vanquis

gazimpact

DipStick wrote: »

You need to give us a bit more information. For example, how much is the balance and how much could you afford to pay each month.

Presumably you have now realised you should stop taking on more debt and have stopped doing so.

Yeah I've stopped taking on debt, this is the only type of debt like this I have,my limit is 1,600
As for how much I could pay, I also have a few littler debts that have caught up over the years that I'm paying,do these consolidate your debt companys benefit people like me?

Nada666

gazimpact wrote: »

Yeah I've stopped taking on debt, this is the only type of debt like this I have,my limit is 1,600
As for how much I could pay, I also have a few littler debts that have caught up over the years that I'm paying,do these consolidate your debt companys benefit people like me?

No, avoid them - they will just pocket some of your repayments for themselves.

Look at the list of your debts - how many of them are there? what amounts? what interests?

You say they are smaller. Have you worked out how much you have to live on after living costs?

What period are you catching up over? Is it realistic?

If you have smaller debts it can be psychologically helpful (if not strictly speaking optimal) to grab a smaller debt and completely pay it off. Even if it is a cheaper one reducing the number of debts can help more to motivate and keep you on course.

eskbanker

Possibly worth completing a financial 'statement of affairs' as at http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php in order to see clearly where your money goes and identify areas to improve, post it back on here or over at the Debt-Free Wannabe board (or just keep it to yourself if you don't wish to share!)

Nada666

One other very important point - although it is dispiriting that the first £XY is only paying back interest DO NOT think that it then makes not much point paying more. This is a very common trap that can make people bumble along just making minimum repayments.