Its time to sort out this mess!

enthusiasticsaver · 13 December 2017 at 10:11AM

A loan for almost £20k paying around the same as you are paying now must be for a very long term so I doubt it would be paid off any quicker especially as only one card is charging interest. The loan will definitely not be interest free so while it seems like repaying by consolidating will be quicker it won't be. The only advantage is it will be one payment instead of five and the disadvantages are it will be more expensive and take longer to repay. Have you got any loan quotes for that amount as I would imagine you would also find it difficult to get a low rate approved with that amount of debt already on your salary.

As you have seen it takes very little time to accrue large amounts of debt when you don't live within your budget. Similarly though once you have made a plan to deal with it and keep to your budget you soon see results. Minimums come dow, you find it easier to get 0% deals and gradually the cards are repaid one by one. Can you not get any of that Barclaycard on to 0%?

enthusiasticsaver · 13 December 2017 at 10:22AM

If you put the figures into a loan calculator you will see it is not cheaper. I have just put £19545 into one at 4.7% which is a really low rate and one I doubt you will get. If you pay roughly the same monthly as you do now it will take 6 years to clear and cost you more than £2800 in interest.

If you can somehow move that £9800 on the Barclaycard on to 0% and keep transferring cards at the end of the deals on to other 0% deals it will take you 62 months so just over 5 years to clear at your present repayment amount £315 monthly and no interest. I cannot stress enough consolidation loans do not help you clear debt. Divide that surplus £140 realistically between your car and entertainment, clothes, presents and emergency fund.

mick1234_2 · 13 December 2017 at 12:01PM

Capital One - 6 months 0%, 3% fee

and an Aqua card which only I know only allows 1200 for 6 months eligibility is 100%

after that it drops to 40% chance its because I am using to much of my available credit

EssexHebridean · 13 December 2017 at 12:55PM

Shift what you can to 0% Mick, then set the payments on the cards other than the highest interest to a little above the current minimum and turn ALL your attention to that Barclaycard. This means you're still making a decent impact on the 0% and lower rate balances, but you're doing the right thing in attacking the one with the highest interest. All being well in a few months your position may look rather better and there might be better options for 0%. You could also try contacting Barclaycard to ask about transferring to a "low life of balance" rate - they used to do one around 6.9% and as you've found before, if you don't ask, you don't get, so always worth a try.

I honestly think right now that consolidation is not right for you. I get what you're saying about the lower payments, but overall you'll be spending more and it will mean that the focus to deal with it might not stay quite as "present" if you know what I mean.

I'm also not going to suggest you take out either of those 0% cards you've mentioned - others may disagree but with only 6 months on them you may not be in a position to shift again afterwards and I'd put money on the interest rate afterwards is higher than Barclaycard is currently, no?

mick1234_2 · 13 December 2017 at 3:20PM

just called them - I am on 6.9 that is the lowest they offer for current customers, the more I think about it I know that consolidation is not the right way to go I just need to see them going down instead of up.

I am creating a spreadsheet with the exact bill amounts that leave me account once I know this exactly I can then move all the other money out this way I know whatever is in that account cannot be touched - I have upped my BC to 250 a month and will adjust more once I know what I have left.

phizzimum · 13 December 2017 at 5:31PM

Hi Mick

Just wanted to give you a little cheer from the sidelines :T:T

You’ve done so well and made lots of changes. Just the fact that you are more aware of where your money is going is a huge step forward.

Dont get disheartened and I’m sure you’ll soon start to see a difference.

I find that using cash works well for me. At the start of the month I take out cash for groceries and fuel, and divide into separate envelopes for each week. That way every time I open my purse I can clearly see how much is left for the week and that helps me resist temptation! Doesnt suit everyone but worth a try

mick1234_2 · 13 December 2017 at 5:48PM

Thank you so much great tip aswell I will try it!

phizzimum wrote: »

Hi Mick

Just wanted to give you a little cheer from the sidelines :T:T

You’ve done so well and made lots of changes. Just the fact that you are more aware of where your money is going is a huge step forward.

Dont get disheartened and I’m sure you’ll soon start to see a difference.

I find that using cash works well for me. At the start of the month I take out cash for groceries and fuel, and divide into separate envelopes for each week. That way every time I open my purse I can clearly see how much is left for the week and that helps me resist temptation! Doesnt suit everyone but worth a try

mick1234_2 · 13 December 2017 at 5:53PM

Today was a big saving I have life cover I got this out a few months ago at a cost of £47, I have had a look and I have enough cover through work currently ideally I would have illness cover but I think with my current situation I will not bother for a while and then revisit when I am in a better place financially. No cancellation costs and no further payments.

EssexHebridean · 13 December 2017 at 6:01PM

Brilliant - well done! Another lump every month to go to the debt then!

The cash idea works for a lot of folk - the one thing I will say is check what cover you have for cash at home in your contents insurance policy and never have more than that sitting about at home. Withdraw weekly instead of monthly if you need to.

For some reason I thought your existing Barclaycard rate was higher than that - sorry for giving you false hope!

enthusiasticsaver · 13 December 2017 at 9:23PM

6.9% is not bad for the Barclaycard. I assume that is life of balance? I think targeting that one first is sensible unless any of the four 0% deals are up soon and then go up to very high interest rates. I have a feeling NUBA may be expensive once the deals expire so double check the expiry dates.

You are doing well in cutting back. Just make sure you don't throw so much at the cards that you are forced to use them for food or fuel at the end of the month.

Its time to sort out this mess!

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