need advice to rebuild my life-starting with...

needingguidance

Hello,
I would be very grateful if people could help. I would especially like help from people whoare confident in their knowledge. Mymess is part of a bigger story and you may see me posting on other forums aboutincome support, etc. But, for now I willtackle my credit card. I was in adomestic violent relationship with a wealthy and “successful” Belgian andmanaged to leave him for good last month after trying being with him severaltimes. I don’t want to return and so Iam determined to make it work, I am starting from scratch, or rather from debt. I am feeling especially overwhelmed andmentally exhausted after being with someone like that for so many years so Iwould appreciate any help, my brain’s not working quite as well as it usedto. When it comes to credit cards,interest rates, generally anything to do with understanding money (!), pleasefeel free to explain in the simplest terms (I won’t feel patronised!).

I have a 2 year old daughter. I get no maintenance from her father (he isnot British so it will be difficult and lengthy to get it). I am waiting forincome support – it has been 4 weeks, I am chasing calls but there have beendelays as I have had to prove my right to reside, etc. I am British. I went out to Belgian in July to try living with him, therefore my childbenefit stopped too. I have reappliedand am chasing that too. I am alsoapplying for part time jobs – I am a lecturer/teacher. The only income I receive is child tax creditwhich is £46 a week. Fortunately, I am livingrent free with my parents. I can’t borrow any money from them, but thank God,they pay for our shelter and food for the time being. I need to move out soon, but it is not anemergency. I have most of my things instorage near here which is £100 a month. Added to other expenses (not credit card yet), my total outgoings; I’vemanaged to get down to £180.

Since I met my ex, 5 years ago, I have managed to spend allof my savings; I am now down to -£1950 in my bank account which has anoverdraft of £2000. I am worried as inthe next few days I will exceed -£2000. Despite his wealth and lavish lifestyle, he controlled me with money andvery rarely gave me money yet forbid me to work, etc. I don’t want to hear judgemental comments asI know how stupid must be seen but unless you have been in that situation it isdifficult to understand; I lived in fear and found it difficult to leave. As I had no money and didn’t want to getabused for not having a proper lunch and dinner every day for him, and to providemy daughter with things like nappies and clothes, I took a credit card. This is where I need advice for now. It is with Barclays. It has a total of £3200ish on it. It has 0% interest on it until Feb 27th. I pay by direct debit the minimum payment of£75ish every month. It says that theannual rate for purchases is 17.5% and for cash it is 27.5%. So, does this meanafter 27th February I will be paying 17.5% of the total every month?Tonight I looked at the website balance transfer chart and applied for the MBNA0% balance transfer for 23 months. It was unsuccessful. Then I read about the fluid card but I wasalso unsuccessful. It said it might be about my credit history and offered oneswith 35+% APR and as far as I could see no 0% balance free transfer. I do not owe money to anyone else although Ihad a big dispute with a phone company 3 years ago. I still haven’t paid as I believe they got itwrong. They threatened bailiff actionbut that was over 1 year ago and I haven’t heard from them since. It was a debtof £300. I went on to Experian to look tmy credit history but because I took the free trial few years ago, I will haveto pay £15 to see it – is it worth it considering I have v little money at themoment. Does anyone have any advice asto how I can apply for a 0% credit balance transfer? Or should I get a loan to pay it off? Thank you

Tiglath

Try Noddle for your free credit file - it's what I use.

needingguidance

Thank you, what a great start. I havve discovered that my credit rating is 2/5. This is becasue fo the movile phone debt of £240. it defaulted in July 2010. how come they didn't send the bailiffs around?
I will try the credit cards it has suggested.

thanks

grumbler

needingguidance wrote: »

This is where I need advice for now. It is with Barclays. It has a total of £3200ish on it. It has 0% interest on it until Feb 27th. I pay by direct debit the minimum payment of£75ish every month. It says that theannual rate for purchases is 17.5% and for cash it is 27.5%. So, does this meanafter 27th February I will be paying 17.5% of the total every month?

No. It is likely to be APR - annual interest rate. Assuming that it's all purchases, the monthly rate for 17.5% is 1.35%.
I checked randomly one of their cards and the min monthly payment is "The highest of: 1. 2.25% of the amount you owe us on your monthly statement; ... 3. any interest, account fees and default charges that have been added to your account since your last statement plus 1% of the remaining balance." I read this as it is about 1%+1.35%=2.35% in your case, i.e. about £75. Check if this is the same for your card.

Tonight I looked at the website balance transfer chart and applied for the MBNA0% balance transfer for 23 months. It was unsuccessful. Then I read about the fluid card but I wasalso unsuccessful. It said it might be about my credit history and offered oneswith 35+% APR and as far as I could see no 0% balance free transfer. I do not owe money to anyone else although Ihad a big dispute with a phone company 3 years ago. I still haven’t paid as I believe they got itwrong. They threatened bailiff actionbut that was over 1 year ago and I haven’t heard from them since. It was a debtof £300. I went on to Experian to look tmy credit history but because I took the free trial few years ago, I will haveto pay £15 to see it – is it worth it considering I have v little money at themoment.

You can order your file for £2: Get your £2 file online

Does anyone have any advice asto how I can apply for a 0% credit balance transfer? Or should I get a loan to pay it off? Thank you

Well, IMHO, without a regular income (unless you chose to lie about it) you are unlikely to get either. You can't keep borrowing the money that you can't pay back (I have to confess that I have no idea how much income support is).

needingguidance wrote: »

..I havve discovered that my credit rating is 2/5.

Pretty much meaningless figure.

This is becasue fo the movile phone debt of £240. it defaulted in July 2010. how come they didn't send the bailiffs around?

They need a CCJ to send bailiffs.

I will try the credit cards it has suggested.

Have a read of Martin's article: Credit Ratings
Pay attention to 'rejection spiral'.
Default in 2010, unstable address(?), not on electoral roll(?), ...:think:

needingguidance

ok, that's more positive news. Thanks. I am counting my lucky stars as I know that my debt is little compared to others on here. Income support I believe will be £60 a week. I may lie and complete an applicaiton with this in mind.