My Names Stuart And I'm A Debtaholic :-)

itswhat

Just a comment on the Sky/freeview situation.
Last year we cancelled Sky (when I called they were offering me a cheaper deal but we just didn't watch it- so I cancelled). However it seems you keep your kit and it automatically gives you the free to air stuff.
Having looked at the freesat from sky link, that looks like what we get, using our ex sky equipment. We have also been told that if we want to go back to a paid sky service we can just contact them.
Saved us a packet!

itswhat

ooops:o
meant to say hello:wave: I'm new too. I know what you mean about it being hard to make that first post but you did it:j

Good luck

southernscouser

ScrewLooseStu wrote:

So no consolidation and i don't go bankrupt, but surely consolidating would help by giving me more disposable income???? I am not good at this.

Please explain....

Basically when you conslidate it means you are going to be paying the debt over a longer time and end up with you paying more in the long run.

Also unless you get your budget sorted you will fall into the same trap of relying on the credit cards again! Been there done that, twice, thrice, make that 4 times! :doh: :rotfl:

Also should you be in a position to pay off the loan early you will more than likely be penalised and you would have paid most of the interest upfront!

Is your credit rating in a position to take a credit card application. M&S do a 3.9% for the life of balance at the mo! :think:

Verbatim

Hi and welcome.

ss beat me to it. Consolidation will mean more disposable income now but a massive increas in the amount you pay, and an increase too in the length of time it will take you to clear the debt. Wonderful business for the loan co's, terrible for you!

Sky

Ring and ask for the "closure" team. If they think you're threatening to leave they have more authorization than customer service to offer deals to retain you. Works with credit cards and mobile phones etc too. So ask for reductions in monthly tariffs and interest rates.

On the cc front if your credit rating is still good there are still a few cards out there offering 0% deals with no balance transfer fees. I've just taken out a Stroud and Swindon Card (owned by the co-op) and am transferring hopefully about £10k for 6 months. If you don't think you'll remember to transfer again at the end of the deal then a low percentage rate life of balance card would be better. Personally I've been tarting for over 2 years and not paid a penny of interest on the £24k I had at the beginning, whilst paying it off gradually.

ScrewLooseStu

Hi Guy's,

Once again thankyou for the response,

Apparently because i am quite close to a railway freeview will struggle even with a booster aerial (Which i already have) so thats a no no.

I will investigate NTL over the weekend.

It looks like i need to post a detailed breakdown of my finances in order to gleen the most appropriate advice.

I am confused however, my loans (Not Credit Cards) comes to 360 per month, surely if i can reduce this then the extra spare cash can be put towards the snowball idea (Which i like by the way).

I guess what i am saying is that with the zero disposable income i have hoiw am i going to make a start?

I will work on a detailed posting for my budget and debts and let you all take a look sometime over the weekend.

Thankyou for the encouragement. :T

Stuart

Emmzi

You can give sky £20 for a card to stick in your sky box as a one-off and get freeview channels. Same signal, less channels, no monthlyfee.

lynzpower

ScrewLooseStu wrote:

Hi Guy's,

Once again thankyou for the response,

Apparently because i am quite close to a railway freeview will struggle even with a booster aerial (Which i already have) so thats a no no.

I will investigate NTL over the weekend.

It looks like i need to post a detailed breakdown of my finances in order to gleen the most appropriate advice.

I am confused however, my loans (Not Credit Cards) comes to 360 per month, surely if i can reduce this then the extra spare cash can be put towards the snowball idea (Which i like by the way).

I guess what i am saying is that with the zero disposable income i have hoiw am i going to make a start?

I will work on a detailed posting for my budget and debts and let you all take a look sometime over the weekend.

Thankyou for the encouragement. :T

Stuart

Stu

What you are forgetting is that you will have more disposable income just by virtue of

a) selling stuff
b) geting rid of this motorbike insurance
c) making extra money on the side, maybe through quidco, or ebay, or doing extra job, or finding vouchers towards your shopping or anything like that

So thats how you snowball, even if its just pence, it makes a difference.

I had a barclaycard with a 550 limit, which I got rid of recently purely through overpayments, monery came from quidco, doing a car boot sale, selling bits on ebay, selling a chest of drawers and counting up my small change pot. And, as I have been really tight with money, usually theres a bit left at the end of the month thats been shuffled to the debt.

Now Im moving onto my next credit card ( at 0%) today I made a payment of 8.36 from quidco. Now its never gonna clear it as quick as Id like, but it makes it easier to see it going down. My OH got a tax rebate of 120 quid, so thats gone towards his loan. Just bits and pieces like that, honestly they can really help.

Once we see your APRs we can see how the land lies. Consolidation drags things out longer, you pay more interest on top of the interest thats already accrued. So its not good value for money oif you get me. Stretching the loan out for longer is going to make you in debt longer too.

Mrs_pbradley936

A very real problem with consolidating (apart from the financial cost) is the psychological aspect. In that if your debt goes down to say a manageable £500 per month you then let your spending get out of control all over again. It starts off with the odd takeaway, then a meal out, a weekend away, a holiday and so on, all because you have a few pounds a month which are not spoken for. We do not aim to turn you into a cheapskate or a miser – what we do want is for you to become financially literate so that you can set your own priorities about how much you spend and on what.

EagerLearner

Well done for posting - some good advice on here which I can wholeheartedly recommend - all the smallest amounts do add up. Quidco is a fantastic money earner plus selling stuff you don't need on E-bay can also help raise funds to throw at expensive debt.

Soon as you post more comprehensive info the kind folks on here, much more math whizzy than I... will pick the meat off every bone and you'll know where you stand and what you could start cutting out to pay off those evil cards/loans...

dang

If you decide to keep Sky,what about getting there broadband - its free if you are a light user,going up to £10 for there max package,seems like a good deal im about to sign up myself.