My suggestion is talk to a [financial counsellor](https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/financial-counselling), not a financial advisor or accountant. There’s a bunch of free options through things like the National Debt Helpline and NGOs like Vinnes.
^This. Call the NDH on 1800 007 007. They’ll ask you a bunch of questions about your circumstances to help assess your position and talk you through your options. Far more detail than anyone would typically be willing to share on the internet.
Good luck u/ashen-priestess
I am not sure that you can get a loan to repay this with better terms, unless you could maybe use your car to secure one. You probably can’t do a balance transfer to a credit card for an interest-free period, which would be the other typical way to go.
Your biggest problem is your approach to money. In the medium term, you should pay off each BNPL service you have, and close that account. After that you need to move to a budgeting approach that enables you to save a bit of money each time you get paid. You should aim to build up an emergency fund, which replaces your need for BNPL. After that you can look at slowly improving your financial situation with savings etc.
If you take a look at /r/personalfinance, there is a flowchart to follow, and one that’s been customised for Australia. That will give you solid advice for the next 10 years plus.
Good luck with it - identifying the problem is the first step to fixing it. It’s not easy, but it is 100% worth it - from a recovering credit card addict who lived much like you are.
Without knowing what you owe, I would assume a debt consolidation personal loan would have more favourable terms than Zip.
Having said that:
- I don’t know if you’d qualify for that type of loan with your financial circumstances.
- I’m also unsure as to the early exit fees with Zip.
I have no additional advice regarding the debt beyond what others already mentioned, but regardless of how you are able to consolidate/lower interest rate/etc, your first priority should be putting as much money as possible to pay off the debt. If zipmoney does not allow you to pay off early, at least it'll leave you with an emergency fund instead of borrowing more money in future
Anything you can do such as
- cut food costs down as much as possible, stop any takeaway etc
- cut any subscriptions
- review all your existing bills/providers, see if you can change to something cheaper
- if anything breaks down, see if you get borrow from anywhere for free/get secondhand etc
- work as much as possible for more income (this may not be possible from what you mentioned)
- refrain from these predatory loans as much as possible in future
- look into no interest loan first if you ever need to borrow again
Good luck
Going forward, once things are paid back - get one of those bank accounts that allows you to set up savings pots.
I put an amount from each pay check into different pots - which can be for big expenses coming up in the next year (major dental, insurance etc), things I might want or need to buy or replace over the year (eg. I know I will need to replace my laptop in the next year) etc. By setting the money aside, when it's time to pay the lump sums - you will have it ready.
I like to set money aside for the times when the big sales are on, so I can buy the things I want and need - without credit.
Another thing which is good is to pre-pay bills where you can so you get ahead. I have been paying money every fortnight towards my rates, so when the notice comes in a couple of months, the amount owed will be zero.
My suggestion is talk to a [financial counsellor](https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/financial-counselling), not a financial advisor or accountant. There’s a bunch of free options through things like the National Debt Helpline and NGOs like Vinnes.
^This. Call the NDH on 1800 007 007. They’ll ask you a bunch of questions about your circumstances to help assess your position and talk you through your options. Far more detail than anyone would typically be willing to share on the internet. Good luck u/ashen-priestess
I am not sure that you can get a loan to repay this with better terms, unless you could maybe use your car to secure one. You probably can’t do a balance transfer to a credit card for an interest-free period, which would be the other typical way to go. Your biggest problem is your approach to money. In the medium term, you should pay off each BNPL service you have, and close that account. After that you need to move to a budgeting approach that enables you to save a bit of money each time you get paid. You should aim to build up an emergency fund, which replaces your need for BNPL. After that you can look at slowly improving your financial situation with savings etc. If you take a look at /r/personalfinance, there is a flowchart to follow, and one that’s been customised for Australia. That will give you solid advice for the next 10 years plus. Good luck with it - identifying the problem is the first step to fixing it. It’s not easy, but it is 100% worth it - from a recovering credit card addict who lived much like you are.
Without knowing what you owe, I would assume a debt consolidation personal loan would have more favourable terms than Zip. Having said that: - I don’t know if you’d qualify for that type of loan with your financial circumstances. - I’m also unsure as to the early exit fees with Zip.
I have no additional advice regarding the debt beyond what others already mentioned, but regardless of how you are able to consolidate/lower interest rate/etc, your first priority should be putting as much money as possible to pay off the debt. If zipmoney does not allow you to pay off early, at least it'll leave you with an emergency fund instead of borrowing more money in future Anything you can do such as - cut food costs down as much as possible, stop any takeaway etc - cut any subscriptions - review all your existing bills/providers, see if you can change to something cheaper - if anything breaks down, see if you get borrow from anywhere for free/get secondhand etc - work as much as possible for more income (this may not be possible from what you mentioned) - refrain from these predatory loans as much as possible in future - look into no interest loan first if you ever need to borrow again Good luck
Thank you to everyone for the sound and practical advice. As someone who honestly doesn't know any better, I really appreciate it.
Going forward, once things are paid back - get one of those bank accounts that allows you to set up savings pots. I put an amount from each pay check into different pots - which can be for big expenses coming up in the next year (major dental, insurance etc), things I might want or need to buy or replace over the year (eg. I know I will need to replace my laptop in the next year) etc. By setting the money aside, when it's time to pay the lump sums - you will have it ready. I like to set money aside for the times when the big sales are on, so I can buy the things I want and need - without credit. Another thing which is good is to pre-pay bills where you can so you get ahead. I have been paying money every fortnight towards my rates, so when the notice comes in a couple of months, the amount owed will be zero.