Any Help Please On What To Do...

MiDNiGHT_2

Hi everyone not sure if this is the right place to post this question or not.

I make £12,500 a year
I have a Lloyds TSB Visa Card with £5000 (debt)
I have a Llyods Loan £6000 (debt)

I am currently with my partner who doesnt work at the moment so I have the only income.
I have stayed with my partner (her council house) over 7-8 years at our present address.

Is there a way I can put these on 1 Loan and make smaller payments, as what I am paying just now, we struggle to get buy a month.

I heard martin on Radio 2 about something about a card you can move it to but dont use the card for any reason (does that make sense?)..


Please any help would be appreciated as we have tried everywhere.
Thank you

Lois_Lane

Hi Midnight - I found out about this great website by listening to Martin on the Jeremy Vine show too, so welcome, and I hope you find it useful.

You'll find all the information you need here.

Good luck

LL

asandwhen

He would be talking about doing a balance transfer from a 0% card - doubt you would get £11k limit though - best bet is to snowball your debts.

BullyCornedBeef

Firstly, dont be taken in by all this consolidation !!!!!! - it really does not matter how much you owe or if its in 10 different places, the important thing is getting the right deal for you. Consolidation seems to be the buzz word at the moment. The interest payments on your CC will be easier to tackle than your loan but things can be done to ease the burden.

With regards to credit cards what I have done as a student (and still do) is do a BALANCE TRANSFER where the balance of your current CC is transfered to a new CC with an introductionry 0% intrest offer. In March I moved an outstanding CC balance to a new CC whose offer was 12 months 0%, allowing me to just pay off the debt without paying the CC's high interest fees. I intend to move the balance again to a different CC if it hasnt been payed off by then. Some things to note:
- the 0% offers vary. some will be as much as 12 months; some as little as 3 months.
- close your old CC account
- I think currently the best deal for a BT is a Barclay card (as reviewed on this site) but do check
- DO NOT USE THE new CC TO MAKE PURCHASES AFTER YOU HAVE DONE A BALANCE TRANSFER. This can really mess up the 0% deal, I cut mine up so I cant use them.

With regards to your personal loan, I assume if its with a high street bank the interest rate is quite high around 12-17%? You can get much cheaper loan rates with highly reputable companies who do not practice on the highstreet for example, Leeds Building Society @ 6.9%, Direct Line @ 5.6% and Hastings Direct are around 5-6%. The last two are insurance companies BTW!

Amazing what is out there if you look around! Do check the interest rates carefully, also, the insurance protection can really change how much you pay but hopefully theres enough stuff here to help you. Im new to this site too but worked for a high street bank before my current profession so I know a bit. I hoped this helped, just message me anytime and please take the time to read through this site it will really help you.