How can I / should I get more credit to get out of debt???

tinkermonkey

Hi Everyone

Looking for a bit of advice.

My fiancee and I have decided to sell up and move to another area where there are better jobs and in the process hopefully pay of a much debt as possible.

We are looking to sell up in next 2 months, my fiancee is not working while we are doing this so he can do work in house. I am using what is left on the credit cards to pay the bills my wage does not cover.

My mortgage is 50K, valuation 3 years ago 60K, but lots of works needs done (major kitchen, bathroom. roof etc) so if done should get about 90K plus but done know if would even make last valuation without work being done!!

My fiancee's father is a tradesman and he will do most of the work for free but I still need to buy materials (only willing to spend 2-3K max though)

All of our debt is in my name as my fiancee's credit is in toilet after a previous marriage. My equifax report states I have excellent credit and I have not missed any payments as yet, but my problem is that my income is so low (13797 with 800 payrise in aug) I dont think I will get any more credit.

Total Debts
Mortgage 50K
TSB Credit card 9816.94
IF Credit Card 1895.83
MBNA Credit Card 5437.04
Tesco Credit Card 8498.58
Bank Of Scotland Loan 6705.72
Overdraft 900

Total Debts 83254.11

Has anyone any ideas where I can go to get credit short term so I can do up my house to sell to clear some of this debt??

lynzpower

Honestly? IN 82ks worth of debt and only one income and you using debt to pay debt- I would be very surprised if anyone gave you anything. Nor should you accept it as how will you pay it? if OH isnt working?

azjh77

Have you looked at credit card shuffling? Are you maxed out on any of them? It might be worth looking at the article Martin wrote. List your outstanding balances/available credit/APRs, and work out which card you should have your money on.

Have you got good APR's on your cards? Have you considered phoning up the CC companies and asking them to reduce it? (Worth a go, I told them I thought I was being charged too much and I might move, and they reduced the APR)

Work with your existing credit rather than taking out anymore.

tinkermonkey

Thanks for your advice I agree taking out more credit is not a good idea to get out of debt but im worried if i dont do any work the sale of house might not even scratch the surface of it. I have asked all my family and friends to give me money or useful vouchers for my 30th so this should help.

Dont have enough credit left on cards to do shuffle and have had no luck with getting them to reduce interest (will keep trying as dont think i am forceful enough). This is what is killing us as paying about 860 per month in debt costs, I could only afford the min payments and even with fixing them at the original min payment amount its hardly moved how much we owe in the last year. One of the reasons we decided to sell up so we could clear as much as poss and pay more to the rest.

Is it possible to get a free valuation done anywhere, as I saw this advertised in estate agents window but not sure if it would tie you into them. I had thought about doing min work roof etc and seeing what I could get for house but not sure if it would cost me more in long run with valuation / fees etc I am in Scotland.

Thanks for helping me sort my head out, im worried i might be being silly about the house as I bought it about 10years ago when I was 19 and this isnt exactly the circumstances I saw myself selling in considering everyone told me what a good investment I had!!

lynzpower

tinker monkey

have you ever done a SOA before? maybe that is the first step to undersand where you are up to?

yeah you can get free valuations from almost all estate agents, they ofg course see it as as an opportunuty to pitch thier business, this is bread & butter for EAs, nothing ties you in till you sign the contract.