Credit card advice needed please

Lilith1980

Hi all, i did post on the credit card forum but thought I should post here too

I have a credit card with Virgin on which I have roughly £8,600 and the APR is 34.9%. I pay £240 per month onto this (minimum payment is £220). I don't spend on the card unless I have to and if I do, I repay what I have spent the following month as I don't want the balance increasing.

I also have a loan with A&L which is £289 per month (APR is 7.9%) and ends in February 2012. So after this point I will have that as spare cash.

However, paying for the Virgin card is proving pretty tight each month what with other bills. My current account is with the Halifax and they accepted me for a loan a little while ago to pay off the Virgin card which I refused in the end as the APR was higher than my Virgin card and I would have ended paying so much more than the original loan.

I am just wondering now though, whether it would be worth getting a loan with them in the meantime, with a long term, to reduce my outgoings and then once my A&L loan finishes I can put this spare cash towards paying the loan off with a lump sum.

What do people think? I cannot get 0% deals, my credit rating must be pretty poor so I feel a bit stuck

Thanks

savingmummy

I wouldnt get another loan tbh!
Your paying repayments but finding it `tight` SO maybe cut back on other outgoings to make it better for you.
Sell some bits on Ebay you no longer need or use!
STOP using your cards - even though you pay what you use the following month it isnt helping!

Post a SOA http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html and we will take a look to see where you can reduce some outgoings to help out on repayments.

Lilith1980

Here is my SOA. Under the entertainment bit I spend about £50 per month on going out but the £110 is what I put towards my uni costs.

And yes I know the gas is high, we had an extortionate bill this month so I have made sure the central heating is now on a timer to ensure it's not left on during the day. We rent our flat so not sure about switching providers?

Me and my DH have separate accounts and he pays for the rent/council tax/landline and other stuff. All this is my expenditure. Thanks

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1181
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1181
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 180
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 140
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 9
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 28
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 160
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 687

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Card....................8800......240.......34.9
Halifax Card...................1241......25........17.9
A&L Loan.......................8111......289.......7.9
Total unsecured debts..........18152.....554.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,181
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 687
Available for debt repayments........... 494
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 554
Amount short for making debt repayments. -60
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,152
Net Assets.............................. -18,152
[/tt]