some advice on debt consolidation needed please :)

lee1984_2

Hi,
ok i need some help. I currently owe money on 1 loan and 2 credit cards.
In total i owe £6300 which is costing me £250 a month. My partner and me have recently spilt up and i have a mortgage which im going to be paying on my own. Ive spend hours trying to figure out ways to bring down my monthly outgoings and make things easier but the only thing i can now try and cut back on is these debts.
I was looking at a loan for £6500 over 5 years which would clear the debts and leave me with one monthly payment of less than £130 a month which is a massive saving and would be perfect for me, only problem is....my credit rating is at an all time low
not so much through missed payments etc, more the high amount i owe. and before anyone judges me on my debts, i have not spent more than i can afford to pay back, more that ive spent what 2 people can easily afford to pay back but obviously now im down to just me and the debts are in my name.
over than a consolidation loan can anyone offer any advice as to how i can sort this out, with a poor credit rating.
thanks in advance.

Tixy

Hi and welcome

What do you mean by poor credit rating? what is actually on your credit files? have you missed payments? do you have defaults? CCJs?

What are the current balances and APRs on your debts?

Have you worked out tha maximum you can afford a month towards these debts? have you worked out a detailed monthly income & expenditure (statement of affairs) to see how much you have left after paying essentials?
It might be worth posting a statement of affairs on here to see if people can help you spot areas you can make savings/get things cheaper etc (e.g if you will be living alone have you remembered to claim the council tax discount).

Have you budgeted that some of your bills will now be lower if you live alone? Could you increase your income anyway? would it be possible to take in a lodger to help with bills and make it easier to afford your mortage?

Do you have any other open credit cards with no balance that you may be able to get a balance transfer from?

If you cannot afford repayments then another option would be to consider a debt management plan with one of the debt advice charities - which would mean you could pay a reduced amount (but does have consequences).

lee1984_2

I have missed payments on one of the credit cards which i think is the main factor, i have no ccjs or defaults.

the current apr on my main credit card which i owe £3400 on is 23.98% which although i can probably do nothing about now i feel i was slightly mislead when i applied for it. I have a halifax current account and was offered through online banking the ONE card at 0% for 18 months,however its always been at 23.98% obviously i cant do anything about that now and really should of addressed it sooner when i had querys.

I have worked out detailed monthly expenditure many times, reduced council tax, gas,electric,food shopping etc. And i can honestly say i am only including essentials in there,theres nothing factored in for personal use, goin out etc, if anything is left over then i can start to think about a social life etc! But my priority is making sure i dont have to sell my house.

I have no other credit cards.

and its not so much that i CANT afford the repayments because i can,but with the interest rate on that main card, i will be pretty much making the minimum payment every month so i will never see the balance go down.

thanks for the reply

Tixy

Its sometimes worth a try to ask your bank if they will consider reducing the APR on your card - some people have found they may drop it a couple of per cent which is better than nothing.

Is the APR on your other card much less? and if so is there any unused capacity on that card?

Is the loan and the main card all from your own bank? if it is then it could be worth an appointment with them to see if they could restructure the debt to a lower APR (your own bank will often use internal credit / behaviour scoring.