It's probably been said about a million times

sambalina

I have debt. Who doesn't?
But I have worked out its about 15 thousand all in.
I have a car on finance and a personal loan which should both be paid off by next year. Freeing up about 250 a month.
I have store cards and catalogues amounting to about 2000 between them.
I also have 2 credit cards amounting to 7000 between them.

I have applied for a loan today to consolidate debts and was refused.
I can't apply for a 0% balance transfer credit card cos I can no longer get one.

My question is where do I start?
I want this paid off.

glasgowm148

Make a budget, cut out luxuries, make sure you can meet all your minimum payments and start paying off the highest APR debt first.

freshcotton

It's actually a good thing that you were refused further credit as it probably would have made your situation worse. My debts at the highest were £25k. Change your mindset and basically stop spending money.

Your journey to becoming debt free can be a positive one

sambalina

My loan and my car are both paid by next year so I don't want to consolidate them as it will be daft.
I want to get my credit cards paid off but they are both 0%for a while longer I don't think I'll be able to do a balance transfer again now. Not while I have all this going on.
My main ones are Very, Next and Simply Be. Start with them and make payments as best I can on the rest.
This is my plan.
I also want to get a mortgage on the next few years so if I can get rid of these then I'm hoping it may look better for a mortgage application in a few years time.
Credit cards are cut up

Plan in place

enthusiasticsaver

You need to budget to live within your income and cut expenses to make bigger repayments to get the debt down. A consolidation loan would just delay you addressing the problem of your overspending. Post an soa for advice on reducing outgoings.

Dobbibill

sambalina wrote: »

I have debt. Who doesn't?
But I have worked out its about 15 thousand all in.
I have a car on finance and a personal loan which should both be paid off by next year. Freeing up about 250 a month.
I have store cards and catalogues amounting to about 2000 between them.
I also have 2 credit cards amounting to 7000 between them.

I have applied for a loan today to consolidate debts and was refused.
I can't apply for a 0% balance transfer credit card cos I can no longer get one.

My question is where do I start?
I want this paid off.

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

Consolidation doesn't work for many many people. There are numerous examples all over the forum.

As said, refusal for a consolidation loan has been the wake up call you need. (You won't think this at the moment) It's a contradiction itself, consolidation is not getting rid of the debt....it's merely moving it - the debt will still exist, just in a different form of lending.

Post up a SOA so the good, friendly people here can offer some tailored advice.

Don't expect it to be cleared overnight, that's not how it got to the levels it's at. It is do-able though, it just requires determination and discipline.

theoretica

Also, be very honest with yourself about how you got into this debt so you can be sure to change whatever it was.

sambalina

In all honesty it's been big stuff. Not like I've wanted beer or the cinema or something. It was my wedding dress, our Florida honeymoon.
Xmas definitely contributed to my store cards and catalogues.

I figured I would pay them off first. They have the highest APR.
The credit cards are 0% for now I got a 48 month deal on them
The car finance and the personal loan are both gonna be paid off by September 18.

I've never had this much debt in my life so I panicked but once I sat down and sorted it all out it's not too bad. Definitely manageable if I do it properly

I've also closed 2 accounts that have been sitting there and have nothing on them. A La Redoute and H&M both closed this morning. Hoping that helps too.

MrsTinks

As others have said - an SOA is really central to us being able to help you re-shape your budget and priorities

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

ReadingTim

Well, I guess everyone has some years which are more expensive than others - getting married, buying a house, having a first child could all see the outgoings rise above income for a time. As long as you can pay down the debts before the next big event/expenditure arrives, you're probably ok, but if you find you're rolling from loan to loan, never quite clearing the credit card, you're basically living beyond your means.

I think you probably need to work it all out properly - how much you owe, and your monthly income and outgoings (ie an SOA) - only then can you get an accurate picture: £15k is quite a lot of money, and I feel there's a slight air of denial as to the amount, what you've spent it on or the ease with which you'll pay it off. Good luck!

sambalina

ReadingTim wrote: »

£15k is quite a lot of money, and I feel there's a slight air of denial as to the amount, what you've spent it on or the ease with which you'll pay it off. Good luck!

I feel I have been very honest.
We got married and had a honeymoon in 2016 which mainly went on credit cards(£7k between them)
We have a car on finance and We have a loan, both of which should be paid off by next year. (£5k between them)
Xmas was also tough and used a lot of catalogues. (£3k between them)

We did a lot of stuff last year and we are paying for it now. My wages basically pay £100 a week off one of them.
My husband has been out of work for 6 weeks so I've been struggling to pay all this on my own.

I sat down and listed all my outgoings and incomings over the weekend.
My plan is to tackle the catalogues first as they have the highest APR and then see what I can do with the rest.
I have downloaded an app on my phone which lists everything to the penny so I can visibly see the debt being reduced.

I am trying to come up with a plan to start making a dent in this