what to do...consolidate loan or battle on???

martafdz

I would consider the option to remortgage now. Maybe what you can save per month can make up for any fee you might incur if you leave your mortgage now.
Why don't you go to every bank around and ask for a quick quote? I had some customers in my bank that didn't want to have a quote "because I am in a fixed until YY", and they actually saved more than 200 pounds just by switching. The rates now are really low (below 3.2%), and you might get a really good deal.
I would give it a try.

bms1972

louley wrote: »

HSBC loan............................283.......finshes april 2010

Lloyds TSB card................0%.........65........3000

cap 1..........................0%.........55.24.....20 00 -
nationwide loan................15000.........261.......0 - 4 years left
HSBC Gold......................2244......4% for 6months

hsbc card increases to 24% dont know what the payments are at 4% as have only just got the deal.....at 24% i was paying about 30 i thnk

Having regretted consolidating myself, I would not recommend that route. Also, adding unsecured debt to your mortgage is expensive in the long term. If you can focus some extra repayments, I would suggest you try and get that HSBC card down as much as possible, as your interest payments will be £50+ a month once the discounted rate ends.

I guess the HSBC loan of £283 means you have around £3k outstanding. It may seem it now, but April 2010 is not that far away. Once you get to that point you will be in a much better position to clear your remaining debts faster. If you are able to chip away at your CC debt for now, then you will be able to pay it off relatively quickly from next May.

In my view, the key question is whether you are able to get through the next 11 months steadily (if slowly) reducing your debt? If you're actually still in the position of increasing debt then you may need to restructure to avoid the situation getting worse.

jessibell

Hi Louley

12 years ago I took out a loan for £1k. That loan went up to 18k and is now back down to 11k. In the space of ten years it's gone up and down because of credit card debt which I've always run up again. My total burden is a whopping 28k and I wish to god someone had stopped me in about year 3!!

I've managed to shave a little bit off my outgoings by going interest only on my mortgage, I'm not sure if you are already? If not its free'd up about £150 for me. Hopefully I'll be able to remortgage in 2 years time, increase the payments and reduce the term at the same time.

The other thing I have on my ever increasing, not really getting through list is Ebaying/car booting a shed load of good quality stuff that I just don't need. This will go directly off my credit cards. I'm also trying to overpay my cards by more than I an afford. Sounds like naff logic, but I can always get it back off my card if I need it, and if I manage without then it's a little more paid off. I do have to watch out for payment dates though!

A couple of months ago all I thought that I could do is declare broke and cry in a corner. This board proves over and over that where there's a little willpower there's a way to survive!

Jenna

Hey again,

Well done on sorting out the SOA. I've added some comments below...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1 Do you need this or could you consider selling it and using public transport for a while? Or get lifts with a friend?
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 110
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1910
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 580 Wouldn't usually recommend going interest only as it can leave you short when it comes to re-mortgaging (esp. given current house price fluctuations) - but keep it in the back of your mind if you need a ''last ditch'' option. Ditto payment holidays (if yours will allow you to take a break, of course). Not the first choice, you understand, but once you develop steely DFW willpower and organisation (yeah, coz I've got that now :rolleyes: !!) then maybe. And only after triple checking your sums
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 78.13 See if they'll let you pay over 12 months, it frees up a little more cash each month, pay the extra straight to the CC
Electricity............................. 30 Is this on DD? If so, is it based on actual readings? If not, take some!
Gas..................................... 30 Ditto electricity
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 18 Ditto electricity
Telephone (land line)................... 24.5
Mobile phone............................ 40 Seems high, can you drop the package or cancel / move to PAYG?
TV Licence.............................. 11.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 Check out the Old Style board for tips on how to reduce this whilst still eating healthy, fresh meals
Clothing................................ 20 Is this accurate? If so, do you really need to spend this every month? You can always sell some old clothes on eBay if you're not using them any more!
Petrol/diesel........................... 30 Can you claim any of this back through work?
Road tax................................ 11.6
Car Insurance........................... 27
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 You need to work out the approx. annual cost of this and divide by 12. Then, save that figure each month. That way when you next need an MOT you won't have to use the CC!
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 30 What's this?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10.17
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 21.94 This seems high. Did you arrange it via your mortgage company as these are often pricy? If so, research into getting an independant policy (and go through Quidco too!)
Other insurance......................... 15.8 What's this?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15 You can use survey and mystery shoppping sites to earn money or vouchers - have a look at the Up Your Income article on the main site
Haircuts................................ 15 Try going to your local training college, the cuts are supervised and usually very good, they just take longer than normal (but about £5 for a trim and £10 for a completely new style the last time I went)
Entertainment........................... 0 You do need to budget for this, even if not much, otherwise you'll get bored and go on a mad spending spree in a few months! Have a think about some nice but cheap ideas too - check out the Freebies board, go out for a walk/picnic, have a bubble bath, have friends over to dinner at yours (they bring the wine - then next week you go to theirs!)
Holiday................................. 0 Maybe you're not planning on going away til the debt is cleared, but if you are, you need to budget for this (otherwise it will just end up going on the CC and undoing months of your hard work!)
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses..................
ts
Cash.................................... 400 What's this? If not needed, pay it off the CC (have a read of the article about paying off CCs with savings - again, this is on the main site)
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 600 What's this?
Total Assets............................ 147500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(580)......5.15
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-
Based on a quick sum your mortgage is about 62%. This isn't hideous, so wouldn't worry overly about remortgaging. I think it's just the deals above 80% that have disappeared.

Unsecured Debts


Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
HSBC loan............................283.......finshes april 2010
What's the interest rate; can you overpay?
Lloyds TSB card................0%.........65........3000
When does this 0% run out?
cap 1..........................0%.........55.24.....20 00
nationwide loan................15000.........261.......0 - 4 years left
HSBC Gold......................2244......4% for 6months

Bit puzzled by your figures, can't work out the APRs / current balances (are they the opposite way round?) - can you confirm them & also (if it's a special rate) when it goes back to it's standard interest rate (and what that is)?

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,910
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,128.59
Available for debt repayments........... 781.41
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 699.71
Amount left after debt repayments....... 81.7

If you don't find you have 81.70 left in your account every month, start keeping a spending diary (there's an online version too which you can use for free!). You might find it surprising what £2 here and there gets spent on!

Hope that helps and I didn't come across as being harsh - it's meant with the best of intentions