Advice please: loan to consolidate existing debts

sapanga

hi, I have some small debts amounting to about 1600. I owe to a couple of catalogues, a store card and i bought a tv thru a relatives catalogue on buy now pay next year. The problem is when i ordered the tv i had a second job so thought i could manage the payments, however i was made redundant from this second job about a week later. i have not been able to put away any money for the tv and the balance is due next month. i dont think i will be able to cope with paying everything off, plus will be charged a years interest on the tv. I was thinking of getting a loan for 1600 and paying all my debts off. i got a quote from my own bank and i could borrow 1600 and pay it off over 30mths at 70 a month which i think i could manage. The interest on the loan wouldnt cost anymore than the interest that would be added to the tv balance and i'd pay off all my debts. I just wanted to see whether everyone else thought this was a good idea or not. I would be really grateful for advice please.

CHR15

At the moment youu are spending more than you earn each month. If you take this loan, you will still be spending more than you earn, but you will have a £1,600 loan to repay too. How will you manage?

Only go forward if you KNOW you will have enough spare each month to repay your loan, if not, you will slip down a miserable slope quite quickly.

Oh, best to stop buying things on tick, save up for them first, it costs much less in the long run.

sapanga

thanks for ur advice, if i consoldiated the debt i would have a bit extra each month as the repayment for the loan would be less than the total amount i would be paying each individual debt every month. I have stopped buying on tick i want to try and save the little bit extra each month for xmas and bdays, which is the reason why i bought on tick in the first place. i know i should never have bought on credit in the first place but i felt at the time i had no other choice, i know this situation is my own stupid fault

blacksta

I dont think you need a loan - what you need to cut back on expenses. why you want to spread 1600 over 30months - is beyond belief. You have to be honest with yourself

sapanga

my partner is out of work at the minute so i'm running my house on one wage at the min, its not easy as it is and i will not have another debt of the tv to pay off. one wage will only stretch so far

malcolmffc

Can you sell the TV?

Emmzi

put the extra bits in a credit union, if you need to borrow again it's a much cheaper option. You're paying an extra £500 just for the credit and I bet you have better things you could do with that. However, I'd still get a loan rather than risk not making clubby book payments to my mates.

peanutnutter

if you do this PLEASE PLEASE do actually pay off your debts and cancel your credit cards. trust me, it's very easy to get a loan to consolidate your debts and find yourself with double the debt

sapanga

thanks for the advice everyone. I realise i'd be paying an extra 500 for the credit, but if i cant pay the tv in full by next month, a years interest will be added to the cost of the tv, so i'd be paying around the same amount in interest whichever way a go. I'd already thought of putting the extra in the credit union anyway to help save for xmas, bdays and any big items i need to buy. So either way i would be in 1600 of debt, i wouldnt be adding to my debt. Taking the loan out would mean i would have a slightly smaller monthly payment and i wouldnt be struggling to make payments as much.