15k debt help

WELLSIANA

can anyone tell me how i can get my credit card debts gone as the charges which although low are still hurtful and they do not eat into the balance. i do not really need to use them but i work alone and am self employed so work is up and down always but no massive spare money . problem is i had a bad arm injury and could hardly work for a year and turned to them to keep things afloat. I try to get a loan to pay them off and do a 5 year pay back but never get accepted. I try changing to 0% but again fail to get accepted.. so although i am trying to clear them i am not being helped by the system...i do own my house value around 250k with nothing on it..and no ties..would they allow me to borrow on that ? or not accept me...otherwise i have to battle on for 4 years then my pension would pay them off but its sickening paying and getting no where..any ideas ?

ViolaLass

If you can't afford to repay your cards, how would you repay a loan?

[Deleted User]

I assume you're paying as much as can to the card with the highest rate of interest??

You need to throw as much as you can at the debt as you can. Try the DFW board, a few doors down, for help and support.

WELLSIANA

Well you must realise if you can get a loan its cheaper to pay it back and my idea if i attached it too the house cheaper still..

Pixie5740

WELLSIANA wrote: »

Well you must realise if you can get a loan its cheaper to pay it back and my idea if i attached it too the house cheaper still..

Is it really cheaper to get a consolidation loan than to snowball your debts?

This isn't 2007, getting a secured loan is much more difficult than it used to be. Besides turning unsecured debt into secured debt is madness if you can help it.

Fill in a statement of affairs and post it on the Debt Free Wannabe board.

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

You'll get lots of support and useful advice there about how to kick your debt into touch once and for all.

WELLSIANA

i fail to see how a loan would snowball the debts..the point i am making is a 15k loan is cheaper to pay than the credit cards..plus you are paying them off over say 5 years done..in 5 years with credit cards i would still have a massive amount owed..i am self employed so for instance income is erratic , its not easy to say what i earn but i manage without these and in fact with these to keep above water...a loan on my house would be at a better rate but everthing declines me...i have put the post on the DFW page but as yet no replies...

ViolaLass

You have an erratic income and struggle to state what you earn. No wonder people don't want to lend to you!

Do you still have the 'several grand' in the bank that you talked about last year? How about using that to reduce your debts/pay them off more quickly?

Apples2

But if you take a secured loan your house is at risk.
If you have another injury and cannot meet your secured loan payments what then?
On Credit Cards (unsecured) there is little that can be done other than chase you for the money.

There are too many stories on here from people who took that one secured loan to clear credit cards, only to rack up the credit card debt again (due to all that freely available credit) but ended up in a much worse position later on.

the genral concencus is to make minimum payment plus £1 to the lowest APR cards and everything else goes toward the card with the highest APR.
Once that is clear, onto the next one but you have more to contribute as one has been cleared.

Secured loans may offer small monthly repayments but it goes on for a very long time and carries a massive risk.

CLAPTON

WELLSIANA wrote: »

can anyone tell me how i can get my credit card debts gone as the charges which although low are still hurtful and they do not eat into the balance. i do not really need to use them but i work alone and am self employed so work is up and down always but no massive spare money . problem is i had a bad arm injury and could hardly work for a year and turned to them to keep things afloat. I try to get a loan to pay them off and do a 5 year pay back but never get accepted. I try changing to 0% but again fail to get accepted.. so although i am trying to clear them i am not being helped by the system...i do own my house value around 250k with nothing on it..and no ties..would they allow me to borrow on that ? or not accept me...otherwise i have to battle on for 4 years then my pension would pay them off but its sickening paying and getting no where..any ideas ?

what has been your income over the last 12 months

what do you expect your income to be over the next 12 months

what are your debt with
-amount
-APR
-your monthly payment

WELLSIANA

well if i secured on the house and i have a 4 bed which soon i will not be needed as much of family have gone . if the worst comes to it i would sell and downsize..hence average £240/250k my house down to ave 160/170k around my area...yes i do have a few grand savings but i keep this in case it ever happens that to keep feeding etc i need it as i did at the time but had to use borrowing..i have stopped all the cards so i do not borrow on them...another job alongside in my sector would not work as one phone call i have to respond..in 4 years my pension at todays rates will pay out over 20k lump sum but i am just trying to ease the repayment loads

ViolaLass

So you're choosing to pay these credit card charges in order to keep 'several grand' spare in the bank.

Why not pay off what you can, which would help you to avoid charges and some interest, which would then allow you to pay the cards off much more quickly? You could then keep the cards for an emergency, rather than paying interest to have money in the bank.