A friend in need!!!

BaytreeBoy

she is single (no joint account) with one income and unable to increase this at the moment.

DVardysShadow

BaytreeBoy wrote: »

My friend pays the rent because they have to (no choice) can't really say more than then that, They will stay with me for as long as they need or have too. Sorry if i'm being difficult in being clearer with some info as there is stuff I will not share ie. non-financial, I hope you understand.

In which case, a little bit of advice. If there is a partner involved, she should act now to close all joint accounts - or stop all further activity on them.

More generally, if her bank account is hers alone, then with the surplus she has each month, I would say she need not move to another bank account. She should start paying minimums on the cards ASAP and get her bank account into credit. This should only take a couple of months - then she should start paying off the cards, highest APR first.

Cleosmum

I appreciate she cant increase her income, but her partner needs to get a job and contribute (you seem to be saying they, do correct me if its not a partner )

BaytreeBoy

Sorry, just to be clear she has no partner and no joint account she is just a person who has no sense of looking after money who has got herself into debt and would not have a clue how to sort her mess out so i've put myself in charge of dealing with this, there are major family issues (far more complex financial issues which are being dealt with separatley) which is why some of her expenses (rental money) which is hard cash that she hands over to her mother.
To be honest she was just gonna get a loan out and pay off her existing debts to create one single debt, however not being an expert which is why i'm on here I'm not sure thats the way to go about it so was just looking too see if anyone has a better way of trying to help clear the debts. :A

[Deleted User]

You need to work out what the minimum is that she needs to pay each month towards each debt - and then work out how much if anything is left at the end of each month.

If there's anything left after all minimum payments have been paid, then this needs to go to the debt with the highest ARP. In this case it looks like Vanquis, throw all spare cash at this, the rate is massive!!

If she ends up at the end of the month unable to pay the minimum amounts to each card then she needs to seek professional advice from one of the debt charities (don't pay for this advice).

Has she been making all the necessary payments up until now? Has she missed any payments?

DVardysShadow

BaytreeBoy wrote: »

To be honest she was just gonna get a loan out and pay off her existing debts to create one single debt, however not being an expert which is why i'm on here I'm not sure thats the way to go about it so was just looking too see if anyone has a better way of trying to help clear the debts. :A

Well, I think that the warnings which don't apply to her situation are better given than not, bearing in mind you are for whatever reason not giving the whole story.

But you are right that consolidation is the wrong way to go. It turns flexible credit into an inflexible loan - and it leaves the cards in place and open for more borrowing.

theoretica

However, as you say that she has not been paying the minimums she is very unlikely to be able to get another loan so that is not a possibility. If she can balance transfer anything off the Vanquis it would probably be worth while.

1. Stop spending on the cards- cut them up and don't get any more.
2. Pay something to each card every month, the minimum if possible but something at least to show willing.

Looking at the store cards does she have a clothes buying habit to get out of? Perhaps some things she could sell on ebay or even with tags which she could return to the shop? She certainly shouldn't need to buy anything more for ages.

BaytreeBoy

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Well, I think that the warnings which don't apply to her situation are better given than not, bearing in mind you are for whatever reason not giving the whole story.

The whole story is a personnal family issue which is not for public domain and has no bearing on the debt that she owes.

But you are right that consolidation is the wrong way to go. It turns flexible credit into an inflexible loan - and it leaves the cards in place and open for more borrowing.

I've taken the cards from her to prevent further damage and temptation but tomorrow she has to withdraw money from her overdraft to cover expenses which puts a strain on her situation.

It's desperate times people but thanks for all your input. :T

NorthernLas

My suggestion is for your friend to have a note book and to write down all spends. Then she can see where the money goes and start to decide to spend or not. She will also have better information for an actual SOA (to spot things that were missed).

While she may not have a clue and you are being helpful in supporting her, it will be better in the long run that she deals with this (as it is her debt). The sooner she does this the better and a spending diary is a first step to understanding what is happening.