Advice on clearing overdraft

[wonderstuff123]

I have an overdraft of £3, 250 that I am always in and am desperate to get out of. In the summer, I took out a 0% credit card and did a cash transfer from there to clear it, thinking this would be the best solution. But I stupidly kept the card on the account and now it's back up to it's max again. I'm so frustrated that I can't seem to get out of it. I know my budget down to the last penny and earn enough to cover that but it just seems to be spending little bits that gets out of control, I feel very ashamed. Can I please have your advice about the best options for me? I've narrowed it down to these two.

1. Get another card to do a cash transfer into overdraft account, cut up overdraft card and only use my account that has no overdraft on it for spending on food/petrol etc. Pay off the card monthly.

1. Open another bank account with no overdraft, transfer all my direct debits to there. Cut up overdraft card and pay off monthly to the account.

I'm guessing number 1 is the best option as I won't be paying monthly interest on my overdraft, I'm just very cautious about getting stuck in the same situation as I did a few months ago where I end up back in the red. But if I cut up my overdraft card, that shouldn't happen.

Any advice welcome

I'm in a similar position with regards to living in the overdraft(s). It's frustrating as we came into a small sum of money which I wanted to put into savings but I've had to make a dent on one of the overdrafts.

I've found the money saving experts forum fantastic for advice. There's a section on being deft free with lots of techniques on which debts to pay first and how to motivate you to do it.

Might be worth a try. I'm aiming to get back on there but I've had a difficult time recently so not even looked at my money!

Hi, yes I've posted on there, just waiting for a response. Will take a look at debt free wannabe forum as well, thanks,

I had this years ago, I transferred my wages into a different account & did cash transfers until it was cleared.

Otherwise your swapping od debt for cc debt. Which means your still in debt.

Sometimes I leave my card at home. As long as I have petrol and a packed lunch I'm ok.

I'd go for option 2. Maybe you could open another account with the same bank.
Set up a dd ( ie 300gbp pcm) from your new main account to your overdrawn account, you'll get rid of it in 11 months

Contact bank and ask them to set a reducing OD limit on your ac...you can specify the amount and on which day it reduces.

I did the same as you- put it on a 0% then ran it up again! It was a bit less though at 1k. I ended up asking the bank to reduce it by £500 over two months and was really skint for 2 months but at least it was gone. I don't have an overdraft now, just a small amount of easy access savers and I check my online banking regularly and if it gets close I transfer the money across. Psychologicaly it's harder to spend my savings on anything other than essentials than it was to use the overdraft- no idea why!

Can you set up text alerts with your bank? I find it helps me to stop if I get a text telling me I'm at the point within my overdraft that I've set as my buffer that I don't go beyond as its for emergencies

Also, I have a separate spending money account.

My bills come out of my current account and my salary goes in, but I don't use that card. I have another current account/card that I put a fixed amount of spending money into for the month.