Hello

EyesWideShut

Hi everyone, I'm really sorry that my first post is such a selfish one but I really need some help and advice as I have been living with my head in the sand for too many years and have managed to build up 5-k in debt:
Around £3400 with Barclaycard (at a rediculous 19.9%)
And just under £1,300 with HSBC (at a staggering 21.9%).

I won't be able to pay this off quickly and it seems to me that the best way forward would be to transfer to a card with a long 0% balance transfer and small transfer fee, then becoming a "transfer tart" over the long-term providing I don't run out of lenders to abuse, in which case I could always switch to a life of the balance card or take out a small loan. However, I know little, so advice and help on the best way to handle this debt would be more than appreciated.

There are some things to take into consideration though, as in the short-term I am slightly worried about getting rejected and damaging my credit rating further, as although I have never missed payments completely I did pay late to Barclaycard two months running after they prompted me with phone calls (HSBC who hold my current account cancelled the direct debit when I had no money in my account)--Shamefully, this was when I was working as an intern for a major financial magazine!!!! I obviously didn't learn a lot!

I am also a bit worried about being accepted because I am 25 and still living with my parents!!! (I know I'm not painting a good picture of myself!!), even worse, I am temping at the moment and am about to become a student again in the summer (although only for 3 months)...

So a couple of questions: when asked for salary details can I just project my annual earnings on the daily rate that I am being paid (ignoring the fact that I will be leaving soon to become a student!)?

Secondly, when asked for employer detaisl, could I put the name of the company I work for (which is quite impressive) or do I have to put the name of my empoyment agency who actually pay my wages (which isn't so impressive!!)? I know that is a stupid question, but basically what I'm asking is how thorough are the checks?

(When I used some free, and very basic credit card checks my score was around 750 inline with the UK average supposedly).

Lastly, while I'm still living at home, until after the summer, I really would prefer it if my family didn't know about this debt as I just want to handle it myself. Therefore I don't really want bright red envelopes with Virgin Credit Cards emblazened all over it coming through the letterbox!! Does anyone know if there are ways around this, for example, can you cancel statements if you use internet banking with any banks; or if you need to sign a contract for the card initially can you ask to do this at the bank; or ask the provider to send statements in a pain envelope?! Any advice much appreciated!

Anyway, I'm really sorry this is such an essay, but it's late and I'm still at work and I'm going a bit insane after staring into a 2-D world all day, but can I just say that any help and advice I would be so grateful for. So hope you can help me, as I really just want to get this sorted once and for all.
R.

Bokkens

Q1 Annual salary is gross salary ie before tax,what it says on your pay statement before all the deductions are taken off.
Q2 I would use the employers details not the agency that got you the position.ie M&S ,British Petroleum etc.
Q3 you can have all of your personal mail diverted to your post office for personal collection .There is a fee for this.Also unless you collected it every a.m. there is a good chance you may get behind with your payments and recieve your statements later than normal and that reduces the available time you will have to sort out your finances and pay the bill.
I would come clean with your parents and say you have found this fantastic site and you are reorganising your finances for your future.
Okay if we go back to the top.
Your credit rating is fairly typical as long as you don't go mad applying for lots of store cards and credit cards in a short period ie.1 month you should be able to apply for several cards a year without any problems.
The way forward is to pay off as much as you can all the time,set yourself a goal each month and stick to it and set a 6 monthly goal and stick to that.
If you cannot be a card tart and are likely to end up spending your cash and miss payments then you should be looking at a LOB card and pay as much as you can off of that as you can.You should concentrate on the card with the highest interest first try and move this to a 0% card or LOB card then tacle the lesser amount on the other card when that is paid off use those monthy payments to pay off the higher debt on the first card this is called snowballing.
I would also reconmend that you visit your local bank and speak to the personal bankers that are there to help you and fully explain the situation and where you intend to be in six months with your finances and request more flexability with your account ie. a overdraft if you haven't got one.
Some here will say this is further debt,but the important point is it gives you money in your account to stop the bank charging you interest and fees everytime you are a few pounds over your limit.Used sensiably it is like all other finacial products a tool .
Aim to pay no interest on the items you buy and the rest of your debt it may take several months to move all your debt to 0% cards or LOB cards but it is fantastic when you have cleared the debts and your money is your own.It also take a bit of forethought and some planning so you don't suddenly end up with lots of new debt.
Start reading up on the credit card shuffle and other areas like savings and ISA so you make the most of your money before it has to come out of your account and paid off part of your debts.
Have a look at Alliance and Leciester as they have a good saving account and good credit limits on their cards also they pay you to join(I think it is £30 at the moment)
Hope that's enough to get you started.
Post back here again if you get stuck or Pm me if your unsure.
Good luck
PS welcome to MSE.

EyesWideShut

Wow Bokken! Thank you so much, I didn't expect such great advice! Very much appreciated. Can I just ask one more question, do you not think it would be possible to move both cards onto one 0% balance card? Or is it because this would be a total sum of £5k might there be an issue with the credit limit?

EyesWideShut

Hi everyone, sorry to be impatient, but does anyone have any advice on the above question?

EyesWideShut

Hi everyone, I'm going to apply for a 0% balance transfer, probably Virgin, but am worried I might be rejected because of the credit limit if I transfer both amounts on the two seperate cards. Has anyone got any advice on how to manage this 5k of debt?

GeorgeUK

I think unfortunately, you won't know until you try.

As long as you haven't had too many searches done on your credit fille in the last 6 months, there shouldn't bee too much of a problem. Ask Virgin for a credit limit of more than the 2 debts (BT can only do about 90%-95% of limit)

If the limit you request is too high, they will probably tell you what they will offer after you apply. You can't really find out before.

After this, if you get the card, you will want to pay off the higher interest rate first, so contact that bank {or both} (after you get your card) and ask them if they can offer any 0% or LoB incentives as you have another account and are considering closing one of your accounts. (Not sure what the limits are for each card, so you may want to take that into consideration when deciding which one to contact. You want to have the most "space" available for the 0% BT if Virgin can't give you enough to cover your full debt).

I asked for a limit of 7800 with RBos and they offered me 4300
(I also live with my folks, but as long as they don't read your mail - you should be fine) Just tell them you are taking advantage of some promotional offers and won't be spending on the cards. Cut them up infront of them if they don't believe you.

good luck
George

Edit: Forgot to say. After one of your current banks agrees to a 0% or something, do the BT to that bank so that you have the maximum amount to BT from your other old card. Sounds complicated, but isn't really. Keep posting and some of the older hands will keep you right.

EyesWideShut

George, this is really good advice mate. I'm feeling more confident about handling this debt already.