Loan, Credit card or savings

MNM2903

Hi,

Just looking for some input, me and my partner are struggling month on month at the moment this is due to a change of jobs, reduced hours due to having a child, nursery fees etc.

We also have 4 weddings for close friends which includes a couple of stag and hen party to go on which is contributing to the struggle.

We have savings in our help to buy ISA which totals £2258 however we now find ourselves in the same situation as we have for the last few months this early on in to the month where we only have around £200 in the bank to live off which includes birthdays, fuel, shopping etc.

Now i know its not the end of the world as the financial struggle is mainly being seen because of the social events we have as the weddings and hen dos etc are not cheap.

Ive told my GF that we should use the help to buy ISA money to pay of our argos card and cover the costs of our HEN / stag partys and also we have a holiday in Turkey in August which we need spending money for. Shes suggesting a loan or interest free credit card as an option, however im not keen on extra debt as we do also have a loan and a credit card which the credit card only has £500 on which was an interest free balance transfer for 35 months so were not too worried about that.

Just wanted to get peoples thoughts? Its a bit of a first world problem because the struggle is coming from luxuries we could do without non the less id stil like people opinions.

Thanks,

[Deleted User]

Cancel the holiday and just send a small gift for the weddings. I'd be shocked if people who like you enough to invite you to their weddings would want to put you under considerable financial strain to do so.

Then visit the DFW boards for advice on cutting costs.

MNM2903

were not looking to cancel anything, we are normally fine and manage to save £300 per month aswell as live comfortably but this is a busy year and we just trying to decide on the best option to get us through the rest of this year.

Your option is obviously the sensible one but friends and family and holidays are what we work for and you cant buy those. I guess the question would be more to do with the Help to buy ISA savings we have and whether or not we can just open a new one once were back in a position to save again. I should add we already have a house and a mortgage under my girlfriends name, the help to buy isa is in my name as ive not purchased a home myself yet so its not like we are renting and desperate to get out, we just had plans to start looking for somewhere bigger in 2020 but this may mean delaying to 2021.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

MNM2903 wrote: »

Your option is obviously the sensible one but friends and family and holidays are what we work for and you cant buy those.

I'm pretty sure you can buy holidays. The first two, maybe, maybe not.

If you're set on getting credit to pay for it, you need to consider options. There are interest free options, long term and short term options.

Can you pay it back within a card promo period? Or do you need a longer term interest bearing loan?

Do you earn enough for the amount you want? Will your credit histories support it? If you're struggling now, you may not pass affordability.

At least have a look at eligibility checkers to narrow down your options.

But the best option would be savings.

MNM2903

yeah we can get a credit card we both have good credit history i have £500 on a credit card and thats my only debt, all the other debt Mortgage and loan are my girlfriends so in terms of affordability i will be fine i just dont like the idea of getting more debt to get by if we have savings even though it is in a help to buy ISA which has great benefits in terms of the interest we get when we do go for our joint mortgage.

I dont mean the holiday its self but the time with family etc when on holiday, love the sarcasm though :P

I guess in my head im wanting to use the savings we have but im wanting to know if that idiotic and an interest free credit card would be better I have checked eligibility and i have a few high street lenders showing 95% eligibility for their interest free 30-40 month credit cards, virgin, barclays etc

MNM2903

Deleted_User wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you can buy holidays. The first two, maybe, maybe not.

If you're set on getting credit to pay for it, you need to consider options. There are interest free options, long term and short term options.

Can you pay it back within a card promo period? Or do you need a longer term interest bearing loan?

Do you earn enough for the amount you want? Will your credit histories support it? If you're struggling now, you may not pass affordability.

At least have a look at eligibility checkers to narrow down your options.

But the best option would be savings.

Savings it is, get this year over with, Christmas time will be great as we pay for park vouchers each month, thats when we wont be struggling funnily enough thanks for the advice

Sncjw

You don!!!8217;t have to go to the stag or hen do. Maybe be honest with the people who have wedding coming up. You can!!!8217;t afford to go to the hen and stag do.

Is the wedding having free drinks if there!!!8217;s free drinks for so long maybe have water the rest of the night which should be free in time places that serve alcohol. Just tell them you have money set aside for your holiday that you can!!!8217;t afford to dip into.

I!!!8217;m sure they won!!!8217;t mind and just being there for the day would be nice for them.

lopsyfa

MNM2903 wrote: »

were not looking to cancel anything, we are normally fine and manage to save £300 per month aswell as live comfortably but this is a busy year and we just trying to decide on the best option to get us through the rest of this year.

Your option is obviously the sensible one but friends and family and holidays are what we work for and you cant buy those. I guess the question would be more to do with the Help to buy ISA savings we have and whether or not we can just open a new one once were back in a position to save again. I should add we already have a house and a mortgage under my girlfriends name, the help to buy isa is in my name as ive not purchased a home myself yet so its not like we are renting and desperate to get out, we just had plans to start looking for somewhere bigger in 2020 but this may mean delaying to 2021.

Thanks

Are you sure you can use the help to buy ISA if your GF already has a house?

Dobbibill

lopsyfa wrote: »

Are you sure you can use the help to buy ISA if your GF already has a house?

Yes, the OP is eligible as a FTB, the GF won't be though.

myra15

Loans and Credit Cards are type of credit that you have to repay with interest. But in case of saving you do no have to pay any type of interest. If you opt for loan then you have a predetermined amount of time to pay them off.Credit cards are basically revolving form of borrowing, so they can theoretically last a lifetime.

MNM2903

Sncjw wrote: »

You don!!!8217;t have to go to the stag or hen do. Maybe be honest with the people who have wedding coming up. You can!!!8217;t afford to go to the hen and stag do.

Is the wedding having free drinks if there!!!8217;s free drinks for so long maybe have water the rest of the night which should be free in time places that serve alcohol. Just tell them you have money set aside for your holiday that you can!!!8217;t afford to dip into.

I!!!8217;m sure they won!!!8217;t mind and just being there for the day would be nice for them.

Yeah ive already told the stag organiser i may have to drop out, weve done a budget planner etc and were going to see how things go but that is an option. Its a short term struggle and the last thing we would ever do is turn that in to long term problems. Our priority is our family and home etc