Where to begin?

willing2learn_3

donnalove wrote:

just reading your post you are paying £160 in petrol and car parking?

60 pound for parking your car is a hell of lot couldnt you use public transport to work at least this would save quite a bit you could throw at your debt

good idea but it's not easy to do really. It costs 4.50 by train (parking is 3.00 a day), plus there's a 30 min walk and the need to leave a lot earlier. That would not usually bother me but where i am living i struggle with a noisy environment and get very little sleep.......so the car is my one luxury really - means i can leave a bit later, etc.

i will have a think about it though, see if there's a way.

willing2learn_3

file_wizzard wrote:

the only suggestion I can make if you are keen to add some positive history to your file is to obtain a "secured" capital one credit card with the minimum available ( £200 ) providing you behave with this and make your payments on time then it will soon start to add positive history to your file which will help to counter act the negative information.

thanks file wizzard!

I haven't had a credit card for a while.....could you explain what it means to be 'secured?' I guess it means there are limits to it's use.....

I will do a search on this.

Apparently using a credit card adds positive history to your file - I guess because it shows you can 'borrow' to a degree and pay back? I actually wouldn't want to use it. i wonder whether the mere posession of a card improves your rating over time, or do you have to make use of it?

thanks for your time

homersimpson_3

it would quite hard to get a loan with 2 ccjs. please keep away from loan sharks and less than reputable companies because they charge exortionate rates of interest. also every time you apply for credit a credit search will usually be done- too many credit searches are really bad news and may restrict ability to get credit- basically it can suggest to a lender you are desperate for money and can't manage your finances properly and so should not be lent any more because you are a high risk- does that make sense? ccjs will remain on credit report for 6 years. suggestions for how to pay off debt quickly-
a) tell parents you are in debt and ask them to stop receiving housekeeping only for 1 year (12x250= 3000)
b) give up hobbies for 1 year (12x50= 600)
3600 so far- not bad. i have done the latter and am on a very low income (like you). my expenses are considerably higher than yours and i will be coming out of the wilderness (debt free- enjoying things again) hopefully by end of year. (fate allowing- every time i seem to take one step forward something comes along and pulls me 10ft back). it's a pain in the butt, you get cheesed off and miserable but if you want a quick fix it's the solution. it's only 12 months and the way time flies it will be gone in no time. good luck.

moongarden

willing2learn wrote:

To get a loan to pay them off means they are satisfied immediately and my credit record is repaired.

i thought that just put the word "satisfied" next to them but they still stay there for 6 years.

so you would be paying interest on a loan (which you would possibly get at a higher interest rate being a higher risk) for no benefit.

i'm sure someone will correct me if i've got this wrong though.

moongarden

oh, and could you carshare? i do that now and actually i quite enjoy it.
you could put a notice up at work or search for a carshare website

environmental benefits too!

file_wizzard

willing2learn wrote:

thanks file wizzard!

I haven't had a credit card for a while.....could you explain what it means to be 'secured?' I guess it means there are limits to it's use.....

I will do a search on this.

Apparently using a credit card adds positive history to your file - I guess because it shows you can 'borrow' to a degree and pay back? I actually wouldn't want to use it. i wonder whether the mere posession of a card improves your rating over time, or do you have to make use of it?

thanks for your time

The basic concept of the Capital one product is that they will provide you with a card with a minimal limit i.e £250.00, however you have to secure this with a £250.00 deposit.

basically you are lending them the money interest free so they can lend it back to you at about 29% APR. !!!

Obviously this isn’t going to be the most profitable transaction you ever make!, but it comes with the advantage that you get a true "credit card" for hotel bookings, car Hire Ect. and also comes with the benefit that the account reports to the credit reference agency’s like any other credit account.

This can be invaluable when trying to re-build a positive history after previous negative entry’s.

and yes technically you would have to use it each month for it to report a payment history, however even if this is only £10 on petrol then you pay it off at the end of the month it will report a "0" status for payment made on time, if you do not use it then the account will report U "unused" / "dormant" , and this will just be a neutral effect of your "credit score"

willing2learn_3

homersimpson wrote:

it would quite hard to get a loan with 2 ccjs. please keep away from loan sharks and less than reputable companies because they charge exortionate rates of interest. also every time you apply for credit a credit search will usually be done- too many credit searches are really bad news and may restrict ability to get credit- basically it can suggest to a lender you are desperate for money and can't manage your finances properly and so should not be lent any more because you are a high risk- does that make sense? ccjs will remain on credit report for 6 years. suggestions for how to pay off debt quickly-
a) tell parents you are in debt and ask them to stop receiving housekeeping only for 1 year (12x250= 3000)
b) give up hobbies for 1 year (12x50= 600)

Thanks, i'm going to continue paying off the debt for now and will think carefully about applying for any credit.....it just all seems so difficult considering the debt is so small.....however it's my fault for ignoring and neglecting it in the past.

As for parents, they really need the housekeeping (mainly due to their own bad habits, which i don't intend to follow!) and i sometimes feel resentful but then again they have done a lot for me over the years

The hobbies i have i really really need, they keep me sane when everything else around me is going wrong (not just finances) so i am considering them a necessary expense. They keep me positive and keep my focus positive, which ultimately should help me move forward and get a better income.
Otherwise these ideas of yours were good.
Thanks again!

willing2learn_3

file_wizzard wrote:

The basic concept of the Capital one product is that they will provide you with a card with a minimal limit i.e £250.00, however you have to secure this with a £250.00 deposit.

basically you are lending them the money interest free so they can lend it back to you at about 29% APR. !!!

Obviously this isn’t going to be the most profitable transaction you ever make!, but it comes with the advantage that you get a true "credit card" for hotel bookings, car Hire Ect. and also comes with the benefit that the account reports to the credit reference agency’s like any other credit account.

This can be invaluable when trying to re-build a positive history after previous negative entry’s.

and yes technically you would have to use it each month for it to report a payment history,

File-Wizzard, thanks so much for this information! I'm not sure i have 250 pounds to spare, but it's certainly worth knowing at this stage and could be a good next step.

willing2learn_3

moongarden wrote:

i thought that just put the word "satisfied" next to them but they still stay there for 6 years.

so you would be paying interest on a loan (which you would possibly get at a higher interest rate being a higher risk) for no benefit.

I agree, but they've pretty much been sitting around for six years anyway....with sporadic payments from me.

Perhaps i will see whether they are still on my credit report - they were this time last year and i just assumed they still would be.


Thanks for your reply, it's true that a loan might not be worth it.

willing2learn_3

moongarden wrote:

oh, and could you carshare? i do that now and actually i quite enjoy it.
you could put a notice up at work or search for a carshare website

environmental benefits too!

Great idea! I'm still fairly new at work but i will put my feelers out.