Help with debt please

021286

I can’t remember the exact wording, but maybe it’ll be confirmed when the application is approved? Either way, it didn’t tell me at the point of application.

It’s 0% for 9 months then 29.9% thereafter. Balance transfer fee is 4%. I’m wondering if I should just call them and withdraw the application.

katsu

0% for 9 months is better than your high interest rates so I wouldn't cancel. 

021286

A little update on this- I received a letter from Fluid which said they couldn’t offer me a card after all. A bit annoyed as MSE said I would be guaranteed accepted, but I don’t think I actually want/need the card anyway all things considered so I’m only annoyed from a hard search perspective, and that’s probably the least of my worries on my credit file until I get some more of this debt gone!

However, onto good news… today managed to pay off Likely Loans, my Vanquis, and my lower debt Capital One card with money I've saved from budgeting the last month, plus some delayed birthday money, plus a student loan repayment refund (these were both very nice surprises!)

This, taking into account this month's repayments for the other debts, now means my debt has gone from £7907 in my SOA to £5886 in the space of a month! I can’t believe I’ve managed to make such a big dent in a short space of time due to lucky windfalls and just properly tackling my debt head on. This month I get my bonus and I am going to pay off Dot Dot and as much of Bamboo as I can, which will just leave me with Aqua and the large Capital one cards, plus Very and my overdrafts, and I can plough the money I’ll be saving on all of those repayments into all of those with an aim to be debt free by the end of the year.

I can’t believe I can actually see the end of this, I never thought I would! Thank you all so much for all your advice and words of encouragement, I am so glad I posted here and got the collective help of this board.

JenCee

Sorry, long post alert...
I was in a very similar position to you up until October last year. Every penny I earned was going towards food, bills and debts (credit cards, catalogues). Some months I would have to miss a payment on one of my debts simply because I didn’t have the money. Often food was paid for with the credit card and if my children needed new clothes they would be put on the catalogue. It was a vicious circle. 

I tried to apply for a consolidation loan a few times over the years but was always refused because they said I wouldn’t be able to afford the repayments. I explained that my current outgoings were MORE than the loan repayments but they still said no. 

After some advice I learned that I had to improve my credit score. So for almost a year I made sure I met all of my minimum payments on time so that no missed payments would show on my record. I did this by cutting out any unnecessary “luxuries” such as takeaways, haircuts, nights out. I budgeted our food shopping by making a weekly list so that I would only buy what I knew would be eaten. 

I then attempted to apply again for a consolidation loan and this time I was accepted!!! It was a huge weight off my shoulders being able to pay off all of my debts and overdraft. 

I now have a regular, affordable monthly direct debit which is going to end with me being debt free after 5 years! Beforehand I was actually paying out more each month but was not making a dent in my debts. 

I hope my experience can help you and I really hope that your situation improves in the very near future. Good luck! 

monetxchange

@JenCee I'm glad that you're making a consolidation loan work for you, but it's something that's often advised against on these boards simply because the debts are pushed out of mind, managed monthly and then surely but surely many begin to run up the credit cards again alongside the loan because they haven't budgeted. Then they end up with twice the debt.

Your head sounds screwed on so sure this won't happen with you, but the OP has been doing brilliantly in clearing debt just by budgeting and sorting out spending habits. I'm sure they'll continue to do so and wouldn't advise them to keep checking if they can take on more credit in terms of loans.

JenCee

monetxchange said:

@JenCee I'm glad that you're making a consolidation loan work for you, but it's something that's often advised against on these boards simply because the debts are pushed out of mind, managed monthly and then surely but surely many begin to run up the credit cards again alongside the loan because they haven't budgeted. Then they end up with twice the debt.

Your head sounds screwed on so sure this won't happen with you, but the OP has been doing brilliantly in clearing debt just by budgeting and sorting out spending habits. I'm sure they'll continue to do so and wouldn't advise them to keep checking if they can take on more credit in terms of loans.

Yeah I completely understand what you’re saying, I made sure cancelled all my accounts, credit cards and overdraft as soon as I had paid them all off with the loan. I can see why consolidation loans wouldn’t be advised but for me at the time, it seemed it was the only option.
Thanks so much for your feedback. 

monetxchange

JenCee said:

monetxchange said:

@JenCee I'm glad that you're making a consolidation loan work for you, but it's something that's often advised against on these boards simply because the debts are pushed out of mind, managed monthly and then surely but surely many begin to run up the credit cards again alongside the loan because they haven't budgeted. Then they end up with twice the debt.

Your head sounds screwed on so sure this won't happen with you, but the OP has been doing brilliantly in clearing debt just by budgeting and sorting out spending habits. I'm sure they'll continue to do so and wouldn't advise them to keep checking if they can take on more credit in terms of loans.

Yeah I completely understand what you’re saying, I made sure cancelled all my accounts, credit cards and overdraft as soon as I had paid them all off with the loan. I can see why consolidation loans wouldn’t be advised but for me at the time, it seemed it was the only option.
Thanks so much for your feedback. 

Like I say, no criticism of you at all. Just wanted to make sure the OP kept their focus up and didn't start thinking about alternate ways when they're doing so well. I wish all people in debt (inc my past self) had your resolve and organisation, then everyone could just consolidate and make it work!

021286

Thanks both- I am glad a consolodation loan worked for you, but I think by snowballing my debts and sticking to my budget I can be debt free within 8 months, which is no time at all really. I think that relative to what I earn my debts are quite low, and it's fairly easy for me to make savings on my outgoings by just being a bit aware and not burying my head into the sand. The idea of being debt free by Christmas is incredible 

JenCee

Like I say, no criticism of you at all. Just wanted to make sure the OP kept their focus up and didn't start thinking about alternate ways when they're doing so well. I wish all people in debt (inc my past self) had your resolve and organisation, then everyone could just consolidate and make it work!

Thank you once again. 

JenCee

021286 said:

Thanks both- I am glad a consolodation loan worked for you, but I think by snowballing my debts and sticking to my budget I can be debt free within 8 months, which is no time at all really. I think that relative to what I earn my debts are quite low, and it's fairly easy for me to make savings on my outgoings by just being a bit aware and not burying my head into the sand. The idea of being debt free by Christmas is incredible 

That’s amazing, I’m so pleased for you! I’m glad to see that you have got a lot of support from this group too.