making sense of debt

sisfis

Hi

it seems my partner has managed to run up several thousands of pounds (about 8) worth of debt including a credit card, two bank accounts which are overdrawn to the limit and an outstanding loan. she cant afford to keep trying to manage all four as it leaves her little or no money to live on during the month and this just compounds the problem further.

whilst ill help her as best as i can im interested in the best way to consolidate all her debts maybe into a single loan. whilst this may extend her loan period at least it leaves a single manageable monthly payment. i was interested in any ideas about which way to go and with which lender. because shes monthly paid the bank it seems just allow her to overspend then delight in sending her a charge for each and every time. ive found out she was clobbered for the best part of two hundred quid by them in november. lets be right shes in the wrong but they are profiteering and willing to carry on knowing she always has her wages in the bank regular as clockwork. lets be right here these people must stick out like a sore thumb yet they keep handing them credit on a plate. its nothgin more than profiteering at those less well to manage money.

i dont have too much financial experience myself as i try not to carry much debt and can only make a good guess at what she should do.

any help greatly appreciated.

thanks

sis

roswell

May i suggest you have a look in debt fee wanabee theres very good advice in there, you will need a list of the debts and the interest rates being charged, easy answer for £8000 of debt would be a few 0% credit cards or a low life of balance that way you can have flexable managment. (this means pay more when you have more not only pay minimum and spend more.)

Rafter

sis,

Have a look at the 'bank charges - are they legal' thread in current accounts too.

You may be able to bring a claim to get all the charges refunded if you are prepared to do some work and write a few letters.

If your partners credit record isn't great - the 0% credit card option mentioned by roswell may not be an option - worth a try though.

Key before you do anything though is to get spending under control and destroy credit cards and just have a debit card account with small emergency overdraft.

It has been scientifically proven that about 15% of the adult population are incapable of managing credit or spending and it sounds like this could be the basic problem here.

Good luck

R.