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to consolidate or not to consolidate
Hi there,
I am looking for some advice,
I have around 10k of debt on credit cards at the moment and will be looking to change my mortgage arrangements soon (there is no equity in my property) my question is am I better off consolidating my c/cards before I look at my mortgage options or or would it be better to do it afterwards.
I can currently meet all of my payments and am even overpaying the highest interest card by around £100 per month to pay that down.
I just need to know which order is best to do things.
Many thanks
I am looking for some advice,
I have around 10k of debt on credit cards at the moment and will be looking to change my mortgage arrangements soon (there is no equity in my property) my question is am I better off consolidating my c/cards before I look at my mortgage options or or would it be better to do it afterwards.
I can currently meet all of my payments and am even overpaying the highest interest card by around £100 per month to pay that down.
I just need to know which order is best to do things.
Many thanks
0
Comments
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what is your current salary? you'd need to earn at least 40k to borrow enough to consolidate.......0
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What do you mean when you say you are changing your mortgage arrangements? If you have no equity and £10k of card debt what changes do you plan to make?
Have you tried snowballing your cards to make sure you are paying the right amounts off the right cards?0 -
I've consolidated twice! It's awesome. I cleared all the cards, ran them up again and got a shiny new loan for that too. I am dumba$$, hear me roar!
OK, now I've got that out of my system, are you still using the cards during the month? Is your total balance going down every month? If not, you might be better off considering a review of your budgets, looking at your suppliers, creditors, etc to make sure your money is working properly for you before you think about refinancing your unsecured debt. Make sure you are paying minimum +£1 on everything, throw all your spare pennies at the highest interest one (even if you phone up and make a few small payments during the month, everything helps.)
If you are in a good position, you might want to consider going for a low-life-of-balance card, and emptying your highest interest card onto that - as each one clears, you can ask the lender for a deal, and shuffle your debts about to reduce interest. You could consider calling them and asking to switch you onto a better deal, or you will leave them and give the interest to someone else! Never hurts to try. Unless you do have a good income, you may find it tough to get a further loan - consolidation is a dirty word these days (rightly so).
Run a budget using the SOA sticky on the DFW boards. Be honest with yourself and look at your expenses. See where you can save. Have a de-clutter, clear out stuff on eBay, boot fairs etc, and throw that the card too. See what you can clear before you go for the mortgage, to show that you have less outstanding debt? Refinancing just shows that you have debt you keep extending in new and inventive ways. Pay some of it back instead to improve your chances.
Good luck, whatever you doSome days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps....
LB moment - March 2006. DFD - 1 June 2012!!! DEBT FREE!
May grocery challenge £45.61/£1200 -
Thankyou BargainBetty for your honest helpful feedback.
I had been doing minimum payments on all but the highest card (and avoiding use of any) and overpaying as much as possible the highest 1.
However I see the sense in paying min +£1 on the others so I'll do that and reduce the limit on my high card before seeing if I can get a Llob card to transfer it to and try a shuffle.
I'll continue in this vein for the time being and review in a few months before looking at the mortgage.0 -
Hi KateFree
You would be most welcome to pop over the Debt-Free Wannabe board! They have all manner of weird and wonderful ideas for saving money, no-spend challanges, drop-a-brand weeks etc. You'd be amazed what they can think of to save you a fiver!
Best of luck - I'm glad you won't be following my path, it took me years to find my way out.Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps....
LB moment - March 2006. DFD - 1 June 2012!!! DEBT FREE!
May grocery challenge £45.61/£1200
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