Girlfriends Debts, whats the best option?

puddy

MrsTine wrote: »

Only go for the 0% option!
Unless your GF has cast iron selfcontrol then it's too tempting to run more debts up again if she consolidates...
DO NOT ABSOLUTELY NOT add it to the mortgage - it will long term cost her a fortune and you should NEVER make any unsecured debt into a secured debt unless you have absolutely no choice...

Why not do a full SOA on here of her finances (with her persmission) and then we can see if she can cut back in places to increase her repayments
With 7 cards :eek: she MIGHT struggle to get more cards (especially at 0% - although it could be worth applying for life of balance cards...) so it could be worth looking at snowballing (someone will be along with a link in a sec I am sure I'm on a work pc so no links saved lol) with what spare cash there is at the moment

well hold on a min, you can get the mortgage for any length of time you want, it doesnt have to tie in with the current life of the mortgage, i remember years ago, i took out a remortgage for about 5k and took it over 5 years instead of the 20 that my mortgage was at the time, it was just another mortgage account.
the SVR (if she can get that for consolidation) would be very low and she coujld set it for 5 years or so

puddy

oh, i see she has a low rate on the virgin, can she put the platnum barclays debt on the virgin? she should pay off the debenhams and outfit card next month if she can, cut them up then see if she can move the barclays to the virgin, then see what other options she has

Dinah93

Firstly, it's lovely that you're being so supportive and want to help her tackle her debts. Does she realise they are a problem or is she agreeing to clear them because you asked? She needs to be fully on board to do this, she has a fair ammount of debt and at £400 a month it will take a long time to clear. To best clear the debt will require lifestyle changes, I always think of it that every £1 I spend isn't just a pound, it's a pound plus the interest I'm paying on a pound already on a credit card. This time last year I was paying a bit over the minimum balances on almost a £16,000 debt, around £375 a month. However I realised how much this is holding me back and decided to do a short sharp clearance of the debt, and am on track to clear the full amount in under a year on a £26k salary. It's never going to be easy or fun to clear the debt, but the feelings of relief as it goes makes it worth it for the peace of mind and ability to make future plans alone.

NiceCuppaTea_2

Dinah93 wrote: »

Firstly, it's lovely that you're being so supportive and want to help her tackle her debts. Does she realise they are a problem or is she agreeing to clear them because you asked? She needs to be fully on board to do this, she has a fair ammount of debt and at £400 a month it will take a long time to clear. To best clear the debt will require lifestyle changes, I always think of it that every £1 I spend isn't just a pound, it's a pound plus the interest I'm paying on a pound already on a credit card. This time last year I was paying a bit over the minimum balances on almost a £16,000 debt, around £375 a month. However I realised how much this is holding me back and decided to do a short sharp clearance of the debt, and am on track to clear the full amount in under a year on a £26k salary. It's never going to be easy or fun to clear the debt, but the feelings of relief as it goes makes it worth it for the peace of mind and ability to make future plans alone.

Its not so much that she see's it as a problem as it stands now, but she wasnt considering changing the way the debts are being paid off. We've been talking about saving for future stuff like a bigger house, changing car and...marriage (scary, but its been 8 years) and so I pointed out we need to get our finances in order first. We're both in a MUCH better position to save now thanks to splitting the mortgage, bills and lower interest rates plus we've got decent jobs so nows the time to do it. I've explained this and it's sunk in, moreso about an hour ago when I put the debenhams and outfit cards through the shredder.

p.s. the virgin card isnt 1.8% its 21.6%, I confused monthly interest with annual. Mistakes like that are why I'm after advice!

mogchops

NiceCuppaTea wrote: »

Its not so much that she see's it as a problem as it stands now, but she wasnt considering changing the way the debts are being paid off. We've been talking about saving for future stuff like a bigger house, changing car and...marriage (scary, but its been 8 years) and so I pointed out we need to get our finances in order first. We're both in a MUCH better position to save now thanks to splitting the mortgage, bills and lower interest rates plus we've got decent jobs so nows the time to do it. I've explained this and it's sunk in, moreso about an hour ago when I put the debenhams and outfit cards through the shredder.

p.s. the virgin card isnt 1.8% its 21.6%, I confused monthly interest with annual. Mistakes like that are why I'm after advice!

Fantastic!!! :T Well done!! Like I said before, its really great to see a partner taking such positive steps to help. It makes a refreshing change from some of the posters on the boards who have to hide their debt from their partners, or whose partners dont realise there is a problem and continue to spend.

Keep up the good work!