Loan or not to loan?

North_east_lass

Looking for some advice please.

Basically I dont know if I should get a loan to clear my debt or just keep at it like I am doing. Here is a list of all my debt:

Next £217.98 monthly payment £20.00
Great Universal £225.90 monthly payment £20
Paypal £2,889.82 monthly payment £140.41
Lloyds TSB £858.41 monthly payment £35
Barclays £761.57 monthly payment £20

Total Outstanding £4,953.68
Total Monthly outgoing £235.41

My partner has a loan of about £4500 now paying out £110 monthly and although we are trying to clear mine he is getting annoyed that they dont seem to be going down.



I just dont know what to do, I dont know if I should get a loan for £5k clear them all and pay £110 month as well or just keep trying to clear them.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? We cant afford to put anymore money towards the debts and we do struggle month to month but I have never been one to get loans so am unsure.

Thanks in advance xxx

jenjade

the guys on here tend to say don't consolidate your debts. i would leave them as they are because i work better at clearing smaller amount a large sum to clear would be very scary! also with a loan you would probably pay over a long period of time. i would say stay as you are!

10past6

North_east_lass wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

It's never a good idea to borrow your way out of debt.

Why not post up an SOA (Statement of Affairs) and see if the members can assist you cutting back?

earplugs

10past6 is right, consolidating isnt the way to go.

you might want to go on national debtlines website and do an income and expenditure sheet and see what you have left over (if anything).

If you have more expenditure than income then you might want to think about making token offer payments to your unsecured creditors - say £1 per month.

If you have more income than expenditure then it depends on how much you have left over. You could divide whatever you have left over by the amount of creditors and give them the same amount or you could give the biggest creditor (in terms of money owed) the largest amount and then go from there.

If you have your bank account with any of your creditors and you do decide to make smaller repayments then I would advise you to get a basic bank account to have your wages/benefits paid into. If you google, FSA money made clear basic bank accounts, there is a factsheet which shows you which banks do basic bank accounts and you can set standing orders up from there too. I'd open the basic bank account just so if you have, say, your bank account with barclays and there is a debt with them also, then they can't take all of your wages/benefits to pay off their debt only.

If you have say £100 or so left over after you've done your income and expenditure sheet, and before you put in your debts to your unsecured creditors, then you might want to get a free debt management plan - definately a free one!! When I worked for the CAB i used to tell people to go to CCCS or Payplan - i would go to Payplan if i had probs, but its your choice (i dont work for payplan by the way i just have referred quite a few people to them at work and i know they are very good!!)

found_a_bargin

keep them as they are and you will be happier when you have paid off them sin singles and you would be less likely to use the empty cards whilst you still have the debt.

Good luck

North_east_lass

[FONT=&quot]Car Insurance 76.74 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Prof Photo loan 58.33 (my sister pays £50.00 towards this)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Elec 67.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Gas 31.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Life Insurance - 13.08 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Boiler Breakdown) - 4.08 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Landline - 11.35 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mortgage Savings as on Interest Only - 100.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Paypal Credit Card 85.86 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mortgage - 678.33 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Partner Computer Loan - 22.19 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Home Learning Qualification 41.50 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Water 19.65 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Mobile Phone 1 35.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Mobile Phone Bill 2 35.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Pet Insurance12.47 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Computer Insurance - 8.80 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Sky 24.26 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Pension - 20.51 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-TV License 11.95
[/FONT]
Council Tax - 109
Partner Loan - 110

3 x Overdrafts at £1500 - 90.00
Home Insurance - 17.76
Dentist monthly fee - 13.08


Think thats all of it, God scares me when I write it all down

theoretica

A loan would not clear your debt- it would change who you are in debt to and how much flexibility you have to repay that debt.

What are the APRs on your current debts and how soon will they be clear if you carry on as you are?

Pollycat

Hi there
I think there's probably some expenses missing from your list, including:
groceries
car tax
petrol
haircuts?
presents?

If you use the template, it'll ensure that nothing is missed out:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

The problem with taking out a loan to pay off your debts is that it leaves £nil balances on your credit cards so you could then run up debts on them again and be in an even worse position than you are in now.

Regards

January20

North_east_lass wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Car Insurance 76.74 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Prof Photo loan 58.33 (my sister pays £50.00 towards this)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Elec 67.00 This seem extremely high[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Gas 31.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Life Insurance - 13.08 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Boiler Breakdown) - 4.08 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Landline - 11.35 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mortgage Savings as on Interest Only - 100.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Paypal Credit Card 85.86 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mortgage - 678.33 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Partner Computer Loan - 22.19 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Home Learning Qualification 41.50 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Water 19.65 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mobile Phone 1 35.00 Is this a contract? Can you go pay as you go?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mobile Phone Bill 2 35.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pet Insurance12.47 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Computer Insurance - 8.80 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sky 24.26 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pension - 20.51 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-TV License 11.95 [/FONT]

Council Tax - 109
Partner Loan - 110

3 x Overdrafts at £1500 - 90.00
Home Insurance - 17.76
Dentist monthly fee - 13.08


Think thats all of it, God scares me when I write it all down

You haven't written down how much you earn, or how much your OH earns.
Also, what are the aprs on the debts you mentionned in your OP?

From personal experience, I find the snowball calculator is a great tool and helps make sense of what to pay and in what order.

boopydoo

Hi just to echo what the other posters have said you need a more thorough SOA

Once you can clearly see how much you have left over every month you could use the snowball calculator and it will help you prioritise your debts so that you can pay as little interest as possible.
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

A consolidation loan is rarely the best option