£16k C/C Debt, Interest free running out, temp employment

mystic_bertie

I need some advice here, i have 16k debt spread between 5 credit cards, most of this debt i built up when i bought my house 1 3/4 yr ago and 7 months of unemployment, about 1yr ago (when i was working) i put the debt onto the credit cards with a 0% rate which is due to run out, i did this because loan rates were so high and i did not earn enough to add it to my mortgage. So when the 0% rate runs out im going to get hit hard with 17% apr's.

i start a new job tomorrow, i have been unemployed for 7 months, this job is only tempory but may lead to permanent however being temp means i cant get anything added to my mortgage or go for a loan.

What is the best thing to do with this credit card debt, i cant afford to start getting charged 17% interest.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Heya,

Will they all be 17%? It maybe ideal to list the number of cards you have, the current balance and credit limit available to you. Also list the APR's. If you know how much you can afford to throw at your cards each month we can work out the fastest way to pay them off and what the total interest will be. Whatever you do - DON'T CONSOLIDATE OR BORROW MORE. You've had the 0% period which has saved you money in the long run, now it's time to work out the cheapest way to pay back.

You maybe able to shuffle to a lower interest card OR maybe increase the limit on a lower interest card and balance transfer across to it. Or if you have a good credit rating get a 0% balance transfer card again (tarting) and balance transfer your highest card to it and then get rid of the empty cc.

Alternatively you may just have to snowball the cards and start with the most expensive and pay it off first. If you want to play around with the possibilities go to http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx and it will tell you what payments to make to incurr the lowest amount of debt possible. Don't forget to include your monthly minimums when working out how much you'll spend each month.

Good luck and well done on your new job!

mystic_bertie

hi there thanks for the reply, the debt is spread between 6 cards and my overdraught, i applied for most of the cards at the same time so the interest free period has run out on them all during feb. I am looking at paying £500 per month towards the cards.

OVERDRAUGHT £1,372.00 @ 18% bal to spend= £630
A&L (mbna) £3,200.00 @ 16.5% bal to spend = £100
BARCLAYCARD £1,108.00 @ 15% bal to spend = £540
EGG £3,297.00 @ 16% bal to spend = £150
ULSTERBANK £2,560.00 @ 17.5% bal to spend = £840
BANK OF SCOTLAND £2,553.00 @ 19% bal to spend =£900
MBNA £1,979.00 @ 14% bal to spend = £2750