My debt options...?

seb_2

Hi, just want to start by saying sorry if this has been asked before or info somewhere but I have looked and searched first!!!

Anyway, I have had an egg card for a about 4 years now and whilst I have been 'fairly' sensible on it, I have left myself in a perpetual debt problem and with an unsure working future ahead of me!
I have £1952 on my card, but can only afford to pay £50 a month from my account as things are very tight at the moment! Now about £23 of that is on interest and £15 goes on payment protector so as you can see this loan is going to be with me for sometime to come!
I was going to transfer everything to another card,either interest free or low interest but with an unsure future work wise I am not sure if this would be a very good idea.
Also my girlfriend has about £1500 on her card so £3500 joint in debt which we ideally would like to put into one loan / cc, but say with a combined payment of about £100 a month or less.
so given these basic circumstances, and given the fact interest rates could go up next year (very likely I believe), and that job security isn't great, what options do I have to try to reduce the time left, and other peoples profit!?
BTW How do I work out exactly how long I have left to pay on my card, is there an article that explains this and APR etc..?

Reaper

First - you are wasting money on the PPI. Check you really need it, check it will pay out when you expect, and finally if you do decide you need it go to a third party to get cover. Read this article.

Next - if you are currently working but fear for your job then do look at 0% cards or low APR life-of-balance cards and transfer your debt to them while you still can - you won't be able to get any decent cards once you stop working.

But before all that you need to read about debt as you are concentrating on only a small part of the problem, rather than looking at the whole picture. For example there may be other ways to budget and have more money available to pay off debts. There is a lot to cover so I suggest you start by looking at the blue box above and click on the "Problem Debts" link which will give you a good start. Any questions after that can be asked here or you may find the "Wannabe Debt Free" forum more useful.

Various calculators to work out how long it takes to pay off debts can be found here.

Good luck.

seb_2

High Reaper, thanks for your reply.
The only reason I haven't applied for another cc inc insurance is because on a few occasions this year my wage had been late for some time and I have spent a lot of time overdrawn!
I know my bank manager has tried to contact me recently (I didn't update my contact details on moving house so didn't get the message straight away) but since getting back on track I haven't heard anything so I may not enquire as to what he / she wanted!
Anyway considering all this I suspect my safest option is to remain as I am and Hope things become a little more secure.
As far as money saving is concerned, I have been actively doing this for some time and it has taken a long time to get the other-half to realise the trouble we were / are potentially headed in but I am getting there slowly! I think I will take your advice however as we do have other problems that other 'sections' will be better helping us with!
Thanks.

Thefunkygibbons

Pop into the debt free wannabe board for loads of advice

From the sound of it, you need to trim your outgoings a little so that you can throw more at the card and get the balalnce cleared

Debt free wannabe will help you do that

BoltonMinx

Agree with TFG, you'll be amazed at how much they can help you. Please give them a go and also pop into the old style forum where you'll find a ton of ideas too.

P.S You can ask the board mod to move your post to debt-free wannabe if you prefer.