My SOA

darktimes

Hi All,

I'm reporting back on the last few months since my LBM.
On the whole, I have been doing well, cutting down on smoking, taking sandwiches for lunch and have just about now brought my outgoings down to match my monthly incomings. So the good news is that I'm not getting any further into debt.

Now for the bad news...
I've applied for a number of 0% on balance transfer credit cards, but none have been accepted!:mad:
Virgin card has a 13 month 0% deal on (albeit with no cap on the fee for transferring, so it would be 3% of the total balance), but the letter I got back from them was from MBNA, saying that because I had other MBNA cards, they could not let me have another.
Morgan Stanley also have a 0% deal on at the moment, but I got a letter back saying I had not been accepted. They didn't give a reason.
Nationwide sent the same as Morgan.

I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall :wall: and now I've started having to pay interest on the balance, so last month, my minimum payment was £226, with £196 of that being interest :eek: Not good! At that rate, i'll be paying it off until I'm drawing my pension!

So, I was hoping that someone, maybe who has been in a similar situation, could possibly offer some advice? I'm trying to keep focussed, but it does get overwhelming sometimes when i let myself get bogged down with the enormity of it all.

On top of this, my car tax is due, MOT is just around the corner and I think my cars starter motor is on it's last legs, so that will be more expense that I really cannot source funds for...

I'm currently awaiting a response for claiming back my bank charges, which comes to £670, so that could be my saving grace on the car front, although, very worrying to read the recent story of those 2 people who were refused their reclaim applications! Has anyone had success since?

Many Thanks in anticipation of your continued support.
I'll see if I can think of anything else usefull in the meantime :think: but i'd apprieciate any positive story's \ ideas in the meantime.

DT

DAVETHE_CARDBOARDBOX

packet of tobacco, 3.50 a week off a 'mate'. There you go, just saved you 85 quid a month !

angelavdavis

Sorry to hear about the lack of luck on the 0% side.

Do you have anything to eBay or any way of getting a part time job so you can throw some funds to the credit card?

darktimes

DAVETHE_CARDBOARDBOX wrote: »

packet of tobacco, 3.50 a week off a 'mate'. There you go, just saved you 85 quid a month !

Cheers, just bought my 1st bag from the supermarket.. need to find a 'mate' who buys in bulk now

darktimes

angelavdavis wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the lack of luck on the 0% side.

Do you have anything to eBay or any way of getting a part time job so you can throw some funds to the credit card?

Ebay'd most things already, very disappointed by the low prices I got though.
Still got a few small things to try, but I dont hold much hope of getting much back for them...

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to get myself a bar job or something extra, aswell as piling in as much overtime & weekend work as I can.
I'm going to try applying for 3 more CC's, Halifax, Alliance & Lester and another one mentioned on this website which i dont think I already have a card with... Its annoying that they dont tell you who actually own the companies before you apply!
Then, if I still cant shift it onto a 0% then i may have to start looking at maybe a loan (if they'll let me have another one of those!) or just have to pay as much as I can off this damn thing and stand the interest as best i can.
It's awful that they let people get so far into debt and then wont help you get back out of it! (guess thats how they make their money though, shame its at the expense of someone else's misery).

solventguy

I'm a newbie here, so please disregard my opinions if you don't find them helpful.

Looking at your SOA, the thing that really jumps out is the £14K that you're going to be paying interest on very soon. This, coupled with your other debts, is a real burden.

You expressed your negative view on the IVA, but have you absolutely ruled it out? Can you start with a new slate? It seems like with your current situation, you may be able to trim back a bit on costs, but you have a real mountain to climb. I would be inclined to take the 5 to 10 year perspective on this, if possible.

I wish you the best.

brummiebabe

darktimes wrote: »

I'm going to try applying for 3 more CC's, Halifax, Alliance & Lester and another one mentioned on this website which i dont think I already have a card with... Its annoying that they dont tell you who actually own the companies before you apply!
quote]

Just a word of caution...I think (I'm sure someone will confirm whether this is right or wrong) that you shouldn't apply for too many cards in a short space of time...I think that in itself may cause you to be refused - I'm sure I heard that somewhere

Best of luck x

taxi73

Hi there...I thanked your post further up as i think you deserve it coming clean...I think you may need to consider an iva or getting another job...I don't think you will manage to get another CC at the moment as too many applications do go against you...I feel for the situation you are in...maybe making an appointment with the CAB may help you make up your mind of what to do..it's free and at least you can know what your options are...I wish you luck

darktimes

brummiebabe wrote: »

darktimes wrote: »

I'm going to try applying for 3 more CC's, Halifax, Alliance & Lester and another one mentioned on this website which i dont think I already have a card with... Its annoying that they dont tell you who actually own the companies before you apply!
quote]

Just a word of caution...I think (I'm sure someone will confirm whether this is right or wrong) that you shouldn't apply for too many cards in a short space of time...I think that in itself may cause you to be refused - I'm sure I heard that somewhere

Best of luck x

Thanks for your reply bb, it is becoming more and more apparant that I'm going to end up stuck with this credit card being on full interest and it works out at over £2000 per year. It seems my only options are to "try" and apply for another card or to maybe look into an IVA.... Taxi73 mentions "the CAB" (i'm sure that there is a pun in that somewhere!)..
My questions are, what is the CAB? and is an IVA really going to stop me getting a mortgage?... I dont want to call an IVA company just yet incase I end up with them calling me constantly trying to sell me one, so if anyone could offer any info regarding one of these, then I would be very grateful.
Thanks in advance, DT.

lindsaygalaxy

Hi

Have you looked at going on a debt plan instead? Go through a non charging company such as Paylan or CCCS. They will try get the companies to stop the interest and you will only pay one amount a month, one that you can afford. I know you are worried about later getting a mortgage, but you will have a better chance of gettin one if you can pay your debts off sooner.