Debts

[LeicesterLuke]

Does anyone find that debts they have end up grinding them down and starting to take over your life. This seems to be happening to me at the moment. Now i know they are not enourmous debts compared to what many people deal with, but they are still plenty enough to p**s me off. I have roughly 2 grand on a credit card ann a 500 quid overdraft. The interest is really starting to kick in on the credit card and all i want to do is get rid of the damned thing. Trouble is, no matter how much i wanna pay it off, something else always seems to get in the way of me paying off a great amount. First off, there's the cost of living - board money, food etc etc. Then there's keeping my car on the road, which i have to, unless i wanna take a walk down the M1 to get to work. Then something else always seem to crop up, like someone's birthday or mates wanna go out and do something etc etc, and at the end of the week i always seem to end up with about ten pounds in my pocket.
Thing is, now i'm getting a bit older aswell, i'm starting to become conscious of the fact that i've never saved a penny in my life and some day soon i'm gonna need money to set up with my own place and live my own life etc etc, but again, never seem to have any money left to save.
Anyone ever been in a similar situation? Any advice? Anyone actually paid debts off and come out the other side, cus that would give me some hope! Thanks all...

[lucifer devil]

can't you move your credit card to a 0% apr for x amount of months? not that that will get rid of the debt, but it'll charge less interest. also i wouldn't worry about the overdraft too much.

[AngieLa]

True, if you know you're not gonna pay it off you could at least minimise your future debt and give yourself a chance

[littlemissdirect]

I have more than 15K in student debt and about 1k I owe the bank, which I'm paying back at £20 a month. Can't you just set up a standing order to pay a bit back each month so it comes straight out on pay day?

I've never saved either, I don't know how old you are but I doubt you are alone in that.

It's not that hard to cut down your spending just with small things, eg take packed lunch, drive on nights out, or take a set amount out with you and don't spend any more than that.

[LeicesterLuke]

Thanks for the advice people. Yeah i was thinking about just getting one loan to pay the pair of them off at lower interest or like you say just transferring the balance to another card. And yeah, i suppose there is little bits i could save here and there. It's just a weight on my shoulders, guess it's not that bad - just winds me up sometimes.....

[lucifer devil]

i'm in my 2nd year of uni and have £2100 of overdraft (£1250 of which is interest free) and student loan of umm £8k and a credit card with £500 on it. don't worry.

[LeicesterLuke]

Originally Posted by lucifer devil

i'm in my 2nd year of uni and have £2100 of overdraft (£1250 of which is interest free) and student loan of umm £8k and a credit card with £500 on it. don't worry.

Lol! Yeah i still owe 5 grand from my student days, but i don't really care about that. I don't earn enough yet for them to start taking it back and when i do it will just be sod all a month....!

[caenine06]

hey hey there is a light at the other end of the tunnel! i had a point where i had 3 credit cards, 2 maxed and one with about 200 on it, plus an over draft. However about 2 years ago i sat down and looked at my comings and goings from my account and created a basic budget. setting out what i needed to pay and what i had coming in. This eased things off big style for me. and no 2 years down the road i have no debts. - well just what i owe on my car still but thats not something i think about. the biggy is getting rid of credit cards and over drafts. the plastic is the worst. Just remember once you have cleared them, cut em up and cancel them! - Credit cards the works of the devil! i have just the one now, that i use soley for work purposes!!!

[LeicesterLuke]

Originally Posted by caenine06

hey hey there is a light at the other end of the tunnel! i had a point where i had 3 credit cards, 2 maxed and one with about 200 on it, plus an over draft. However about 2 years ago i sat down and looked at my comings and goings from my account and created a basic budget. setting out what i needed to pay and what i had coming in. This eased things off big style for me. and no 2 years down the road i have no debts. - well just what i owe on my car still but thats not something i think about. the biggy is getting rid of credit cards and over drafts. the plastic is the worst. Just remember once you have cleared them, cut em up and cancel them! - Credit cards the works of the devil! i have just the one now, that i use soley for work purposes!!!

That's good to hear! Yeah, i think i'm gonna sit down and work out a set amount to put to each thing, ie 25 pound a week towards the credit card, 25 pound a week to save etc. Thanks for the good news anyway....!

Originally Posted by LeicesterLuke

mates wanna go out and do something etc etc,

Just tell them NO then. This si what a friend of mine told me when she worked out that she won't be able to go to London twice (once with me, once with someone else) when I asked about it this morning.

[Kermit]

Why don't you move to a 0% card, so that the payments aren't being swallowed by interest?

You'll also have to budget a bit more. I'm having to restrict myself to £100 pocket money just to try and clear my credit debts.