best way to get debt down

help_plse

Hi

My partner has found himself in a situation where he has £6000 on credit cards, paying interest!! and a loan of £5000. I feel it is pointless getting another credit card, as the limit allowed on the card would not be enough to cover the the debt.

Rang the credit card companies, only one was prepared to lower the cost of the interest.

What to do - help needed please.

poorandindenial

Hi there help plse

Try not to worry too much, you are in the right place for help and advice and althought it might not be easy there WILL be a way for your partner to sort this out.

Can your partner meet the monthly minimum repayments? What are the APRs and limits of each of the debts that they have?

It might be helpful to do a statement of affairs (www.makesenseofcards.com) and post that up so that we can help you/them free up some cash to try to break the pay it spend on it cycle

Has your partner missed any payments recently or got any defaults or CCJs in the last 6 years?

Failing all this if you don't want to bare your soul to that extent then please do get in touch with some of the free to use debt advice organisations (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help) and try to make sure your partner isn't lured by promises from companies claiming they can write off debts or reduce your minimum payments - the people in the link are not for profit and won't take money from YOU (your partner) to help you sort this out.

Numpty_Monkey

:hello:Hi
The best i can advice is to post your SOA on here
use this link http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

It will give the great and clever people here something to have a look at and make suguestions as to where savings can be made
Trying to get other cards to cover payments and been turned down in a way is good
It stops you and your OH getting deeper in the doodoo, and face up to the debts:eek:

Don't worry we are nice here :A

GeorgeUK

It may not seem like getting another card will help, but any 0% deal he can get will not only allow that money to be interest free, but what is being saved by not paying that interest can be put towards the rest of the debt, which means it would reduce faster and also pay less interest towards this as a result.

You can have 3 credit searches in a 6 month period before your credit score is affected - you can check your credit file free at experian (if you cancel within 30 days).

To see how much of a difference it may make, try inputting some figures into the snowball calculator. It's good that you got some of the rates reduced. I would focus on paying the minimum to all debts and throwing everything else at the highest interest rate - unless you have a card that has a fairly low balance but a decent credit limit. You can sometimes get incentives to keep a card open if you have a nil balance (0% for 6 months or low interest life of balance) which usually does not require another credit check as you are an existing customer.