We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that dates on the Forum are not currently showing correctly. Please bear with us while we get this fixed, and see Site feedback for updates.

Citibank loan 12.9 %-Advice needed

Hi All,

Bit of advice needed really- We are needing to do our garden for when the new baby is born and it will cost around £1500 to do.
Citifinance have offered us a loan for £9000 which would mean I could clear off liams creditcards whuch he is currently paying £208 a month on and this new loan is £203 a month over 5 years which is less than the time it would take to clear the creditcards as we only make the minimum pymts to them.

I have worked out that it would increase our debt by approx £900 in total.

I haven't mentioned it to my husband yet cause I know that he would bit their hands off.

Help please
«1

Comments

  • RAS
    RAS Posts: 34,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi MM2

    NO. Do not consolidate the loan. You OH will simply rack up the CCs again and you will be worse off. The garden will have to wait a bit.

    You would be advised to post your SOA (see souther scouser's stickie at the top of the page) and the folks here will help you sort the debts out from your income. Bear in mind that that ware lots of folks here who took on debts before their child was born and got in a real mess when they had to face Mat leave benefits and reduced income/ child care costs. You do nto want to join them.
    If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing
  • angelavdavis
    angelavdavis Posts: 4,714 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    Hi there,

    To be honest, my experience is that it is really bad news to consolidate. There are lots of stories on here telling you exactly why you shouldn't go there!

    Why will it take £1500 to prepare a garden for a baby? What is wrong with your OH buying a bit of turf for £100, laying it nearest the house and then fencing off part of it until you have the funds to complete the rest? People have even been giving turf away recently on freecycle so you could even do it cheaper than that.

    As mentioned, complete the SOA - paying minimum payment on cards is a mugs game. What aprs are your credit cards on? You have a lot of debt already, adding to it will only be worse.
    :D Thanks to MSE, I am mortgage free!:D
  • Hi,

    Just spoke to Citibank again and have asked them how much it would be for |£7500 which would clear off the creditcards which are currently 17.9 and 18.9% interest rates. I also have my husbands creditcards so he would not be able to use them and I would write a letter to get these cancelled.
    My husband would sign them cause I would force him too. He has already seen how upset this whole financial stuff has made me.

    The monthly cost would be £170.14 on the new loan and we currently pay £208-£278 on the cards cause he allows them to go over (can't you tell its me that works in finance not him)

    The loan is over 5 years but I can see us clearing this sooner as:
    A. We won't be able to ''go'' over a limit and
    B. I know that we can afford to pay upto £280 a month on it to snowball it down.

    All opinions still greatfully recieved though whilst I make a brew.
  • angelavdavis
    angelavdavis Posts: 4,714 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    I also have my husbands creditcards so he would not be able to use them and I would write a letter to get these cancelled.
    My husband would sign them cause I would force him too. He has already seen how upset this whole financial stuff has made me.

    Hi MM,

    What are the terms and conditions of the loan - can you make higher repayments? What is the apr of the loan? Everyone on here that has been burnt by consolidation will say - DON'T DO IT! You will be paying 10,208.40 for borrowing 7500! :eek:

    I am a little concerned about your husband's situation - I think clearing his cc debts with a joint loan (assuming its not going to in your name only) is stupid - I think he needs to be seeking solutions and taking responsibility, you cannot have his light bulb moment!

    Take some time to prepare and post up the SOA - please don't get yourself in more debt - changing one credit agency for another is not the answer.
    :D Thanks to MSE, I am mortgage free!:D
  • angelavdavis
    angelavdavis Posts: 4,714 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    Hi MM,

    I recognised your id and thought you had posted your SOA recently. It looks like you have done some work. Did you have any luck reducing any of your costs in your SOA you recently posted?

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=458147

    My suggestions with SOA are below (bearing in mind your additional info you provided on other post):


    Total income £2609.96


    Mortgage £724.98
    First Plus £336.84 total owed 33,686 - what is apr and term? is this secured?
    Council Tax £90.00
    Home Content Insurance £30.51
    Water Rates £25.64
    Gas Bill £30.00
    Electricity Bill £25.00
    Home Phone Bill £20.00
    O2 £40.00 - you definitely both need to reduce mobile bills - look at deals on quidco
    3G £40.00 - as above
    AOL £14.99 - why if you are on NTL/Sky don't you buy a combined TV/phone/BB package? Virgin will do mobile too.
    Life Ins £13.95 - this is high - I would see if you can get a better rate through quidco
    Life Ins £9.95
    Mortgage/secured loan protection £44.32 - check the Ts and Cs - this is very often a waste of money as it won't pay out until after 39 weeks and doesn't cover interest, etc!
    Food Shopping £200.00 - this could be reduced - look on the Old style board
    Car Insurance £81.36
    Petrol £100.00
    Barclaycard £26.00 what is apr - 17.9 or 18.9%? total owed1195.96
    Barclaycard £176.00 what is apr - 17.9 or 18.9%? total owed 4070.87
    Capital One Card £5.00 what is apr? - total owed £44.24 - can you not settle this and cancel?
    Monument Card £88.00 what is apr? total is 3521.92
    Alliance and leicester £30.00 what is apr? total is 1487.02
    HSBC loan £327.21 what is apr and term - total owed is 30.103.32 - is this secured?
    Cinema Trips £21.98 - switch to Orange mobile and use their cinema offers
    NTL / Sky Subscription £47.00 - £564 per year for watching TV - switch to freeview - £20 for a box and nothing else to pay!
    TV Licence £11.37

    Total outgoings £2540.10

    You don't have any funds covering the following: car tax/mot/servicing, dentist, hairdresser, daughter's horse-riding (£60?), birthdays, christmas - its these costs that push everyone over.

    Any idea what your income is likely to be when you are on maternity leave? You need to find out this information and ensure you can afford to live on the reduced salary.

    What do you have to eBay to reduce your credit card debts? With so many loans and credit cards, you must have stuff that can be eBayed to raise funds?

    I also recommend that you/your OH start a spending diary and review every night what you have spent. It is an eye opener!
    :D Thanks to MSE, I am mortgage free!:D
  • immoral_angeluk
    immoral_angeluk Posts: 24,506 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    As a mother of 2 with a new baby I would really say that spending £1500 on getting the garden done now is a waste of time. I have a 2 yr old who has only recently started to want to go out in the garden and at the very least you're looking a year or so before you'll 'need' a garden. Is you garden really in that bad a state that it needs doing RIGHT now? Over the space of a year your could easily save up the £1500 to have it done when the baby will actually get use out of it. What is it exactly that needs doing to it?
    Total 'Failed Business' Debt £29,043
    Que sera, sera. <3
  • I found this in one of Martins links on th main board:
    As a very rough rule of thumb, it's always worth investigating switching if you can decrease the interest rate by more than 2%, though often savings are available for smaller rate reductions too. To work out whether you'll save you need to ask your current lender two questions:
    In answer to your questions about the soa see below:
    Mortgage £724.98 (Interest rates just gone up so pymt will go up another £30 in the next month or so and tied in till August 2008)
    First Plus £336.84 total owed 33,686 - Apr is variable currently 11.7% but will go up with recent rate change- secured and unable to remortgage at present)
    Council Tax £90.00
    Home Content Insurance £30.51
    Water Rates £25.64
    Gas Bill £30.00
    Electricity Bill £25.00
    Home Phone Bill £20.00
    O2 £40.00 - Trying to stay within current text/call limits however have been using for 0845 numbers-must stop this)
    3G £40.00 - as above
    AOL £14.99 - Tied in till Aug 2008 as it was the only thing we could use when we first moved in
    TV/phone/BB package? tied in to sky, bt and aol at present
    Life Ins £13.95 - Will review this
    Life Ins £9.95
    Mortgage/secured loan protection £22.16- Put down wrong amount. (sorry)
    Food Shopping £200.00 - this could be reduced - look on the Old style board
    Car Insurance £81.36 (for 2 cars)
    Petrol £100.00
    Barclaycard £26.00 apr is 17.9 but on interest free for another 8 months total owed1195.96
    Barclaycard £176.00 apr is 17.9 total owed 4070.87
    Capital One Card £5.00 apr is 10.4% - total owed £44.24 - emergency card for maternity leave
    Monument Card £88.00 apr is 18.9% total is 3521.92
    Alliance and leicester £30.00 0 for another 11 months then 16.9% total is 1487.02
    HSBC loan £327.21 apr is 6.9% over anothe 7 1/2 years - total owed is 30.103.32 - Unsecured
    Cinema Trips £21.98 - Have now cancelled- we have sky and have joined mystery shopper so can take husbands out to pubs and stuff
    Sky Subscription £47.00 - Tied in till August, there is an extra £10 subscription for tv in loft room
    TV Licence £11.37.

    Hope this helps
  • I'll be on maternity for 3 months.
    First month approx income £1000 plus any bonuses
    2nd Month approx £850 plus bonuses
    3rd month approx £750 plus bonuses.

    Nothing really wrong with the garden till husband took the fence down- neighbours have access via the side of our house and now can see and walk straight through our garden.
    Our house is a new house and shouldn't really need doing but husbands cousin is a builder and they have elaborate plans for a pation and large shed and walls and turf and fencing and gates.
    He should have just left the fence up for the time being it was a decent fence.
  • immoral_angeluk
    immoral_angeluk Posts: 24,506 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    In that case just replace the fence! Will cost what.... couple hundred max? The extra money can be spent on things for the new baby and ensuring you're not overstretched on maternity leave! The baby isn't going to give two hoots about a patio or anything like that as long as they have somewhere safe to play!
    Total 'Failed Business' Debt £29,043
    Que sera, sera. <3
  • we still have the fence we just need to re concrete the posts, put some new turf down (approx £80) we already have a small patio and then just tidy and mow a bit.
    It's really getting me down now cause his family are very well done and can afford to do things like this and I think my husband thinks that they will look down on him if he now says that we can't afford it. If they knew the amount of debt we are in (mostly from consoling then running cc's back up agin) they would be horrified, they were when their daughter did the same thing I think she has about £30-£35k and lives at home and only has a car to show for it all which is a 106 peugeot and she is seen as a black sheep of the family so to speak
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.7K Life & Family
  • 254.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.