Loan for debt consolidation

Single_Woman

Hi I'm a little confused & to be honest scared of taking the plunge. I'm trying to build my credit file back up following very difficult time after divorce, which ended up with me incurring 2x CCJ's. These have been satisfied over 6yrs ago & have disappeared from my credit file.

Experian shows me having "good" score 912/999 & noddle shows me 3/5 now from 1/5 so I'm going in the right direction, however I'm considering applying for a loan of 4k over 3yrs to clear my overdraft & a few shop cards & also use towards holiday to visit my son in Spain for birth of my 1st grandchild.

Worry I have is daring to apply for loan, as if declined this will affect my credit file which obviously I don't want to happen. Experian has matched me with a few options & noddle has too with a few showing 80% chance of acceptance but MSE has only given me 2 options with one only showing 50% chance of acceptance.

How trustworthy are all these options & advice would be welcome on whether to plunge in with application.

Other option is to apply for credit card for holiday & plod on trying to pay my overdraft & shop cards as Im already doing.

What would others do?

Thanks

BrassicWoman

I'm afraid I would not go on holiday unless my son gifted me a flight; you cannot afford it.

Dobbibill

It is rarely a good idea to consolidate debt

You are better to plod along making sure you meet the minimum payments on all cards and paying extra on the highest interest debt with overpayments, when it's cleared move on to the next debt and so on.
Try putting your figures in here, it is a snowball calculator and will give you a good idea of when you are likely to be debt free.

Also look at the OD as another debt, paying off £x each month so that it gradually decreases. I found that leaving my DD's going out of my OD account and setting up a separate spending account allowed me to include the OD payment into my bills budget and therefore it was accounted for every single month without fail. I just moved £x amount to my spending account for the month and left the OD account take care of itself.

You may benefit by completing a SOA for people to advise you of ways to cut down. This can be found here.

HTH

DCFC79

You only need to read the threads on here about consolidation and it not working.

Look at your spending and cut back. Post up a statement of affairs on dfw board.

Oh and don't read too much into your credit score, lenders don't see it, they only see the history which is important.

rising_from_the_ashes

Surely flights to Spain can't be that much on a budget airline?

IMHO either you save the money needed to go ..... or ..... not go

Harsh maybe - but paying back flights over 3 years just doesn't stack up I'm afraid

As others have said, consolidation rarely works ..... best just to keep slogging it out and clear them - well done on what you've achieved so far.

Re applying for a loan - the lenders don't see the score so it's irrelevant - each will have their own lending criteria.

PeacefulWaters

Completely against the idea of borrowing for a holiday. That needs to be paid for from normal income and savings. Not extra debt.

Uncomfortable with consolidation loans. But if the rate you will pay is lower and you have the discipline to ensure you don't build up new debts again there's a case for it.

If you've any doubts over the discipline, don't do it.

chesky

Well, your first mistake here was calling your visit a holiday! You'd have got a slightly more sympathetic response if you'd just said it was to be there to see your first grandchild and left it at that. Also, you can get a return flight for a pretty small sum, so if you can stay with your son, then your visit could be done fairly cheaply. Nobody here can advise you on a further loan (though everyone is at one on the fact that consolidation hardly ever works), because you've been so vague about your debts and your income, even though you do seem to be dealing with your finances. If you were more specific you could get more advice.

andyfromotley

Single_Woman wrote: »

Other option is to apply for credit card for holiday & plod on trying to pay my overdraft & shop cards as Im already doing.

What would others do?

Thanks

No, another option is not to take a holiday that you can't afford.

Given that you have been in trouble with debt before you don't seem to have managed to wean yourself of the credit gravy train. Overdraft, Store cards, loan or credit card for a holiday?? Oh and a bit of consolidation..... so the debt spiral begins.

You urgently need to learn how to live within your means. Nearly always the key to this is effective budgeting. Master that and you should be able to afford what you want in life.

Single_Woman

Maybe it was a big mistake calling it a holiday! The only reason I'm going is for my 1st grandchild & my son wanting me there. I have not had a holiday in 12years & am petrified of flying so believe me this isn't about a holiday!

Thanks for yr advice on debt consolidation. I don't really want to take a loan or even have a credit card. This is about building my credit file back up! I understood using a credit card builds up yr credit file??

I am slowly getting there & believe me I don't intend to ever put myself in that position again! I think I will plod on with what I'm already doing.

I work full time & have a very small mortgage (£8k) on my house & own my own car. The only stumbling block now is overdraft & 2 x store cards totalling about £300, which I am slowly reducing.

Thanks again

BrassicWoman

can your son help you with a budget airline flight?