Credit Card Debt

abandonship

Hi all

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this, as it's a bit of a crossover. However I'll press on regardless...

My credit rating is in the gutter and currently I have a credit card with about £3500 of debt on it. In the long climb towards zero nearly every other debt of mine is paid off.

The problem is, that my other payments per month are still ongoing, and as a result I am struggling massively with meeting the monthly interest of the credit card.

I've checked this site, and my rating is that bad that a 0% balance transfer is out of the question, by the looks of it.

I've ordered a preload bank card to try to slowly sort out my credit rating, but is there anything at all I can do in the meantime to improve this situation? I'm being crippled by APR and touching very little of the capital when I make a monthly payment (because I can only just about afford the minimum if I'm lucky)

Many thanks :money:

Tixy

Hi and welcome

You don't have any other old credit cards open with a nil balance do you?

When you say your credit rating is bad do you know what shows on it and how soon those negatives will drop off your file?

Do you know what the APR on the credit card is?

Other than that you really need to work out if there is anyway you can up your payments, as even paying just a few pounds more than the minimum can make a big difference to how quickly the debt will be paid off and looks better on your credit file than only paying the minimum.
Have you been through all your other outgoings to see if there is anything that can be got cheaper elsewhere or reduced? Is there any way you could increase your income? overtime or a second job? anything you could sell to pay a chunk extra off the debt?

If you are struggling to find savings yourself then you might want to consider positng up a statement of affairs on here for others to take a look - its likely that the posters on here may be able to spot savings/things you can get cheaper that you may have missed.

savingmummy

You`ve come to the right place, welcome!


I have no advice regarding the credit card but others here will beable to help.


Have you done a statement of affairs to see if you can make some cutbacks to allow extra income to help?
Here is the link if not http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
It can take a while to fill out with all accurate information but will give you a clear picture of whats coming in and going out and where you can reign in somewhere to help you.

abandonship

Tixy wrote: »

Hi and welcome

You don't have any other old credit cards open with a nil balance do you?

When you say your credit rating is bad do you know what shows on it and how soon those negatives will drop off your file?

Do you know what the APR on the credit card is?

Other than that you really need to work out if there is anyway you can up your payments, as even paying just a few pounds more than the minimum can make a big difference to how quickly the debt will be paid off and looks better on your credit file than only paying the minimum.
Have you been through all your other outgoings to see if there is anything that can be got cheaper elsewhere or reduced? Is there any way you could increase your income? overtime or a second job? anything you could sell to pay a chunk extra off the debt?

If you are struggling to find savings yourself then you might want to consider positng up a statement of affairs on here for others to take a look - its likely that the posters on here may be able to spot savings/things you can get cheaper that you may have missed.

Thanks for the reply Tixy

I don't have any older credit cards unfortunately (or probably fortunately, all things considered).

I don't know what shows up on my credit file entirely. I signed up for Equifax/Experian 3 years ago when my credit file was relatively good. Since then I have been homeless, reneged on mobile phone contracts for 6 months at a time, defaulted on practically every bill, multiple CCJs, bailiffs, payday loans, you name it. My rent wasn't paid, I incurred bank charges, and the council did an attachment to earnings on me. If there's any ways left to wreck your finances, let me know and I'll see if I did it

Well, that's all happened now. I'm educated with a decent job so you would think I would know better. Last year, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the behaviours began to make sense. Since then, I've made a huge amount of headway.

The APR of the credit card is 18.5%.

Unfortunately, the route to sorting this all out has been a rocky one. I've done exceptionally to pay off a lot of what I owe, around 15k in the last 18 months, and generally am in so much more control than ever before. But this card in particular was something that was left, and that in turn has led to it exceeding the limit and to carry on accumulating interest without payments being met.

My outgoings are one thing I've really managed to get a handle on. I'm as strict as possible with my budget, have cancelled pretty much everything there is to cancel. I pay my rent, ctax, work travel. After that is my subsistence and bills. Everything else is diverted towards the debt.

I'll do a budget when I get a chance...

Thanks savingmummy

Idiophreak

abandonship wrote: »

The problem is, that my other payments per month are still ongoing, and as a result I am struggling massively with meeting the monthly interest of the credit card.

Do you mean payments to other debts? Or just general living costs?

If the former, how long's left to run on the others?

savingmummy

abandonship wrote: »

Unfortunately, the route to sorting this all out has been a rocky one. I've done exceptionally to pay off a lot of what I owe, around 15k in the last 18 months, and generally am in so much more control than ever before. But this card in particular was something that was left, and that in turn has led to it exceeding the limit and to carry on accumulating interest without payments being met.

My outgoings are one thing I've really managed to get a handle on. I'm as strict as possible with my budget, have cancelled pretty much everything there is to cancel. I pay my rent, ctax, work travel. After that is my subsistence and bills. Everything else is diverted towards the debt.

I'll do a budget when I get a chance...

Thanks savingmummy

Sounds like you`ve done amazing already :j
You sound very determined and are clearly cutting back and doing all you can - not easy!


Are you paying other debts or just living expenses?

abandonship

Okay so... I'm down to £300 a month with other debts and that's going to carry on til about September and then those debts are finally dealt with.

Meanwhile I have:
- An unpaid mobile phone debt (frozen at £260)
- The credit card debt (£3600 and counting with defaults all over the place - at time of posting it's been 4 months of no payment)
- Unpaid £60 to BT

I haven't actioned any of these debts. I can't make payment plans with the companies involved yet.

The thing that concerns me most is the accumulation of the credit card. It was bad enough chipping away so little capital before, but now I've contributed nothing it's spiralling bigtime

Tixy

The amount you have paid off so far is great.
But I would definitely work on a new budget to see what you can afford in total, it may be that you need to reduce payments on some of your other debts to be able to pay something towards this debt.

Alternatively as you have already missed several payments on this debt then you could either try contacting them to explain that you are struggling and ask if they will freeze interest for a few months and allow you to pay a nominal figure until September when you will then be able to increase payments.
Or to write to say you are experiencing financial difficulties and that you can only afford £x per month and ask them to consider freezing interest on the account. With this second option they are likely to want to see an income & expenditure statement before they'd agree to freeze payments to see if they are being paid a fair share of your disposable income compared to the rest of your debts.

abandonship

Cool, thanks for the advice.

I really don't think there is anything more I can do outgoings wise. This is something I've focused intensely on over many months. I don't think I have a single subscription except for bills and the train to work now. But requesting a freeze is surely a no brainer for me.

As a side note...

I've heard a thing or two about refunds in bank charges. I'm at the !!!! end of an overdraft each month, of course, but that's the last thing I can think about (particularly because they seem to have never taken me off of a student 0% overdraft).

I have, however, incurred a load of charges over the years. Should I go to the Ombudsman to see if I can get anything repaid - or are they more likely to discover the type of account I have and kick up a fuss? I pointed out multiple times to them that it was a mistake but nothing was ever done.