Newbie: Advice required on repayments and what to do next

jpaz · 12 October 2018 at 4:35PM

Hi All,

First post here and im in need of some advice.
Im 26 y/o and ive accrued some debt during my student days, moving to a new city and the associated costs etc have left me owing a fair bit.

Currently have a credit card at £6500 with around 3 years 0% left
paypal finance at £750
overdraft at £1000
furniture finance at £350

I earn 30500 a year which means i can afford my repayments. The trouble is ive changed jobs and i had a month in between jobs where everything had to go on credit meaning im living in my overdraft. Not to mention my new job pays 2 weeks later than my old. So im a bit stuck as im almost maxed out on my overdraft and credit card. I still have 4 weeks before i get paid and some bills are still to come out. Ideally id like to be out of my overdraft so its there as a buffer and begin to make more than minimum payments on my credit card (i havent been able to because of my fixed £1000 overdraft) So what would your advice be for me? Do i get another money transfer card to pay off the overdraft? Im struggling to see what i can do to sort this out.

Ive built a budget planner and i think i can be debt free by xmas 2020 and still live comfortably but only if i can make bigger payments on my cards which cant happen because im living in my overdraft right now.

Thanks in advance!

jonnygee2 · 13 October 2018 at 12:42PM

You aren't really in debt trouble, more cash flow trouble! You need a bailout.

Can you sell something? Can you borrow something from a friend etc? Increase your overdraft limit? Even try talking to your new company and asking for an advance or weekly pay for the first month? negotiate a late payment with your landlord?

Whatever you do, work it out carefully and spend as little as possible. Otherwise when you do get paid, it will all go back to paying what you just borrowed and you'll be in the start of a vicious cycle of debt.

Ive built a budget planner and i think i can be debt free by xmas 2020 and still live comfortably but only if i can make bigger payments on my cards which cant happen because im living in my overdraft right now.

This doesn't make sense. Either you have surplus money at the end of each month, or you are even, or you spend more than you get. On your salary you really should have a surplus, in which case you can begin to pay back your loans, most expensive first (probably your overdraft).

Making bigger payments on your cards will not get you out of debt!

enthusiasticsaver · 13 October 2018 at 2:05PM

Spend as little as possible over the next month. For future reference though this is why everyone needs an emergency savings account. If you are within your limit on your credit card you can use that for groceries and fuel. Negotiate a higher overdraft for essential bills until you get paid.

On that level of debt I would start to really try and reduce it before it gets out of hand even if it means living less comfortably for a few months until the overdraft is gone and you have some savings.

datlex · 14 October 2018 at 12:52PM

I am sure there was a similar post to this? Have you moved to a new job with a friend?

Newbie: Advice required on repayments and what to do next

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