Unsure about my debts and what to do.

jon142

Hey all.

Long time viewer of different forums on here however rarely post.

I would like some advise on what to do about my debts.

1-4 ( student overdrafts. )!

1) NATWEST - £1150 - 0% OVERDRAFT

2) RBS - 1300 - 0% OVERDRAFT

3) HSBC - £500 - 0% OVERDRAFT

4) BARCLAYS - £1500 - 0% OVERDRAFT

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All 0% ODs maxed out. Spent years ago. Don't really know what on.

No payments are due on these account they are just left at 0% and no payment a month.!

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5) M&S Money - £300 oweing of £1500 limit 9.9% ( I use around £300 every month. ) ( raised from £750 to £1500 ) feb 12.

6) Vanquis - £0 of £1000 - now closed. Jan 12 ( raised from £250 to £1000 in Dec 11.

7) Capital One - Classic - £0 of 1200 - now closed - Jan 12 ( raised for £300 to £1200 in Dec 11)

8) Capital one Progress - £0 of £300. - still open hasn't used in 3/4 months.

I have a Personal loan for £1000 took out jan'12.!

I have paid £500 off this in feb 12 and now only owe £504. ( 17.9% interest. )

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I currently get paid £950 a month. I pay £250 on rent and a further £100 on travel. The rest is all disposable. I have no defaults or late payments or anything. I did have an MBNA account which I feel behind with in sept'10 however this is now settled. I was on an arrangement to pay.!

How am I best I proceed with my debts and my money?!

Looking for advise and what to pay off first and how to deal with it. I have been trying to clear debt on my own. in sept 11 I had lots of credit cards all maxed out. Vanquis and Capitalone. all paid off now !

All advise welcome. please help!!

joesith

Hi and welcome im pretty new to this site also.
this is what i would do (just my opinon-i do not mind being corrected):

1. pay off personal loan (as highest interest rate)

2. pay off m&s card (2nd highest rate)

then student overdrafts as 0%

i personally would pay off the smaller balances 1st e.g HSBC, Natwest, RBS then Barclays. just because id get satisfaction of knowing thats another account settled.

which i reckon would pay them all off in 11months if you was to pay £500 a month leaving you with £100 a month for savings or play.

let me know on what you reckon

joe

talana

You've cleared Vanquis and CapOne, so that's progress in the right direction.

- How long will your overdrafts be at 0% for? when did you/will you cease to be a student?

Further to what Joe has said, get that personal loan paid off asap.
You want to, in effect, transfer the balance to the M&S card at the better apr. Easiest to do this indirectly, use the M&S card for monthly spending and use the cash that frees up to pay the loan.

jon142

Thanks for your reply. very helpful. I know you lot are probably going to chase me down and lynch me for saying this.

However I took the personal loan out purely for credit building purposes. I have too many credit cards listed on my credit file and wanted some alternative lending showing that I can pay off. The APR looks respectable so I took it.

It was originally £1000, I put that in a cash ISA however last week I got abit worried about interest and made a £500 payment. I still have the other £500 in my account!

so in effect it was all for credit building so I don't "owe" the money if u like.

any thoughts? the £300 I make a full payment to monthly so don't pay interest.

The student overdrafts have been maxed for 4 years. I'm still a student so got at least 2-3 years of interest free money on that front.

Thanks!

shiny76

jon142 wrote: »

However I took the personal loan out purely for credit building purposes. I have too many credit cards listed on my credit file and wanted some alternative lending showing that I can pay off. The APR looks respectable so I took it.

I doubt lenders will be that bothered if your borrowing is in the form of credit card or loan.

Pay off the loan (assuming it's cheaper to pay it off now rather than at the end of the agreement - no penalty charges).

I'd then keep chipping away at your overdrafts (or leave the money in a savings/ISA until they need repaying).

talana

It was originally £1000, I put that in a cash ISA however last week I got abit worried about interest and made a £500 payment. I still have the other £500 in my account!
so in effect it was all for credit building so I don't "owe" the money if u like.

Pay it off, every month it's costing you money unless you found an ISA paying 17.9%
And no, it's doing nothing for your credit rating. Besides, you do have some "alternative lending"...those overdrafts.

So M&S card you pay off in full every month?
Great, so that's not an ongoing debt at all. Wouldn't even list it as a debt, it's just monthly spending by another means.

Which just leaves the ODs. Good to chip away at them, make some modest payments. But otherwise can't see the problem.

jon142

I had heard that borrowing different types of products shows better management of products. Such as overdrafts, credit cards, and loans. I only mainly had credit cards and overdrafts. Wanted some varity. I am going to try and pay down my over drafts. Get all my cards as settled on my credt file and just keep the

1) capital one progress - 25% falling 2% every 6 months.

2) m&s 9.9% for life with the £1500 limit. ( spend £300 on travel etc then pay it in full at end of the month. Never go over 300-400. Always keep user 35-40% usage.

I will ring up Lloyd and pay back the loan tonight! I will pay a £499 over payment so they can only charge me the 56 days interest on £1 do you think they will fall for this?

it feels good not to owe vanquis or capital one anything I know it's sounds stupid but I hated everytime I used that vanquis card I felt I was being robbed.

Thanks for all your help.