My SOA No.2

saver_mum

can you make an appointment with your local C.A.B office?
they may be able to negoiate with your creditors to stop interest rates on your credit cards for a while..
Marks and Spencers are doing a 3.9% for the life of a balance transfer as your cards are v.high..
Is this because you have a poor credit rating...?
if you dont its defo worth swapping all your credit cards over to 0%
but the C.A.B are lovely and will help you sort your debt out...
can you look at other things such as switching mortgages for a better deal?
maybe dropping sky package to just the basic £19pm?
unless your son wants to pay for it out of his part time wages!?
getting a loan just shifts money you need to be sure you are getting a good deal and that its actually reducing yur debt...

wannasavemoney

Hi Angel, It looks like this is the second time that you will be taking out a loan to clear your debts. If that is the case, then presumably, you have not adjusted your spending to stop yourself getting into more debt. If that is the case then you are on the slippery slope and still need to tackle the underlying spending problem. Tightening the belt is not a short term thing and needs to be a longterm investment in your future. IMO you realy need to set yourself a budget of spending and stick to it. Have you tried life of balance or 0% to reduce your current debts? I don't think you should take the easy option and take out another loan as this will not help in the long run. There realy is no gain without pain! Sorry if this seems a little harsh but for the past three months I have stopped any unnecessary spending and it is truly amazing what you can achieve if you stop and think about every penny you spend. Up until three months ago, we were spending on average £300 per month more than we were earning and now we have got to the stage where there is money left at the end of the month to pay for next months bills which is where the obvious benefits are showing. (plus selling everything we don;t want on ebay):D It really does work if you set yourself a goal and do it. Hope this mini rant helps. Good luck

supersavershal

angel31572 wrote: »

I posted something similar a few days ago and now have a little more info. Just wondered if there is any advice out there.

First time round people, quite rightly, voiced objections regarding secured loans. I now have the loan details and I still can't see any other way out.
This is my Statement of Affairs:

I work a 37.5 hr week.
Income after deductions: £1920
Overtime after deductions: £300-£700

The overtime is unusual. I have been doing it since November and it is guaranteed until June/July but could go on longer. When that stops, I have another alternative which is likely to amount to £300 per month.


Mortgage: £692
Insurances (car and house): £56
BT: £35
Union Fees: £11
Council Tax & water: £140
Gas/Electricity: £59
Sky/Setanta: £52
Car Finance: £95
Loan: £180
Gym: £35
Broadband: £16
Total: £1391

Other:

Food: £100
Petrol: £100
School Dinners: £60}16 year old at school full time
Miscellaneous household,car and living expenses: £150
Mobile phone: £25
Total: £410

Since coming on this site I have taken steps to reduce my outgoings and things are going well so far. So the figures above will change. My son, who is studying for A Levels has a part-time job interview on Saturday so he will need a lot less from me, all going well.

Credit Cards:
#1
Interest rate: 27.9%
Balance: £3900 I pay more than the minimum payment of around £120 per month (usually £200) but have to use the card again before the end of the month. Balance is not going down.

#2
Interest rate: 26.5%
Balance: £1750 I pay more than the minimum amount each month (usually £150-£200) but have to use the card again before the end of the month. Balance is not going down.

#3
Interest rate: 27.9%
Balance: £750. I pay more than the minimum amount of around £60 (usually £80-£90) but have to use the card again before the end of the month. Balance is not going down.

Total Credit Cards: £6450

Existing debt repayment: £530 - £670
Proposed Debt Repayment: £272.99

I have an existing loan which I have been repaying for around seven or eight months and have been offered a new loan (secured) from the same company to settle the debts. The new loan repayment would be £272.99 per month over 72 months. This is considerably less than my credit card and loan payments put together and this way I would see the balance going down. I have already cut the credit cards up in anticipation.

Am I doing the right thing?

Any advice will be gratefully received.

I do appreciate the risks with secured loans but and I now understand the benefits of snowballing (thanks to the good people on this site) but having the cards hanging over me is really getting me down. To cap it all, Vanquis announced they are increasing my credit card interest rate to 37%!!!! I have never missed a payment so this has really annoyed me.

Hi there, I have taken out a secured loan on my house to consolidate.it works for me i am approx £500 better off each month.I havnt run my cc up again, it helped me to come to this website each day.i was watching it for 2 yrs before i joined.whenever i felt tempted to splurge i just read some of the great threads on here.it is a great source of support.I dont really need to use the cards now as i have extra money available to cover emergencies.You need to be very disciplined for a secured consolidation loan to work.Mine is over ten years but when my youngest child is at school im hoping to work more hours and pay it off earlier.I believe a secured loan can work but only if you keep logging on to this site and dont touch the cards again.It worked for me, I sleep better at night.

angel31572

supersavershal wrote: »

Hi there, I have taken out a secured loan on my house to consolidate.it works for me i am approx £500 better off each month.I havnt run my cc up again, it helped me to come to this website each day.i was watching it for 2 yrs before i joined.whenever i felt tempted to splurge i just read some of the great threads on here.it is a great source of support.I dont really need to use the cards now as i have extra money available to cover emergencies.You need to be very disciplined for a secured consolidation loan to work.Mine is over ten years but when my youngest child is at school im hoping to work more hours and pay it off earlier.I believe a secured loan can work but only if you keep logging on to this site and dont touch the cards again.It worked for me, I sleep better at night.

Hi there. I am so glad you posted. I was wondering if it actually had been a success for anyone. I have already cut up the cards and I am so p****d of with Vanquis alone that I would rather chew tin foil than give them any more money. With the money I would save from not payng interest on cards, I would have no need to run up the cards again.

I appreciate all of the good advice from all of the above and I have not made my decison yet.

I have made an appointment to speak to a financial advisor from my union. It is a free service and they responded wthn minutes of me emaiing them.

I have also taken a long, hard look at any unnecessary spending and all I can say is I will do my best to change things. I can't say any more than that!

LookingAhead

Ooooh yes now I remember....the chew tin foil comment......ooh ooh ouch ouch squirm :rotfl:

angel31572

LookingAhead wrote: »

Ooooh yes now I remember....the chew tin foil comment......ooh ooh ouch ouch squirm :rotfl:

Couldn't sum up how I feel about the cc companies any better if I tried!

art_student

Hi angel31572, I can't believe they are increasing your already high interest rate. Do they not want to keep their customers? I am sorry that this didn't happen for you. I'm not an expert in the area of secured loans so I can't offer any more help I'm afraid, I just hope you get it sorted out.

firesidemaid

if you can take out a lower rate unsecured loan or lob c/card it might be best, unless you cannot because of your circumstances/credit score.

if you do have to consolidate you have to budget, budget, budget.

your income is good and your outgoings other than loans/ccards are low.

what has all the money been spent on?

you have to work out every annual etc spend, including pets, all car costs, christmas etc etc., create a monthly budget and stick to it.

you can get rid of the gym (cheaper to walk/run/cycle) and reduce your sky/bband/phone bills eg. sky all in one package £26. or use the sticky at the top of the telephones board - my phone calls are virtually nothing now with primus and 18185.

i hope you do well - you should know pretty quickly if things aren't working out. if so don't be afraid to come back here.

good luck x

angel31572

if you do have to consolidate you have to budget, budget, budget.

your income is good and your outgoings other than loans/ccards are low.

what has all the money been spent on?

I understand your curiosity. There was a very specific reason for the debt occuring in the first place. All quite tragic but very personal. Thanks for asking anyway.

saver_mum

angel31572 wrote: »

I understand your curiosity. There was a very specific reason for the debt occuring in the first place. All quite tragic but very personal. Thanks for asking anyway.

Now that you have made an appointment to speak to an advisor you are half way there..
Rememeber you can use the c.a.b and your local law centre for free imaprtial help..
hope you get things sorted..keep us posted..
x