Debt Consolidation

kill

Thanks for the replies folks, it's very much appreciated.

Well I've already taken out the consolidation loan, so I guess there's not much I can do about it now.

Basically with the amount of debt I had, at the time I felt I had no choice. I was paying a very high APR across the cards I had, and this seemed like the only option. I have got an APR of about 6% on the loan I have taken out, and I took it out over 5 years (which still seems too long). I wish I had found this place a few weeks ago now !

So what does everyone think the best thing to do is, put the money I earn from eBay, overtime and spare cash into a savings account and let it build up, then start paying chunks of the loan off?

Now I have the consolidation loan, I have taken quite a few steps in changing the way I live, for instance in the evening when I went to friends or band practice, I'd regularly call in at the garage and spend between £5-£10 on junk. Now I make myself a cordial drink and take food/snacks with me (mainly tesco value lol). I also make most of my own food now (instead of spending money on takeaways). Before the loan I was spending more than I earnt, but now at the end of the month I have money left over. I was tempted to take this straight out and save it, but didn't want to get back into my overdraft.

Trust me when I say this though, there's no way I'm getting into any more debt !! All cards have been cancelled and cut up, and there's no way I'm getting another loan, this is it for me, I will be out of debt soon !

I'll work out my finances/earnings etc and post them later.

Thanks again folks :cool:

Annie_Fanny

Kill - It sounds like you are really turning your life around. Well done.

Have you checked out whether you can make overpayments on the loan? This will help you decide whether to overpay or as you say put any extra into a savings account.

Annie

lynzpower

Hi Kill

Well well done, it sounds like you are doing all the right things

On the loan do you have PPI? If you do could you cancel it, should save you a bit of time off the end?

Also have a look at your loan, can you overpay it? You might be able to set up your Paypal account to pay the loan off directly, so the fiveres here and there cn be coming off the total everyday. You do need to check this out though as some have penalties for overpaying etc, and sometimes people stick money into a high interest savings accoutn( A&L have a regular saver at 10% if thats any good to you? but you do need an A&L account and is must be REGULAR savings)

HTH
Lynz
x

Kevicho

No what you all say is right, consolidation loans are not the answer.

I just didnt want the OP to just dismiss them when they can be put to good use and can help (if used in the right way) cut interest

The problem usually isnt the loan, its more the loanee's sense of "that problem is now solved", when all they have done is bought themselves some time and some breathing room to be able to help them reorganise.

It doesnt help with the ad's saying to take out a consolidation loan and have 2-3k spare to go on a holiday or buy a care someone cannot afford

That is the real problem.

Donedoingdebt

Hello Kill. It does seem that you have the right attitude to this consolidation loan, ie that the loan is used solely to pay higher interest debts & not extras on top or having the "problem is now solved" attitude that Kevicho mentioned earlier. Don't feel down that you've done it, just do what you're doing now & turn your financial life around by continuing the DFW ways that you've obviously started. Take whatever advice you can off this site, & those 5 years will soon pass.