... i am in training in london today with work and have managed to not buy the paper and read the metro instead and bought a small coffee instead of the suual large! not great but every little helps.!

thanks again,.

si x

Horace

Si

If you join pigsback.com you can print off vouchers for use in your local area in local coffee bars etc, sometimes a buy one get one free or buy a sandwich and get a drink free or vice versa. This may be useful if you are out with work.

Sign up to get Martin's email each week too because that has some useful tips in it.

Good luck and don't forget to keep poking your head in for some ideas and advice.

Poosmate

Yay! Congratulations to you both. It's great to hear of a young couple working so well together as a team. A few months of harsh reality now will hopefully ensure you will have a wonderful and debtfree future.

Please keep it up and don't be a stranger to this site, visit often to keep us informed and also to keep you focused. When you see the plight of others on here it really does hit home how easy and how quickly things can spiral out of control - hopefully by learning all about budgeting efficiently now you will be able to have all the fun you need throughout your twenties and on into your thirties.

Maybe in 5 or 10 years time we will only see you on here in the MortgageFreeWannabe board - I hope so anyway.

Ooooh I love a story with a happy ending! lol

Once again congratulations and keep it up.

Poo