Help with credit card debt

scottyboy84

Hello, I need some advice on the best route to clear some credit card debt, I have the following debts;

Lloyds credit card - £700 – monthly payment is usually around £11.00
Barclays credit card - £500 – monthly payment is usually £17.00
Capital 1 credit card - £150 – monthly payment is usually £5.00

Now on top of this, I am working myself into the ground doing a lot of overtime as I am currently living with my parents looking to move closer to where my Daughter live which is currently 100 miles away, so presently my outgoings are all over the place, I give my ex £200 a month for our Daughter, travel to collect her at weekends costs about £150 a month and then after all my outgoings, I try to save £400 a month towards saving to move away.

I would have approx. £300-400 a month available to pay towards clearing the above debt, I appreciate the debt isn’t that high but it’s stressing me out, what would be the best way to try clear it within a 6 month period.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you
Scott

Caz3121

what are the APRs on each of the cards? any interest free periods and, if so, till when?

[Deleted User]

The usual applies.

Work more. Cutback. Spend less. Sell stuff.

scottyboy84

The APR is as follows;


Barclays - 26.93%
Lloyds - 5.94%
Cap 1 - 6%


No interest free periods.

Willing2Learn

Snowball those debts and they will be gone in no time...

18cc

It is difficult with credit card debt I know it can really make you stressed and sometimes you think you can never get rid of it but at least you have made the first step

if I were you I would pay off the highest APR first

pay as much as you can - the other two cards' APR do not look too bad so leave them till last.

As you go forward over the next 6 months try not to use the cards - for every purchase ask yourself do I really really really need to buy this

scottyboy84

Yes I am planning to put most towards the Barclays card, I got a spare £200 this month so I will put that towards it and aim to pay the rest of it next month then I'll concentrate on the other 2.

Jox

If you have £400 to pay towards the debts, pay £300 to Barclays and £50 to Lloyds and £50 to Cap One in month 1.

Month 2 pay the rest of the Barclaycard off and pay what you can to Lloyds and Cap One. Month 3 etc pay to LLoyds and Cap One.

In future try to get 0% credit cards only and pay off in the time they are 0% (i.e 12 months etc), make a note in your calendar when the 0% offer will run out.

Terry_Towelling

I'm a little confused (doesn't take much) about some of this.

You say you 'would' have £300 - £400 per month to pay towards the debt and that you try to save £400 per month towards moving away.

Does that mean you are just dripping small payments to the cards, saving quite a bit each month, and sitting on a sizeable pot of 'relocation' money? If so, you could just use that pot and the amount you plan to save each month to pay towards your debts and simply postpone your moving plans for a short time.

Ben8282

scottyboy84 wrote: »

The APR is as follows;


Barclays - 26.93%
Lloyds - 5.94%
Cap 1 - 6%


No interest free periods.

The Lloyds and Capital One APR's are very low. Are you sure that they are correct?
You say you are doing a lot of overtime and live with your parents, so what is happening to this money?
If you do have money saved then pay off the credit cards with it. It is foolish to be paying interest when this money can't be earning you more than what you are paying in interest.
The Capital One balance is only £150. Can't you even repay that?
At the very least, repay the Capital One card then use the card for purchases repaying in full each month. The interest free period on purchases will give you an extra month's spending which you could use to repay another card to reduce interest.

System

You have ~£400 a month free to throw around.

Yet you claim you have £150 debt on a Capital One card...

Huh???

Your situation is hardly complex! Pay the credit cards with the spare money you have. You will have paid it off if a couple of months. Can't believe I am having to write this down.
P.S. Those Lloyds and Cap 1 interest rates aren't right. But it doesn't really matter what the interest is as you will have them paid off so quickly.