Should I consider a consolidated loan??

ShaneJoshua80

I earn roughly £1700 a month after tax £324 of that goes towards a car loan which will be paid in October of this year with HSBC. The rest goes out in various dribs and drabs including £800 into a joint account with my finacee to pay for all our bills and rent.

I have tried to use some of the tips on this site but my main is I very rarely have any physical cash in my wallet I always elect to chip and pin. I very rarely read my statements and very rarely check my internet bank account.

What do I need to do to get myself back on top and to stay on top it off I am overdrawn by £400.

I want to get myself sorted as I'm going to be moving into my first place with my wife to be and even I know its not a good I dea to be carrying debt.

Would it be an Idea to visit my bank get them to clear the credit card bills and make into one loan with my exsisting loan. I could afford to pay £550 easily I think

nomoneytoday

A cons loan is only going to work if you change your habits.
Checking statements, using cash not cards etc is the real solution.

musicboy

No.

Sort out what you actually spend and whether it is a waste or not and you would be surprise - nay amazed - at how much you DO have to spend but don't think of it as that because you 'chip and pin'. By checking your bank account statements I expect you would find out you pay late charges etc too.

Sorry to be a tiny bit harsh but if you had real problems which you had genuinely made an effort to sort out then you would have had loads of replies on here by now.

The fact that I am the first to respond means that you basically need to pay as much towards your debts as you can, you will enjoy your lifestyle because you aren't in s*** creek and if you are struggling, you can sell your car and get something far more satisfying.

God it sounds like a lecture and I am rubbish with cash and always have been, mind you being landed with selling my house, a £20k loan still to pay off and the CSA on your back from being married for just 2 months gets you to sort our your priorities fast !

Regards,

Musicboy.

musicboy

"The fact that I am the first to respond ..."

Me n my big Yorkshire gob .... hehe

ShaneJoshua80

I dont hold it against you. You are right my probelms could be alot worse. I think my main problem is Im a bit too lax but I'll take your advice onboard. Do you reckon a consolidated loan or another credit card and transfer the balance and juggle it that way. Either way im gong to be doing some serious calculations tonight. Thanks for your advice

Debt_Free_Chick

ShaneJoshua80 wrote:

I dont hold it against you. You are right my probelms could be alot worse. I think my main problem is Im a bit too lax but I'll take your advice onboard. Do you reckon a consolidated loan or another credit card and transfer the balance and juggle it that way. Either way im gong to be doing some serious calculations tonight. Thanks for your advice

You have to address the cause of the problem first, before you tackle the symptoms

The cause of the problem is that you spend more than you earn (hence the overdraft) and if you have existing debts, you have been overspending for some time. Basically, you are living beyond your means - your lifestyle is costing you more than you can afford.

You need to address that first. You need a proper budget that shows every single penny you need to spend every month on bills etc. You then need to identify how much surplus income you have, as this could be available to pay off your existing debts.

Start off with Martin's budget planner. You will need to go back through all your past statements to get a feel for what you spend on each category. Be realistic about setting a future budget.

I suspect you are frittering money away on chip & pin and actually have no idea where your money goes. If so, then keep a spending diary for a few weeks where you write down every penny you spend and what you buy. You might find yourself shocked at the amount you are spending on "stuff" that you don't really need.

I would actually go further and suggest you invest in a copy of Microsoft Money. This is great for producing reports & charts to show you where your money goes, but you need to use it for a few months to get the full benefit of it.

So ... stop thinking about loans and credit cards for now and take control of your spending first. Take control .. that's the key