SOA - got the hard hat on - straight talking required!

rising_from_the_ashes

Yorkshirelass that's sooooo similar to what happened to me.

I ran up debts & consolidated. Lived the same way as before & ran them up again ... consolidated again. Did the same again ....

I've spent the last 5 years working 2 jobs to pay it off (last "away" hol was in 1999, last night out Xmas last year etc) but am finally there.

You will get there (even though it can seem an impossibly long time and never ending).

I can honestly say now ..... lesson learned!

EKAndrew

thanks yorkshirelass and turbo - appreciate all the comments

i checked my records / score on "checkmyfile"............it shows no "M", will I only see this if I send £2 to Experian / Equifax?
The late payments were Feb 11, on my mobile phone contact and July 2010 for Barclaycard

Are "checkmyfile" reputable?
On the website, it has a section where it "matches" you to lenders. They listed 5 Credit Cards - all have 0% Bal Transfer

Is it worth my while applying for one of these? And seeing how it goes? If I am accepted - then great. If not, then I know I'm still classed as "too much of a risk"??? and to not bother applying for anything else? The last time I applied for credit was Sept 2010 for a loan - which was refused.

turbo.jet

With regard to checking your credit reports, go direct to the credit agencies, but sign up for their respective online services. Looks costly, and you do have to enter card details but they only take payment after the free trial period. Use the free trial period and make a note to cancel it before the 30 days trial is up. Gives you full access and you see more than you see with the £2 paper report. During this time you can get as many errors corrected as possible. That's for Equifax and Experian.

Also, one of the agencies, Callcredit, has launched a free version called Noddle. Its littered with advertising of course so ignore all that. They are still trialling it though so you can only go on the waiting list to be a member, but gives you access to everything for free.

I wouldn't trust the matching you've seen. Noddle does this too. Moneysupermarket website has a matching utility I found useful and reliable in my day.

simonleblank

Hi,

I was in a similar position to you 6 years ago, my debt was £38,500.

You have asked for people to give it to you straight so here it is;

I do not think you have seen your LBM as yet but I would be pleased if you have. I had to hit real rock bottom before I saw it! We are now debt free and have not used or had a credit card for 6 years. At the time it was easier to move debt round than it is now though.

FIFA12 cost you nothing,THIS IS NOT TRUE!
You need a credit card for emergencies, THIS IS NOT TRUE!
You need to cut up ALL of your credit cards and never use them again.
Your car is used for dropping the kids off and shopping, downgrade the car!
Sell all of your non essential assets including jewelry, watches, x-box etc.
Lower your electricity/gas costs.

I do so hope you get there but you have to be very strong

In reality, you could pay your debts off in 5 years. Do not even consider moving house until the debt is payed

rising_from_the_ashes

As Turbojet says, you really need to get your statutory credit reports and check to see what's on them - take advantage of the free trials.

With regard to the loan that was refused last year - was there a reason given for this?

How does your debt level compare to then?

A 0% card would make sense to me (providing you get rid of all the others & don't any new spending onto the new one) but not sure you'd be able to get this with the level of debt you have.

JimmyTheWig

simonleblank wrote: »

Your car is used for dropping the kids off and shopping, downgrade the car!

I agree with all of this post other than what I have quoted. The car has been stated to be worth £7500, but I wonder if that is what the OP will get for it.
Unless you really know what you are doing, you lose so much money when buying and selling a car. They could get an old banger and then have to shell out for repairs all the time.
Plus the fact that there's more HP outstanding on the car than it's worth!

Should they have bought such an expensive car in the first place? I'd say no - it's worth more than any car I've ever bought.
Should they trade it in now? I'd say no.

EKAndrew

cant believe ive had so many replies - thanks to everyone

Re loan : there wasn't a reason given and i never asked, i was too "taken aback" as i had never been rejected in the past
Overall, the debt level has increased due to the new car purchased Nov 10. And for that reason, I cant get rid of the car as I would owe too much money on it.

Re FIFA12, ok I accept that i could've sold the games and put the money to debt, but I never "paid" any additional funds for it. I used what I had and traded in - no money involved.

Re Elec/Gas - I will check this in a few months, as mentioned earleir in the thread, I owed money to the supplier, so I upped my monthly payments rather than pay a lump sum (as i never had it) With this being the time of year where you use it most, I'm reluctant to reduce my payments incase I owe them again.

Reading through "mycreditfile" I noticed one of my accounts (previously Cahoot, now Santander) shows that there is a limit of £9500. The balance of this account is £3824 - it used to be a flexi account which was managed online. Now I never realised there was a limit on the account - I thought that once it transferred from Cahoot to Santander - I just had to pay it off. Is this something I should maybe look into?? (as the APR here is lower than others?)

EKAndrew

simonleblank wrote: »

Do not even consider moving house until the debt is payed

This is my goal, its what has made me "screw the nut" and start to focus on these debts. The sooner we're DF, the sooner we get our house.

Sad but true

RAS

EKAndrew wrote: »

cant Reading through "mycreditfile" I noticed one of my accounts (previously Cahoot, now Santander) shows that there is a limit of £9500. The balance of this account is £3824 - it used to be a flexi account which was managed online. Now I never realised there was a limit on the account - I thought that once it transferred from Cahoot to Santander - I just had to pay it off. Is this something I should maybe look into?? (as the APR here is lower than others?)

Absolutely.

Do you still have a card? if you can move money across to a card that is several percent lower, do.

See the snowball on www.whatsthecost.com

If so, then spend everything you can on the Santander card AND you immediately then pay off the exactly the same amount towards the debt on your most expensive card.

That means the debt does not increase but you payments gradually drop.

Close the expensive card when you can and you might get offered a cheap balance transfer.

simonleblank

Looking at the car loan of £8935 @ 13.32% and paying £177 per month. I am not certain but I guess this will take 6 years and £3,900 interest to complete. I think you need to consider selling the car?
You do need to juggle the credit cards as well.
Most people who have taken consolidation loans appear to regret it.
You do need to change lifestyle to live within your means. You will reap the rewards when you get debt free.