Struggling with Barclaycard Debt

steveo1982

Hello all,

Long story short I am useless with money. I struggle to save and spend as soon as I have it.

Latest example of this is I have ran up a £5700 bill on my barclaycard that I am now struggling to pay off.

The interest on the card is 12.9% which isnt too high but while I pay on average £128 a month off the card half of this is interest.

I have tried transferring the balance to another card but I keep getting rejected or they offer me a limit that is literally one tenth of what I need.

I need help as I feel like I will never get this debt paid off. I was considering speaking to Barclaycard to see if there was anything they can do to help me but I have heard horror stories about their lack of interest in these matters. I was also considering a debt consolidation loan with my bank to clear the card and just have a single monthly payment going out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is part of my journey to becoming debt free.

Thanks
Steve

[Deleted User]

Accept all the BT offers you've had. Better to save some interest than none.

Then pay as much as you can to the Barclaycard debt in the interim.

PeacefulWaters

steveo1982 wrote: »

Long story short I am useless with money. I struggle to save and spend as soon as I have it.

Choose to change this reckless behaviour.

Latest example of this is I have ran up a £5700 bill on my barclaycard that I am now struggling to pay off.

If you haven't done so already, cut the card up. Or put it in a small plastic bag, place it in a small container filled with water, and freeze it.

The interest on the card is 12.9% which isnt too high but while I pay on average £128 a month off the card half of this is interest.

I have tried transferring the balance to another card but I keep getting rejected or they offer me a limit that is literally one tenth of what I need.

Ok, you've reached a point where you're going to struggle to reduce the interest charge. So forget about new credit applications. If they try to increase your good rate, reject the increase.

I need help as I feel like I will never get this debt paid off. I was considering speaking to Barclaycard to see if there was anything they can do to help me but I have heard horror stories about their lack of interest in these matters.

There is nothing they can do without wrecking your credit file. You need self-discipline. The debt reduces every month you make the minimum payment. The more you pay, the faster it will reduce. By paying more than minimum payment EVERY month you will also improve your chances of getting a 0% card in future.

I was also considering a debt consolidation loan with my bank to clear the card and just have a single monthly payment going out.

Barclaycard is just one payment. This makes no sense. Unless there are other debts you've not mentioned.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is part of my journey to becoming debt free.

Accept it will take time to clear the debt. Change your impulsive spending behaviours. Post a statement of affairs on the debt free wannabe forum and seek help there.

Spend less on stuff. Use the saving to accelerate debt reduction.
Pay more off the balance than the minimum payment.
Post a SOA on Debt-Free Wannabe.
Get a second job. Work overtime. Do online surveys. Use the extra income to accelerate debt reduction.

chattychappy

steveo1982 wrote: »

Long story short I am useless with money. I struggle to save and spend as soon as I have it.

This is an "out of the box" idea. I knew a bloke like you. Good job/income. Absolutely hopeless and weak-willed with money.

He married an Asian girl... he willing gave up control of his finances to her. She opens all the post and organises all the home finances. She gives him back the cash he needs and a low limit credit card. He loves it!

All good answers so far, but depending on your family set up is that an option?

redpete

steveo1982 wrote: »

I was also considering a debt consolidation loan with my bank to clear the card and just have a single monthly payment going out.

Why does having a single outgoing payment make any difference to managing your money - it's all automatic anyhow.

With your attitude to money an additional loan sounds a very bad idea - I'd say you would be highly likely to spend on the CC again and end up with twice as much debt.

Put all your credit cards in a container full of water in the freezer. Use your debit card to spend only what you have in the current account.

pvt

steveo1982 wrote: »

Long story short I am useless with money. I struggle to save and spend as soon as I have it.

Latest example of this is I have ran up a £5700 bill on my barclaycard that I am now struggling to pay off.

Forgive my judgemental observation, but what you've done by running up a near £6k debt is spend before you have it rather than as soon as you have it.

Tinkering around the edges with consolidation and like is futile. As others have suggested, you need to wake up, smell the coffee, and change your approach to money altogether. Otherwise you'll be on this forum again in 12 months' time asking how to get a £27k balance transfer card...

Dobbibill

steveo1982 wrote: »

Hello all,

Long story short I am useless with money. I struggle to save and spend as soon as I have it.

If this is where you struggle then change your set up so that you don't/can't 'have it'. Saving while you have debt is going to be minimal, you should get an emergency fund to resist spending further on credit cards should your washing machine breakdown or other such circumstances. Maybe setting up separate accounts for bills, spending and emergencies will work better for you. As soon as you get paid put the money in the right pots/accounts. Put any cards or access to other pots/accounts away, out of reach. If you are very disciplined, this will give you a workable routine.

There is a thread for saving an emergency fund if you want to join with plenty of others to motivate and encourage you.

Latest example of this is I have ran up a £5700 bill on my barclaycard that I am now struggling to pay off.

This makes me think this is ongoing and has happened several times in various ways. You need to address why/how this is happening. If you only treat the symptom not the cause, it's never going to end. Find out why you keep getting into debt.

The interest on the card is 12.9% which isnt too high but while I pay on average £128 a month off the card half of this is interest.

I have tried transferring the balance to another card but I keep getting rejected or they offer me a limit that is literally one tenth of what I need.

Stop applying, you are going to appear desperate to lenders. Accept the credit card deals you've been offered. They may be less than you'd hoped for but getting some of it onto a 0% deal is better than leaving it all where it is. In time, they may up your limit, offer more/different deals or it may evidence stability making you more appealing to future deals/providers.

I need help as I feel like I will never get this debt paid off. I was considering speaking to Barclaycard to see if there was anything they can do to help me but I have heard horror stories about their lack of interest in these matters. I was also considering a debt consolidation loan with my bank to clear the card and just have a single monthly payment going out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is part of my journey to becoming debt free.

This debt didn't appear overnight and it isn't going to disappear overnight either. You will need to put in some hard graft to clear it.

Good advice offered already to go over to the DFW forum and post a SOA. They have been in similar situations and will share the best way forward.

Debt consolidation rarely works as the lines of credit don't get closed down, life throws a curve ball in and it's all too tempting/justifiable to use the credit cards again. We find many posters return a year later with double the debt so don't do it.

steveo1982

Thank you all for your excellent replies.

I am going to go down the route of putting the card in the freezer and not touching it again. I will see if I can get Barclaycard to reduce the limit each month so no temptation to spend on it.

I will need to learn self discipline and I do like the idea of letting my wife handle the house hold finances as some of you have mentioned.

The last thing I want is to come back in 12 months time with double the debt. I want to come back in 12 months debt free but it wont happen.

I like the idea of posting an SOA on the forum so will look in to doing that as soon as possible.

Again thank you so much for your help and suggestions so far :-)

Superscrooge

steveo1982 wrote: »

The interest on the card is 12.9% which isnt too high but while I pay on average £128 a month off the card half of this is interest.

I have tried transferring the balance to another card but I keep getting rejected or they offer me a limit that is literally one tenth of what I need.

Steve

Even if you can only get one tenth of the balance transferred to 0% that is better than nothing.

Although half your payment is interest. As long as you stop spending on the card, the balance and therefore the interest payments will gradually reduce. Therefore each month more of your payment will go towards paying off the balance, so you will gradually pay off the balance faster and faster/ .

Keep paying off as much as you can each month and your debt situation will improve

chuckley

Have you worked out what your 'trigger is when it comes to spending?
In my case I saw spending as a challenge. I'd blow all of my wages within the first two days of payday and then work out how to 'survive' on little to know money.

I always got a buzz out of scraping by. I don't know why or how. But I saw it as some kind of success very time I was able to do it.

I wised up when I got bored of shopping and not really caring for the stuff I was buying. Then I opened a regular saver and set up a S/O for a small amount which I'll push up the more confident I get with each wage. The best way for me is to pay the most important debts as soon as I get paid, soon you won't even realise it's 'missing'.

steveo1982

chuckley wrote: »

Have you worked out what your 'trigger is when it comes to spending?
In my case I saw spending as a challenge. I'd blow all of my wages within the first two days of payday and then work out how to 'survive' on little to know money.
/

I always got a buzz out of scraping by. I don't know why or how. But I saw it as some kind of success very time I was able to do it.

I wised up when I got bored of shopping and not really caring for the stuff I was buying. Then I opened a regular saver and set up a S/O for a small amount which I'll push up the more confident I get with each wage. The best way for me is to pay the most important debts as soon as I get paid, soon you won't even realise it's 'missing'.

I dont think it is a trigger as such that causes my spending. I was using the card when I ran out of money in my current account. The card was used for food and petrol mostly. Wifes wages dropped down to a quarter when she was on mat leave over the past 3 years so when she didnt have the money to get food or things for the babies then I would end up putting it on the card. I made the mistake of keeping this to myself (Yes I know it was a stupid and naughty thing to do) and when I finally told her the look of disappointment was enough to make me realise my mistakes and realise that things need to change.