Help - Struggling to pay of credit card bill

dx052

I have a Vanquis Visa Card and I have been paying of my monthly statements on a regular with the minimum payments however I am noticing that the amount isn't really going down, in fact it has increased. I lost my job a while back & I am struggling to pay back more than the monthly minimum amount so I am not really making an impact. My previous credit history wasn't great hence the reason I was able to get a card from them in the first place & moving forward I am not interested in cards full stop & don't really want another one. Before I call them up is there anything I can propose to them work out a payment plan?

dx052

No payments missed but have lack of disposable income for the basics. Is an AP something they willing put into place? Don't really want to miss any payments to make the amount increase more.

unimaginative_user_name

You might be better off posting on the debt-free wannabe board where there are lots of people struggling with all kinds of debts who might be able to advise. They will ask you to post your statement of affairs which is a list of incomings and outgoings and debts and make suggestions for cutting back.

As for credit card minimum payments, there is a calculator on the main site where you can play around with differennt figures to see how long it will take to pay off the card. I haven't been a member long enough to post links but probably someone else will. The main premise of the calculator is that cc companies deliberately reduce the minimum payment as your balance decreases so that it takes longer to repay your debt. Just paying a few pounds above he minimum each month can make a big difference in the amount of time it takes to pay the debt off.

Other suggestions they will make are things like selling stuff on ebay and using money raised to reduce the cc balance. Have you also checked whether you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to?