Not sure what to do next....

Claribelle

Hi there. This is my first post on this site and I'm after some advice from anyone that can help me. I'm a single parent living in the old marital home which is still jointly owned. I've been self employed for the past five years but the business although wasn't doing too badly a couple of years ago has basically hit pretty much rock bottom now and I'm living on tax credits to make ends meet. I've thought about getting out and getting a 'proper' job, as I used to be a medical secretary many moons ago which I enjoyed but made no money at all from as it was low paid and all my income went on childminding fee's (and back in those days I had a husband to share the cost). Now, I have an added problem in that due to diabetic complications, I am losing my sight and find it very difficult to read normal print or a computer screen. I can do it but it takes a long time to figure out. So I would need an employer with no deadlines! My actual problem that I'm writing about here (I digressed, sorry) is that I would like to replace the old family car (yes I said car - and I know I said I have problems seeing....!! I'm clinging onto my driving licence by the skin of my teeth at the moment with monthly opthalmic appointments to determine if I stay on the road or not - fingers crossed...) as it is a big 4x4 that costs a fortune to run and maintain and I have worked out that I could save up to £50 a month on running costs if I got a cheap nearly new little hatchback. My problem is that I'm finding no one will touch me for finance, which seems so unfair as I know I can afford the repayments as I would be transferring the outgoings on the old car to the new one with money left over but because of my self employed status and the fact that the books are showing pretty poor figures at the moment, I'm a bad bet.

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how I might be able to replace my car as it will save me money on a monthly basis and if I leave it too long, the new taxing prices for a 4x4 are going to bankrupt me. Is it just a pipedream to be thinking about a new car in my position do you think?

Many thanks for any light you can shine on this matter.

Thank you

Claribelle

savvy

Hi claribelle
The way I financed my newish car was by buying it on one credit card and transferring the balance to another. On the second credit card I got Life of Balance at 3.9%, much cheaper than car finance or a loan :j

Have you got any existing credit cards that you could ring up and see if they would give you a deal on a balance transfer??

I'm going to move your post over to Debt Free Wannabe board as those guys may be able to help you out more, rather than you getting into loans/finance

HTH and good luck
savvy

Julieboo

Why do you want a 'nearly new' car? (not a criticism, just wondering about other options) much better deals in 4-6 year old cars. I used to have a huge 4x4 12 seater land rover-beautiful but drank like a fish. I sold that and with the money paid some debt off (7'000K) and got a smaller 5 year old car for £1200 pounds from a car hire company that I have bought from before. The car is high mileage but it came with complete service history, was well looked after and they also gave me a guarentee that any troubles and they would repair-good deal, only downside it is not a 'pretty' car, its a grey vauxhall vectra, but it's v. roomy and comfy and it still has the 'large' car feel and drive that i like. Had it 12 months and its still running great. Just a thought

Pobby

Tonight we have just purchased a Toyota Almera.Lowish miles,warranty, S plate,very up together for £1600.Well pleased.

Claribelle

Hi Guys. Thank you so much for your kind advice. I will certainly phone the credit card companies today (I have two cards, so fingers crossed...), to see if there is any leniency there. Also I was a bit blinkered really, in that I was focused on buying a nearly new car (less than three years old) as everyone is advising me that thats the way to go in that new cars lose too much money in the first couple of years and you get less hassle faultwise etc. But as you have pointed out, there are slightly older cars out there that are worth looking at too and much cheaper.

Thank you so much for your input.

Claribelle