Help please :D

Cluh_duck

Hi, i am new to MSE and i need some advice.

I have been silly with money in the past and had a credit card, store cards and various other things and have got my self into debt or over £2500. I am 18 and have part time job as a waitress, i dont have trouble paying my debts back but it is getting me down all of the little things i have to pay back each month.
I always end up spending my cards again and it feels like its a waste of time me paying them each month. So i have thought of getting a loan and paying all my little things off and just paying one bill. but i am worried about where i could go for a loan and whether it is the right thing for me to do because i would have to pay it off for about 4 years. And i am also unsure whether i would end up paying more on interest.
I am just a little confused atm and i just want to stop my debts before they get out of control

Cluh_duck

well this is what i plan to consolidate, the first figure is what i pay and what is prob the minimum payment too and second firgure is what i owe.

Laptop HFC 15 500
Capital One 10 250
First direct 10 400
New Look 5 100
LaRedoute 6 130
O2 5 130
OverDraft 0 100
Barclays 14 500
Barclays 19 400


I'm not entirely sure on the interest of them tho, both the barclay cards are student and the newlook is 27.5% apr ar around that, but unsure on everything else

Cluh_duck

Well i earn between £260 to £300 per month and end up paying out around £150 inc my contract and a few other things.thats why its really starting to get me down now cuz i end up having no money left half way through the month and i work all the hours i can with college:( . i will have a big search tomorrow through my letters and find them out. I cant pay any more than i do now so that is why i thought of the idea of a loan but its just the time , im really not sure atm

Cluh_duck

Yeah, I have an orange contract for £35 a month but want to lower the tarrif as soon as i can for as low as i can, i am hoping that will happen in july. i also pay for virgin broadband and tv but i cant complain about that cuz i pay about £9 a month normally cuz my bf pays some towards it, and they paid my marchs bill cuz i moaned about sky 1 goin lol. and i pay a bit towards my bf catalogue.

nah they haven't cuz mom isnt workin atm. they dont no anything about it and telling them would cause a lot of stress for them so i ant to try and tackle it myself .

nah all the things i have worth anythin is my laptop and my fone, ive sold all my old phones

Cluh_duck

I have tried to cut down because i realised after my bf moanin at me that i have wasted money on clothes i dont wear lol, so i've stopped buying clothes for the moment.
Yeah those are old contracts, i just want to pay them off out of the way.
The HFC loan is £16 a month and is fixed, i borrowed £500 for my laptop and will end up paying just ovr £700 back.
I am gonna have a good look around before i decide if i want to consolidate cuz it will be a big comittment for 4 years.
Thanks for your help

inmypocketnottheirs

Cluh_duck be very careful about a consolidation loan, because what happens to a lot of people is that they pay off all their debts, but do not change their spending habits, then another year later they have run up debts again on the credit cards, and have to consolidate again. Please be very careful you do not fall in to this trap.

Although your debts to you look perhaps insurmountable, the best method is as albertross says in post #2. That way you can see them coming down quickly and you feel like you are making progress.

But please be very careful if you go down the consolidation route.

Cluh_duck

i know, i am concerned about that cuz the same thing happened with my bf. So i want to cancel everything when they are paid off, like closing my overdraft, cancelling contract and store/credit cards so the temptation wont be there.

I really want to be debt free and eventually start driving .
My credit rating is only fair so i'm not sure here to go for my loan, and i would like one where i would be paying out slightly less a month. i went on https://www.moneysupermarket.com and they only gave me a few options with interest rates over 17%, which is quite high, but i'm not sure whether i would get ones any lower off the high street.

Can anyone recommend any unsecured loans with okish interest rates for £2600?

joeblack066

Just a thought....£2600 divided by 12 is £216.66 pcm, which means if you give yourself £50 - 80 pcm to live on you would be debt free in a year!! You do claim EMA I presume, and if your parents are on a low income, make sure they're still getting CB and any tax credits that they are entitled to.