consolidation loan

spudder1

hi! over the past year i ve realised how stupid i have been with over spending and have had to completely changed my lifestyle now, which has been a good thing in a way, because i have seen how much money i have been wasting. problem is i have quite alot of debt and my minimum payments are nt really touching my credit card balances.

i earn average of £34,000 per year before tax.
current loan with 4 years remaining at £12,000 cost of £305 per month
various credit cards total at £5883 costing £165 in minimum payements per month. the intrest is £136 per month so only reducing balance by £29 per month.

i have been thinking of getting a loan to consolidate all my debt possibly over 7 years to reduce my monthly outgoings and actually clearing that credit card balance.

would this be a good idea and what would be my chances of getting the loan? i have never missed a loan or mortgage payment but over the past year had a few missed card payments through stupidity rather than not having the funds.

any help would be appreciated..... thanks

iolanthe07

Consolidation loans are only OK if you really have woken up to the fact that you were living beyond your means. So many on here just start borrowing all over again and rack up more debts. Remember that lenders, when making a decision, will add the consolidation debt to all your other debts because they have no guarantee that you will necessarily use the money to pay off all your loans. Generally the maximum unsecured loan seems to be around 50% of your gross income.

CH27

I don't think you would get it.
Lenders will add the figure you request to your existing debts & your debt to income ratio is way too high.

ExNicotineQueen

You currently owe just under 18k. You want to borrow another 18k to clear this, your salary would need to be 72k. If you are on 34k, you get roughly 2.2k per month. Your minimum payments are much less than what my minimums used to be and I was on a lesser salary than you are.

From the sounds of it you have high interest rate cards/loans and with the missed payments you won’t be eligible for any 0% cards or applying for cards with better rates. You should go over to the Debt Free Wannabe board and post up your statement of affairs for people to help you to find a way to cut down your outgoings because on your salary, you should be able to clear your debts within a short space of time IF you are willing to make the sacrifices necessary.

sam2009_2

Who do you bank with? Ask your bank for a loan. Ask your existing loan provider to top it up and make it to 7 years.

I'm on same salary as you. Have £6000 remaining on a loan and have £14000 on 3 credit cards (most are on 0% interest and some on 6.9% for life). I bank with Barclays and they are offering me 16k loan to consilidate all the debts. Although the interest rate is higher 14.4% if I want to borrow it for over 5 years period.....9.9% if the loan term is 5 year or less.
I have very good credit history.