Debt Consoldation Help

hollymrawlings

Hey all,


Until six months ago everything was going great to becoming debt free! However my motorbike was then stolen and I had to continue to pay for the bike and travel to work and on top of this I have had to deal with a relationship breakdown. To help cover my travel costs and insurance fees I have used both of my credit cards.


I can afford the payments however am paying a lot in interest and am not eligible for an increase to enable me to consolidate the two onto one card and pay lower interest and enable me to pay off more of the debt. I have applied for personal loans but have been turned down there too - it's really frustrating knowing that I could afford the repayments but not being accepted.


My job is stable as is my home and I am not expecting any changes in my circumstance. I'm just not sure what to do to enable me to bring down my interests.

DebtFreeDuo

Have either of your credit cards offered you a 0% balance transfer you could consider? The only way I managed to get my credit card debt onto a 0% deal was to increase my limit and do a balance transfer that was offered on my barclaycard. I wouldn't recommend a consolidation loan as these tend to get us into more trouble (in my experience).

National_Debtline

Hi there and welcome to MSE,


If you have recently done some credit applications these will leave 'searches' on your credit file. If there are a few of these, and no credit was awarded this can actually damage your credit rating and could be affecting you get other credit. They only show for 12 months so you could try again once the searched drop off.


Alternatively you might want to try and get some financial advice about your options. DebtFreeDuo is right to be cautious about consolidation loans. You will repay more overall (with the compounded interest) and there is always a risk of spending on the cards again and getting into more debt. You could look at a 0% balance transfer but for just part of the balance (if you can't find one for the whole balance) but this requires some careful budget planning to use it to its full advantage. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

[Deleted User]

Post up a SOA, and let the FMs advise you.