help help help

lilly-rose_2

I have been unwell for over two years now, and although i have never falted on our mortgage or any untily bill, i have four credit cards totaling £9000, but i am being late with payments in the last 5 months so am being charged left right and centre, the payments are due again now, and i owe last months as well so its even more money, just wondering if anyone has any advice for me, as i cant shuffle because two of the cards are mbna ebl and virgin which i have found out to be the same company and you cant pay off the balance with the same company . Plus because i have been late with payments i am being refused any more credit cards to switch to. Have i turned into a lost cause ..........................

GeorgeUK

Are there any accounts that you haven't paid late on?
It may be worth calling them and asking if they can reduce the rate.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards
The shuffle has a few options, but as you have already been turned down for cards, you may struggle. Also try asking your existing banks if you can do a BT and if they have any deals. Most don't do a new credit check on existing customers.

Have a look at the snowballing calculator and see if you can cut some costs by transferring some of the higher interest debt onto a lower card.
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

lilly-rose_2

what is a bt that you ask the banks for ???

GeorgeUK

Sorry

BT = Balance Transfer.

If you have credit available on a card, you can transfer debt from another card to it (although you know to watch out for companies with the same card provider like mbna) you could transfer between say Virgin and RBoS.

If you go to the DFW (Debt Free Wanabee) board and post up a SOA (Statement of Affairs) they may be able to point out where you can make other savings and how best to deal with this.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

If you are struggling to meet the payments though, a DMP (Debt Management Plan) may be best, but i would suggest first contacting one of the free advisors like:

Professional, free and impartial advice on debt problems can be obtained from several charitable and 'not for profit' organisations. They never make a penny from the advice they give, which means it will be given with only your best interests at heart. You can contact:

Your local CAB Office and ask to speak to a 'money advisor' *** The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111 *** National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 *** Payplan - Tel: 0800 917 7823

Details shamelessly knicked from fermi's signature

If transfers are not an option you might want to look at the CC article and what it says about the LOB (Life of Balance) cards which may be easier to obtain.

lilly-rose_2

Thanks for the advice, am finding this site so hard to use, i cant seem to post anything apart from this page lol

GeorgeUK

Lol - you'll get used to it.

The only buttons you need to worry about are "new thread" and "post reply".
After that, you can start looking at the others

I'd strongly advise posting up a SOA though. There are quite a few experienced moneysavers on the DFW board. The sooner they can advise, the sooner you'll get your debt settled.