To consolidate or not?

Dylanwing

In the interest of balance, I consolidated and was glad I did. Main tip - Cut up the cards and close the accounts! My cards were not 0% though.

kcmatt79

Right here goes with my SOA:

Incomings:

Salary: £1,279 pcm
Tutoring: £54 pcm
Total: £1,333

Debts:

Barclaycard £552 - at 0%
Egg loan £2770 - at 6.7%
NatWest Credit card £620 at 0%
Tesco Credit card 273 at 0%
Sky Credit card £1010 at 0%
Lloyds Credit card £5526 at 0%
Overdraft £2000 (£250 at 0%) Rest at 15.9%

Outgoings (per month)

Debt repayments: £459
Mortgage & bills: £330
Car insurance: £25
Pet insurance: £18
Contact lenses: £25
Mobile phone: £21
Petrol: £80
Food: £160
Piano lessons: £40
Total: £1,117

I can't think of anything else at the moment, other than things that crop up annually such as car tax, repairs/maintenance etc.

Hope this is helpful and people can give me a good idea of where to go next. I think I've done pretty well over the last year with paying off some of my debt and managing to keep them all at 0%, but I feel like I'm struggling making these payments now.

firesidemaid

kcmatt79 wrote: »

Right here goes with my SOA:

Incomings:

Salary: £1,279 pcm
Tutoring: £54 pcm
Total: £1,333

Debts:

Barclaycard £552 - at 0%
Egg loan £2770 - at 6.7%
NatWest Credit card £620 at 0%
Tesco Credit card 273 at 0%
Sky Credit card £1010 at 0%
Lloyds Credit card £5526 at 0%
Overdraft £2000 (£250 at 0%) Rest at 15.9%

Outgoings (per month)

Debt repayments: £459
Mortgage & bills: £330 can any of the bills be reduced?
Car insurance: £25 when this is due, find cheapest + quidco
Pet insurance: £18 is your pet older/exisiting condition?
Contact lenses: £25 have you tried cheaper online + quidco?
Mobile phone: £21 are you tied in?
Petrol: £80
Food: £160 is this for 2? this can be reduced with shopping lists + old style board.
Piano lessons: £40 is this necesary whilst paying off debts - £500 per year!
Total: £1,117

I can't think of anything else at the moment, other than things that crop up annually such as car tax, repairs/maintenance etc.

Hope this is helpful and people can give me a good idea of where to go next. I think I've done pretty well over the last year with paying off some of my debt and managing to keep them all at 0%, but I feel like I'm struggling making these payments now.

annual bills can be quite a lot - cat tax, insurance, house insurance etc

Dylanwing

cat tax,

Will the taxman be sending me a bill for my 3 moggies?????:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: And what about my dog???

jamesd

The overdraft is costing you about 23 a month in interest so at the moment that's what you should be paying as much as possible on. Suspending the piano lessons is probably a good idea.

If your mortgage allows repayment holidays or temporarily switching to interest only, using those options to reduce the higher interest rate debts and catching up on the mortgage later would be helpful.

If you don't yet bank with Alliance & Leicester, they have an overdraft limit matching deal and a much lower overdraft interest rate if you use their account switching service. You don't have to actually close your original account, just switch at least one bill and pay 500 a month into the account, which could then be used to pay bills or just taken out again.

You could also look to keep the credit card debts on the card with the lowest percentage for minimum payment - 2% rather than 3% or 5 if you have those choices. This will cost you more over the long term if you kept it up but short term it will free up more cash to reduce the overdraft you're paying interest on.

firesidemaid

Dylanwing wrote: »

Will the taxman be sending me a bill for my 3 moggies?????:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: And what about my dog???

just saw that! one too many pimms me thinks.....:o

Tr@cker

I dont think one size fits all in these situations. It can be psyhcologically beneficial to some people to have just the one payment per month rather than lots of cards even if this costs more over the period.
As already mentioned though its crucial to actually dump the cards if you do consolidate, its known that a significant number of people dont and just run up more debts. Maybe you could compromise and go for a 6 year deal which would cost that much less also if the sh*t did hit the fan you'd have just the one creditor to deal with. Its obviously playing on your mind so i personally i'd consolidate.

kcmatt79

Thanks for the replies. I hadn't checked this thread for a while because I put it over on Debt-free wannabe as well (thought it might be better over there). I am still considering things, but I think it would be best just to keep things as they are at the moment. I'm going to give it another couple of months and see how things go. I've also signed up for mystery shopping, and I'm keeping a spending diary online.As for cutting back:I'm cutting out pianoI can cut down on my mobile soon - was tied in until September. I can possibly cut down on the contact lenses, but with Boots I get free eyetests, 33% off glasses, so I'm not sure if it will work out better in the long run?The food can be cut down and I'm starting this soon. We already organise a weekly menu, but I know we can cut out some luxuries and shop cheaper elsewhere (market etc)Not sure about the pet insurance, I need to check that out. Problem is, Monty's had lots of claims!! (very prone to accidents, is my dog!)Any other thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

kcmatt79

P.S. Can anyone tell me why it cuts out my paragraphs when I type on here and puts it all together as one?

firesidemaid

hi there

good for you for sticking at it for now. do you use your mobile a lot - could you go to payg and keep it to a minimum?

there are threads or stickys on here for saving money (and getting cashback) on just about everything on here - from contact lenses, utilities, insurances, mobiles etc.

if you can calculate the savings you make and start overpaying your overdraft you will then pay less interest which will also help pay it off quicker. if you could reduce your food bills to £100 a month, that £60 saving plus the £40 piano fees means you have already freed up £100 a month to overpay your debts.

if you think about or work out how long you will have to work/how much longer you will have to pay off your debt each time you go to buy something, however little, it might help you to pay it all off quicker.

most asdas and tescos take at least 10% off your bill in coupons for any product as long as they sell it (u don't have to buy it) - look out for coupons in the staff tearoom - i do!

do you get any deals from being a teacher/in a teachers union such as money-off vouchers etc - worth checking?

good luck - let us know how you get on - you can do it, i bet quicker than u think x