what should i do now ?

kezzles07

We have got ourselves in a muddle, any ideas ???


We built up our credit cards when my self employed hubbie was off sick with a slipped disc a few years ago. We have moved them around to avoid paying interest but now we have not been able to pay them off before 0% ran out. We now cannot get any other credit cards and can only pay the minimum which is obviously not getting us anywhere. I have thought about trying to get a loan or putting them on the mortgage. Any ideas ? We have £13,000 and no other loans. My husband is back working full time and I am part time. If it wasn't for these monthly payments we would be ok but this is really getting us down !!!

[Deleted User]

What's your income? Have you only been paying the absolute minimum (not even a pound more)?

RuthnJasper

Welcome to MSE Kezzles! I'm glad to hear that your OH is doing better and back at work.

There will be plenty of people to offer advice, as well as guides on this site off the forum, but I have always found http://www.stepchange.org/ to be extremely useful. They can help you negotiate a realistic payment plan with your creditors and assist you in getting back on an even keel. They are free to use and won't make judgements about you (I don't work for them, but I have used them for advice before). Don't panic - there will be a way out of this.

All the best. x

andyfromotley

Hi Kezzles,

Fill this in
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

and post it on the DFW forum on here. Then people will be able to give you advice, you will be amazed at how much people can save from your current budget for you. You will definitely get some good ideas!!

kezzles07

yes I do try and pay a little more depending on funds that month so if the min is £88.00 I try to pay £100. The total is £13289,34 over 4 credit cards.
Thanks I will try your suggestions and hopefully get some paid off.

Tixy

Do you know the APRs on them all?

First it is worth running a snowball calculator to see how long it will take to pay off at the current rate of repayment - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/snowball-calculator.php

Once you have that info you can look at the alternative - such as seeing if you can afford to pay more to the debts by cutting back elsewhere or possibly looking to see whether you can get a loan at a cheaper APR than the cards (although always think carefully before consolidating).

I definitely wouldn't look at moving them to be secured on your property, as if you lose your income again for any reason you put your house at a much greater risk.

planteria

who are the four card providers?

kezzles07

MBNA, Barclaycard, my PO CC and my hubbys PO CC.
I have just been offered 0% on the Barclaycard but the £3000 that is already on there, the 0% has just come to an end so if I transfer some more onto it I will still be paying the interest on the £3000won't I ??? If I had somewhere to move the 3K I would but struggling to juggle now.

grumbler

And the limits/balances are...?
You can transfer £3K to other card(s), then back to BC, although this will cost you two sets to BT fees.

kovacsi76

grumbler wrote: »

And the limits/balances are...?
You can transfer £3K to other card(s), then back to BC, although this will cost you two sets to BT fees.

If any of your other cards have 0 Be fee, you should use that and then BT back to Barclaycard. Then it would only be one fee. But even with two fees it must be cheaper than keeping it as it is.

chattychappy

kezzles07 wrote: »

MBNA, Barclaycard, my PO CC and my hubbys PO CC.
I have just been offered 0% on the Barclaycard but the £3000 that is already on there, the 0% has just come to an end so if I transfer some more onto it I will still be paying the interest on the £3000won't I ???

True, but this can still be efficient. Your (enlarged) minimum payment will be applied to the £3000 first. Or, putting it another way, your 0% balance won't be reduced at all until the £3000 is gone. If the 0% balance was by itself on another card, your payments would be paying it down whilst you might have an interest bearing balance elsewhere.

Of course it's better to have all your balance on 0%/low interest. But if you do have a mix of balances, it's best to have them on one card so that the payment hierarchy rules kick in to help.