Help for a newbie?

choccie3

Hi everyone,
I have been a lurker on here for months now and have picked up lots of useful tips from everyone so firstly thank you for that.
I was hoping I could get some more specific help regarding the best way to pay off loans/credit cards. Hopefully this is enough information for you:

We are due to inherit some money which should help our debts hugely but it has been dragging on and in the meantime we want to pay off things in the most efficient way for the next year.

We have juggled around loans for the last few years on 0% cards but don't want to apply for anymore at the moment due to credit history and being refused for some.

S of A is:

Loan NR: Balance 7500 APR 10.9% and monthly payment £121 (fixed loan)
Loan Cahoot: Balance 6850 APR 9.1% and monthly payment is 1.9% of balance (currently approx £129 a month).
Credit Card: 3600 APR 5.9% for 6 months and monthly payment is 3% of balance (currently 108 a month)

Current outgoings on these debts are £358 a month. Will always have £400 a month to put towards debts but sometimes up to £450/£500 (depending on overtime/mystery shopping/ebaying etc)

My questions are:
1. After we pay the min payments on credit card and loan payments of £358 a month is it better to pay extra off the Cahoot Loan as it is higher APR?
2. We have just been approved for last 0% card for 9 months. Is it worth switching credit card to this for 9 months and if so is it best to put extra money towards Cahoot or credit card?

Thanks in advance

whatatwit

Usually the best way is to get as much as you can onto 0% and make the minimum payments on this debt.
Pay as much as possible off the highest APR.

There is a snowball calculator, which will give you an end date based upon APR and payments made.

If you do a forum search for snowball calculator, there will be a link to it.

whatatwit

If you post an SOA, see Southern Scousers sticky thread at the top, there will be plenty of advice to help you cut outgoings.