Re: what to do

CHEEKYZIPPY

Hiya

I was recommended to post here:
My boyfriend recently dropped a bombshell that he owes a lot on credit cards:

£4400 on one
£6300 on another

I am so stunned. I know he has some savings but they are locked for a few years. However that isn't enough to clear the debt.

They are both on zero % cards.
He gets £1700 after tax. He rents a room so after rent/gym/phone he is actually left with £1000 which should include going out and food.

What should he do? We had talked about buying a place but does this affect the mortgage ie if it isn't declared?

Many thanks
x

niccatw

The amounts will likely show on a credit check, so if you don't declare them and apply, that could affect your application.

That he has the debts in itself won't necessarily go against him if he has been managing the accounts well (paying the minimums on time). The amount of debt you both have together might affect the amount you can borrow too.

How much can he realistically clear while the 0%s are still live? And what rate do they rise to? Pay off as much as you can while they are 0%. And if his credit rating is ok, see if he can move them to another when they are coming to an end.

It'd probably be wise to get a look at his credit reports. You can get them for £2 each from the 3 major ones (Credit Expert, Experian and Call Credit). There's links here somewhere I think, if I find them, I'll update my post...

Have a look at the snowball calculator to play about with payments and when you can pay them off by.

Also complete a statement of affairs to work out where he can make cut backs. You can copy and paste back here and you will get tons of advice. My one from February is [URL="http://https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2245393if you want to have a nosey to see what I mean.

I don't know your current situation but you might want to do one just for him (if you don't currently live together) and one for your joint incomings and outgoings (if you do).

If there's money you can't account for, keep a spending diary to see where all those bits and pieces are going.

And from there you'll be able to owork out a sensible budget for all you want to do in the future.

Good luck

HappyMJ

If they are on 0% cards his credit rating must be good. With the £1,000 left every month he'll have to put most of it towards paying off the cards. He should be debt free within a year or two at the most. When you apply for a mortgage you'll need to declare it to a mortgage company on application but it shouldn't affect it that much but that depends how much deposit you have saved up.

david_hellier

Awaiting SOA