Want to pay off credit cards...any advice?

Dual

Good day all you wonderful debt busters

Looking for some general advice on my current situation with my credit cards.

I have a 3 cards at the moment with a combined debt of £9900. 2 cards are on interest free until middle of next year and I am making the minimum payment, the 3rd card is on a standard APR.

I owe about £8200k on the interest free cards and £1700 on the standard one. (no room left to move the £1700 to the interest free one im afraid)

Checking the credit card calculator I presume I'll be dead before I pay these off using the minimum payment scheme. :eek:

I am looking to sort out my finances and get rid of these cards as quickly as possible. My current available cash left after paying my monthly bills doesnt allow for much overpayments. I currently pay about £270 repayments on these cards combined

I am considering getting a £10k loan to consolidate and pay it off over 3 years. I'll pay about £300 per month back (no protection).

In terms of spending on the cards, I have accumulated the debt over the past 6 years on this and that, holidays, clothes, christmas overspend etc, nothing important and I am fully prepared to cancel the cards and live without them. Ive enough clothes to live in (unless I grow in size dramatically) and i can live without an expensive holiday for the next 2 years.

I do save a small amount per month of £140 into a savings scheme but I would like to continue to so do as it helps with Xmas and any must do emergiences like Car breakdown, home maintenance etc.

My question....... Is consoldating in my circumstances a good idea to get rid of the debt asap and also, should I wait until the interest free period is over...why pay loan interest when for a short while im paying no interest on the majority of the debt for the next 6-8 months?

Your expert advice is welcomed.

Many thanks

SunderlandBlackCat

Consolidation loans usually cost a lot more & take a lot longer to pay off than actually tackling your existing debts head on.

Many if not most on here have had at at least 1 failed consolidation (2 personally) before we learned the hard way.

Put your current debts into the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

It will show you the quickest & cheapest way to tackle your debts & also do a comparison of how much more consolidating could cost.

cat4772

Dual

Consolidation might get rid of the CC debt, but you'll have the loan for a lot longer!

Will you be happy to pay off £300 a month - as SBC said check out snowballing and overpaying and see how that works.

You could also post your SOA (see MSE Andreas post at the top of page 1) and the rest of DFW will be able to offer advice about where additional savings might be made.

Good luck

Cat.x

GeorgeUK

How long have you had the 0% cards? Have you tried phoning them and asking to increase your limit? Some do this after a few months.

Personally, i'd just try to get more 0% cards near the end of your promotional offer. Getting a loan will just add interest and you could probably clear the cards within 2 years at your current rate.

Use the snowball calculator as suggested and see how much time is cut off of your debt free date if you just pay half of those savings after Christmas. The cards will be clear much soon er and you can top up the savings when you are debt free.

hypno06

What sunderlandblackcat has to say is the way that I would go - use the snowball calculator, chuck every spare penny at the cards, and see them tumble!

£10k (ish) of debt, when most of it is currently at 0% is not an amount that should take you long to clear, if you focus and make a significant effort. You could be clear of it in a year or two if you really wanted - a whole lot better than any consolidation loan can offer!

Good luck!