Need advise please

Matesy

The holiday has been and gone and to be honest I wish I could change
my financial lifestyle and that is why I am . I don't think we our the worse . We pay our bills and as I say it is lack of extra cash.
Some people r very welcoming on here while some I feel make you feel worse and as one said what done is done I can't change that but I can do something now .
We have cut our broadband phone sky by half
Our phones our contract and cant do anything till they run out.
We want to combine 3 credit cards into a loan so that means we will have no credit cards
As the interest is the problem can anyone give some advise please

rockabillygirl

Have you tried shifting the debt to 0% credit cards - there is a section on the website where you can check out the chance of you being accepted without it showing on your credit file.
Good luck!

[Deleted User]

Matesy wrote: »

We want to combine 3 credit cards into a loan so that means we will have no credit cards
As the interest is the problem can anyone give some advise please

It's called consolidating and, as someone who's been there and got the T-Shirt (three times ), it's not something I'd recommend.

[Deleted User]

Matesy wrote: »

The holiday has been and gone

From the way you phrased it in your OP, it sounded like it was booked, but not yet taken.

fatbelly

Matesy wrote: »

The holiday has been and gone and to be honest I wish I could change
my financial lifestyle and that is why I am . I don't think we our the worse . We pay our bills and as I say it is lack of extra cash.
Some people r very welcoming on here while some I feel make you feel worse and as one said what done is done I can't change that but I can do something now .
We have cut our broadband phone sky by half
Our phones our contract and cant do anything till they run out.
We want to combine 3 credit cards into a loan so that means we will have no credit cards
As the interest is the problem can anyone give some advise please

Hi Matesy

We can't give sensible advice until you give us information in a structured way, hence the link earlier on to a soa (statement of affairs) calculator. Please format for mse and remove any links before posting.

Debt consolidation is not usually the way forward - you will find lots of posters on this forum have 'been there, got the t-shirt, didn't work''.

You will find posters on this forum are not judgemental (and if they are they get removed). Our aim will be to get you debt-free in a reasonable timescale.

-taff

Getting cnsolidation loans rarely works.
Personally, I would spend money on credit cards [ for things like the shopping/bills/household items because I was spending too much money elsewhere, like going out, or nice things ] because I wasn't spending my money on the basics first.

Then I would pay off the credit cards/overdrafts with the loans. Then I would start spending, maybe 50 pounds here and there on the credit cards...At the middle point of the loan period, I would owe the original amount that I paid off on the cards or more on the cards again, plus the loan I'd had to clear them in the first place.

If any of that sounds familiar then I can tell you the only thing that helped me stop doing that was to cut up the cards , and pay them all off individually.
Take a look at the snowball calculator
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

OP can you let us know either your SOA or what the debt is made up of, any information you can give will allow others to try to help.

BTW ive been bankrupt, doesnt get much worse than that so theres light at the end of the tunnel!

MrsSave

I definitely agree with others with regards to the SOA. It won't be easy to put together, but could be a big eye opener for you to see where the money is actually going.

Consolidating would be a massive no. With the increase in your debts over the past 4 years, it appears you need to learn to be able to live without increasing debt initially.

It is very difficult to advise further without seeing an SOA. But, remember, people are on these forums to help others. Even if people suggest things that you don't like, it is because they believe it is best for you and your circumstances, and most people here have lived through (or are living through) debt themselves so know what they're talking about.

Ilona

A few thoughts in bold.

Matesy wrote: »

We want to combine 3 credit cards into a loan so that means we will have no credit cards

You are talking about shifting the debt from one place to another, that's just sticking a plaster over it. Consolidation loans rarely work. A good start would be if you cut your credit cards up now and write to them to close the accounts? Then you will have no credit cards.

As the interest is the problem can anyone give some advise please

It's not the interest that's the problem, the problem is that you are spending more than you earn. If you could address that you are halfway there. As I mentioned before, we would like to help you but we need more information. We can't advise you properly without the full picture. I know it's painful, but if you could make a start, you will feel better.

Ilona

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

I agree with Ilona, part of the helping process is to acknowledge the problem which you have done, the next step is to do something about it.

Cut the cards up - great step.

Will be daunting at first.

I now take cash out every month, my wife takes control and we buy what we need each week. Works for me,