I'd really appreciate any advice on my situation (short post)

[Voguester]

Basically I feel financially stuck at the moment.

 

I have acrued some debts with uni - $4000, creditcard - $2000, personal loan - $7000 and various other smaller amounts I owe people, $100 here and there.

 

I'm putting this all out there because I need some solution, I can't deny the fact I owe quite a bit of money right now.

 

I work on the weekend, I've worked at the same job for 7 years and they refuse to let me go part time! which is crazy, I've been a really good, reliable and loyal employee and they won't put me on contract. Don't know if that's legal but it sucks

 

This is the thing - I REALLY want to live overseas and I'm TRYING to get there later this year.

 

If I find a full-time job and I keep my weekend work, Do you think this is achievable?

 

Does anyone have any advice they could give me?? I would really appreciate it!

 

It's my dream to live and work overseas and It's something I have to do now.

[Yaz]

Of course it's achievable!

 

Pay your debts and then start saving. There's no magic advice - you're going to have to do it the same way as everyone else, I'm afraid

[ForumGuy]

Quit buying things that are not in the "need" category. I have learned to go into this mode quite easily over the years, because it works wonders. People can make a thousand excuses to buy things that are not necessary. Also, I cannot stress this enough......live within your means!!

[Unwanted]

 

I have acrued some debts with uni - $4000, creditcard - $2000, personal loan - $7000 and various other smaller amounts I owe people, $100 here and there.

 

.

 

You need a plan of attack:

 

You need to list all your debts with the amount of interest you are paying off next to each.

 

1) List the ones with the high interest as NUMBER 1. The NUMBER 1s are the ones you need to pay-off quicksmart. Look into consolidating your debt.

 

I am assuming that your credit card and personal loan are the ones with the higher interest. Contact your bank and ask how to consolidate.

 

I consolidated by personal loan, credit card and car loan in all the one to avoid paying 3 varying interest rates.

 

2) The second on your list should be the money you owe friends/family. The good thing about these are (hopefully) that they don't incur interest.

 

Here is a tip (don't know whether it will work for you): Get blank envelopes and write each person's name on the back and how much you owe that person.

 

Pick one thing you know you can live without during the week. For me it was coffee. I used to buy a cup of coffee for $4 a day which ultimately cost me $20/week. I gave up my daily coffee and put the $20 I saved in an envelope (this went towards outgoing bills, in your case, to people you owe). If you have several envelopes, split them. It doesn't matter if you have $5 in each envelope. At least you have something. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, do not touch these envelopes hehe

 

3) I'm only assuming that the Number 3 on your list, the last you have to worry about, is your uni loan. I'm not too sure. Here in Australia, uni loans are interest free and is only subject to indexation. One way of paying them back is by the Government increasing the tax they deduct you. But that's complicated I won't get into that.

 

Which is why I'm paying my uni fees last because I don't incur interest on them just like a credit card or personal loan would.

 

If this is not the case, perhaps move the uni loan/fees to the number 1 list.

 

I know it's hard to get rid of the credit card, especially for emergencies. If you don't want to entirely destroy it, call your financial institution and ask whether they can decrease your limit to $500. That way, you still have a back-up, but you're not 'tempted' to buy crap you don't need purely because you have a $5K limit on the c/c.

 

Self-control and a little bit of sacrifice will get you there.

 

If I can do it, you can too!

[RedDress]

Really? You all are telling her that she can pay off $13,000+ debt in 6 months (or less)? When all she has is a part-time (I presume minimum wage) job? I know it's great to be supportive but let's be realistic.

 

Ok... I am going to do the math.

 

That $13,000 in six months is ~$2200/month. Assuming a $10 rate of pay, that's 220 hours of work per month. Assuming 8 hour days, she'd have to work 27 full days per month. Of course, that assumes that there are no income taxes where you live, you have zero expenses and there is no interest that is accruing on these loans.

 

Now... maybe you don't make minimum wage. Maybe you have a degree and can get a full-time job making $100,000/year. But I don't suspect this is what we are talking about...

 

I think you need to pick your battles. Personally? My first choice would be the credit card debt. Credit cards usually carry a high rate of interest. Besides... if you are going overseas, you might need that credit card. Next, the personal loan.

 

Why not sit with a financial advisor at a bank? It is usually free and they will be more than happy to look at your debts and come up with a repayment plan. They can often also suggest lower interest alternatives and let you know what is realistic.

 

I think that's what you should do. Clearly, the first step is to get a full-time job and work as much as possible... but I also think that setting realistic goals means that you are more likely to achieve something. If you try to pay off everything, I suspect you will quickly become disillusionned and quit trying so hard.

 

Setting a realistic first goal is the biggest step in acheiving great things.

[ForumGuy]

Really? You all are telling her that she can pay off $13,000+ debt in 6 months (or less)?

Don't recall telling her that at all. I was just saying to quit buying luxuries and to live within her means. Basic personal finance.

[Unwanted]

Don't recall telling her that at all. I was just saying to quit buying luxuries and to live within her means. Basic personal finance.

 

Yeh me too. The OP indicated they wanted to move overseas by next year. So I suppose that's where the time frame was derived from by RedDress? It could mean 6 months from now, or 12 months, or 16 months.

 

Nevertheless, the main point is OP has to live within their means, and sacrifice and have self-control if they want to wipe that debt off. There is no easier way.