All the debt in one basket

LookingAhead

I'm a consolidation victim too! Urgh. Wouldn't go down that road again unless I really really really had to. I am a classic case of rolling it all into one then thinking "wooo hooo look at all this extra cash I have!!" then spend spend spend on credit card thinking "I can pay this off in full at the end of the month, no problem!"

Guess what? I never did. Now look at me....... :doh:

bizzy_lizzie

Thank you everyone.
You have made me reconsider. I'll just concentrate on paying it then.

BL

Old_iron_balls

Ive lost count of how many times ive consolidated.
every time sure enough a week later id 'just spend a tenner' on my nice 0 balance CC
couple of weeks later - back to square one. AAARRGGGHHH !

moozie_2

LookingAhead wrote:

I'm a consolidation victim too! Urgh. Wouldn't go down that road again unless I really really really had to. I am a classic case of rolling it all into one then thinking "wooo hooo look at all this extra cash I have!!" then spend spend spend on credit card thinking "I can pay this off in full at the end of the month, no problem!"

Guess what? I never did. Now look at me....... :doh:

Did that twice, got the t shirt, now I am here and eating chocolate

piglet6

Yep - consolidation loans are the work of the devil :eek: - I too am wearing the t-shirt, and still have the cc debt to show for it!! :doh:

Stick with paying it off what you can see - thats the route I'm taking this time and, believe it or not, it is actually more satisfying to see the amount go down bit by bit and know its gone for good :T than to see the amount disappear completely and know in the back of your mind that its still hanging around somewhere else still to be dealt with... :undecided

Piglet

ManAtHome

Broken_hearted wrote:

I don't think consolidation loans are the problem. I think it's the attitude to debt, you get the loan then run up the debts again. We got a loan 3 years ago and spent the money on a holiday. Still you live and learn.

This is the key point - if you can reduce your outgoings, get a consolidation loan that allows early repayment, and resist the temptation to blow your "savings", maybe not that bad a move..

bizzy_lizzie

Well I did plan most of this expenditure & can afford it. The LPG conversion of £2500 will pay for itself in two years & we intend to keep the car until it dies of old age. The conservatory building will never be repeated ( far too traumatic - next time i get one built by a professional - whoops, more expense, no i wont) The appliances were both 12 years old & i thought better to replace than to waste more money on a temporary fix.

Reading through everyones advice i think it sounds like you just have to realise that the debt is still there, make plans to pay extra every month etc, just like you would on your cards. Rather han think, thats okay then, its gone.

Thank you everyone for your advice. You have given me plenty to think about

BL

tomstickland

The aim is to move the debt to minimum rates possible. If a consolidation loan meets this requirement then there's nothing wrong with it. However, I don't know of any 0% consolidation loans, so tarting to other cards is usually better. A 4.6% personal loan is a better solution than 4 cards at 12% APR. As to temptation to spend, if you're aiming to reach debt free then adding to the debts is mad.

evitaperon

I think consolidation loans are great if you've got the willpower to not go and spend on the cards again. Rate tarting didn't help me at all as I'd transfer to 0%, forget to close old card down, something unexpected comes up (had to get new car radiator and exhuast in the same month as I had to get road tax - very unexpected for such a new car) so I'd use the old card and back to square one again.

Tr@cker

Im currently going down the tarting road i reckon its better than loans if a little messy. Only thing is im wonder how many cards i could have at once before being turned down, ive got 10k spread over 5 cards at the mo i'll need a new deal in Septemeber-a bit of breathing space-but whats your experience re: no's of cards ? Also the number of BT free cards is diminishing.