Help me someone

emmaandellie

someone help me , i currently have a credit card and the balance is 3,200 at the max limit i currently pay 100 a month off but its 50 interest i got my credit card with my llyods tsb account airmiles but i dont use them ,. i applied for my credit card when when i was recieveing working tax credits /child tax etc into my bank and they offered me it i fort at the time FAB as i didnt work my other half at the time did ,
now its got to point me and my current partner are trying save for a house were both out of work at the moment and not sure what i can do weather its best to get a loan and pay it back or try another credit card etc , i asked my bank and as i already have a credit card with them they wont offer me one as they carnt apparently :?:mad: , i really want to know whats for the best its a bill thats doing my head in and need it sorted :(:(:(

pleaseeeeeeeee help

Tixy

What is the APR on the existing card you have? Is £100 the maximum you can afford?

If you have savings towards a house deposit then it would be better to use these to pay off your credit card. Thats because the interest on the credit card will be a lot more than the interest you are earning on any savings.

If you are not working you are unlikely to get a new credit card or a loan at this time.

emmaandellie

23.3 apr at present , we dont have enough money to pay anymore and a deposit is on a private rented house and we have only manged to save just over 100 , but every time we pay the credit card with it it takes over half back they must be some other way of getting it down im finding it so frustrating to repay that amount for hardly anything to be taken off

Tixy

You could ask the current card provider if they would be prepared to reduce your APR at all. Its not that likely but it might be worth a call to see.
Are you still using the card at all? or have you stopped all spending on it?

Is this the only debt you have?

Bravehearted_2

Not quite sure what you're asking here - you want another card when you're hardly paying one you've maxed out?

Why would anyone accept your application?

YorkshireBoy

emmaandellie wrote: »

they must be some other way of getting it down

There are only 3 ways:

1. Earn more
2. Spend less
3. Restructure the debt (ie BT to a 0% card)

1. Obviously you're both actively looking for work so there's not much more you can do there, other than take ANY job, part time etc.

2. Can you cut back anywhere? Terminate Sky, mobiles, quit smoking, cut back on socialising?

3. Unfortunately you're not in the best position to do anything here, being as:

You're out of work so don't have an income.
You don't even have a 'household' income, being as "current partner" is also unemployed.
You've maxed out your current facility on this card, which is sending distress signals to anyone you ask for further credit.
You're not home-owners.

Due to the size of the debt, and the fact you must have little spend to cut back on, it looks like your only option (if you want to protect your credit rating for when things do improve) is to accelerate the job searching.

Best of luck!

AdamJK_2

If your conduct with the Lloyds card debt is reasonable then I'd say it might be worth a punt at applying for the 23mth 0% Halifax card.

You'll lock the debt into a 0% and give yourself time to get the debt down without the interest - just please please don't see it as a way to spend more on the Lloyds card. My advice is to cut both up and then if you do want to make a purchase you've got the 3-day cooloff period while you wait for a new card to be delivered.

The reason I suggest the Halifax card is that they are part of the LBG same as Lloyds - they'll likely try to issue based on your internal score with the group which should help to balance out any bumps with your credit file.

Failing that, phone Lloyds and ask to speak to the Customer Support Unit. They are there to help people before they start incurring arrears. They can go through things over the phone or refer you to a specialist branch colleague. They might be able to help with some temporary interest reduction or refinance loan at a preferential rate given the temporary problems (both out of work) you're experiencing.

davec1960

Wolfriver, would you like to lend me some money so that we can test your theory?

davec1960

If the balance is at the limit even though you are paying £100 per month with only £50 interest then something is being added to the balance each month otherwise you would be reducing the balance by £50 per month.

There are several ways this could happen;

Spending on the card. Daft question probably but are you still spending on the card?
Late payment or over limit charges. Are you paying the minimum payment by the due date on the statement?
Is the card balance ever going above the credit limit?

Payment protection insurance. Did the bank talk you into taking this out.

Check your statements to see what is being added each month and post again with the information and people will be be able to advise.

PS Ignore the posts from wolfriver, he is probably either a lunatic or a conman who is hoping you will contact him and he will then offer to get rid of your debt for a fee.

Enterprise_1701C

As everyone else has said, you have to cut back as far as you can with everything else, forget about saving for a deposit at the moment, that is unrealistic with you both out of work anyway. If you are going out, cut back on that and put that onto the card, if you have Sky or other paid TV cut back on that and put that onto the card, basically any unnecessary expenditure should be stopped and put into paying the card back.

Look at it this way, for every £100 expenditure on the card you currently have to repay £123.30, and that will only go unless you do something about it.

YorkshireBoy

davec1960 wrote: »

If the balance is at the limit even though you are paying £100 per month with only £50 interest then something is being added to the balance each month otherwise you would be reducing the balance by £50 per month.

ppi would do it

OP says APR is 23.3%. That's a very strange APR figure.

I think, more likely, that figure is the annual non-compounded rate (ie 12 x monthly rate), meaning the actual APR is 25.9%.

This means the monthly rate is 1.9379%, which would add £62 interest on £3,200.

If ppi were on the account it'll be somewhere near 80p per £100 of statemented balance, so £25.60 on £3,200.

Adding these together gives nearly £90 of charges to the account each month, meaning OP's balance would only be reducing by £10 per month if they're paying £100. In effect, they'd remain 'maxed out'.

The £100, I suspect, is broadly the minimum payment calculated anyway at 1% + interest (£32 + £62 = £94).

Either that of the OP is 'spending' the £32 each month on 'top up' purchases?