consolidation

russellbarrett

hi, i am around 20k in debt comprising of a loan, credit cards and overdrafts. recently i have changed my lifestyle a lot and am not spirraling so quickly but i am still struggling to pay for everything. the trouble is that all the repayments are quite expensive. i am considering taking out a loan to consolidate everything so as to bring down my monthly panyments to something more affordable. i know people on here are not keen on this idea but i have cut back in so many places that i dont really know what else to do.what are peoples thoughts on this? any advice welcome.cheers

D&DD

Hi there my alarm bells started to ring when you said 'consolidate to cut down the monthly payments':eek:
I am on my 5th consolidation loan...many others here are on 3rd,4th or 5th some even beat me lol...Trouble is everytime I consolidated to REDUCE payments meant I was still overspending...the issues had still not been addressed !!!!!!!!
The last time we consolidated we got a better rate than we could get on our credit cards AND double up the repayments so it actually meant we are paying out MORE each month.We manage this because I have stopped overspending..this is the thing you MUST get under control first HTH D X

sammy115

we were considering consolidating about a month ago. Got as far as the paperwork and changed our minds... We decided to go it alone, much better to struggle on rather than attach the debt to our house.

Good job we didn't. OH got made redundant today for the 3rd time in two years. This would have meant we could have potentially lost our house!

DON'T DO IT!

russellbarrett

i really have stopped the over spending but there are no more things i can do to reduce the monthly payments and i'm still about 50-60 quid short every month, this doesnt include un expected spendinds such as a puncture in my car or my boiler breaking down. i do however appreciate what you are saying but i am now in control of my spending.

sammy115

So are we, but being in control of your spending won't help if you lose your job.

I do appreciate what you are saying but I would just urge you to think very carefully before you do anything.

russellbarrett

sammy, i'm not talking about anything secured, it's a personal loan i'm after.i am currently applying for 0% credit cards to cover my current cc but i need to shift my over draft

D&DD

Rightio well done I've just looked at your SOA and seen you are working hard on that :T
Hang on phone back in a mo..
Sorry about that! When we first started our journey we did pretty much the standard here,shifted the debt to the lowest apr,claimed back missold ppi (this usually knocks some off the loan and can also reduce payments...have you done this one yet?)Cut down on everything and next on my list was our overdraft.We got rid of ours by Ebaying everything that wasn't nailed down lol..Maybe your girlfriend could do this while at home ?? Other way is to get an extra job for now there is a forum for increasing your income here which you may want to have a look at.
Join up to pigsback and start clicking for free vouchers this in turn brings down your outgoings..

russellbarrett

we have cancelled ppi. my friend is opening a shop in a few weeks and my girlfriend will be working a few hours a week there which will help but i am still at my limit on my overdraft and getting a few charges which are absoloutly battering me. on a more positive note i have just enrolled the girlfriends mother as chief ebayer and will be depositing a box of stuff on sunday for her to shift.

D&DD

russellbarrett wrote: »

on a more positive note i have just enrolled the girlfriends mother as chief ebayer and will be depositing a box of stuff on sunday for her to shift.

:rotfl: :T Thats the spirit you will get through this honest I just hate to see anyone get in a mess like us thats why I nag
Great news about the shop job you will soon see the benefits of that,hope your girlfriend enjoys it.
Have you tried speaking to the bank and explaining the situation about the charges not helping..(don't let them pass you through to the loan dept tho):eek: We asked them to up our limit by £50 for 3 weeks only when we first started so we didn't get anymore charges and to prove to them we were serious about sorting out our finances,surprisingly they agreed it may be worth a try but work out what you need first before you speak to them and stick only to that,they'll try anything to flog you a consolidation loan..:rolleyes:

russellbarrett

i did actually ring my bank and ask them if i could have an extension on my overdraft but they said i was at my limit. have just been accepted for a mint card at 0 percent for 850 quid and recived 22 quid off quidco for doing it. i've only got another 3700 to find at 0 percent. is there any that you can apply for if you don t have any income??

D&DD

Some of the less desirables will lend if you have no income or are solely on benefit..but their 0% deals quickly turn into a horrendous rate soon after the deal finishes..(bought the T-shirt on that one too ala Capital one...0% for 6 months then 21.9 :eek: and no room to shift it around..)