Consolidate credit card debts or not?

MallyGirl

It sounds like you have addressed all the root causes which is often not the way when people think about consolidation. Really well done on that. The main reason I would sway away from the loan is that it is still a pretty high APR and there could be the temptation there to take it over a slightly longer period than you need (because you can) so this could end up costing more interest than you might be saving.
I would use the CC interest as the driving force to chuck everything but the kitchen sink at the cards - in snowball order. As you pay each one off and close it, whilst maintaining the others with min payments, it increases your chances of getting a 0% transfer elsewhere so you could end up with a sprint finish towards the end that just isn't likely with a loan and optional overpayments.
good luck

Dobbibill

MrsA27 wrote: »

I'm also hesitant to jump straight onto getting a consolidation loan as it may mean the loan being secured against my home which I'd rather not have.

Another reason to avoid the loan option.

Moving the debt from unsecured to secured is a bad idea.

All the best

MrsA27

MallyGirl wrote: »

It sounds like you have addressed all the root causes which is often not the way when people think about consolidation. Really well done on that. The main reason I would sway away from the loan is that it is still a pretty high APR and there could be the temptation there to take it over a slightly longer period than you need (because you can) so this could end up costing more interest than you might be saving.
I would use the CC interest as the driving force to chuck everything but the kitchen sink at the cards - in snowball order. As you pay each one off and close it, whilst maintaining the others with min payments, it increases your chances of getting a 0% transfer elsewhere so you could end up with a sprint finish towards the end that just isn't likely with a loan and optional overpayments.
good luck

Thanks Mallygirl. Now that the rest of the issues have been taken care of I'm focusing on various options to drive down the total cost of repayment so as to speed up the repayment. Like you said, hopefully with continued regular (maybe slightly higher) payment I can persuade some of the bigger lenders like Barclays to offer me BT again to clear off the remaining debt faster. I'm glad I took the plunge and decided to seek advice here before making a decision. It helps listening to people's advice and past experience.


I agree with what you say about the temptation to stretch the length longer based on my current affordability.