10k debt - not many options to consolidate and no 0% offers.

AThorn22

Good afternoon. I am looking for a sensible, most affordable outcome to this if anyone can advise!
I currently have 5 credit cards. 1 I am paying high interest, 1 is currently no interest until next year, the other 3 have low interest rates. 
Ideally everything would be on one card that I would pay back over a couple of years - even with small interest. 
However the issue I have is that although I have 'good' credit score, the only balance transfer I can get 0% at the moment lasts 6 months. 

My total credit card debt is about 10k. 
Total interest I am paying for all cards is about £50 per month, paying minimum payments on all cards which equates to about £120pm. 

Any help and advice of what I could do would be fantastic. Thank you very much.  

curlytop12

hi, please would you complete this and post here for advice? It's statement of affairs.
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php
Have you looked at a snowball calculator also?

AThorn22

curlytop12 said:

hi, please would you complete this and post here for advice? It's statement of affairs.

Have you looked at a snowball calculator also?

Ok will do thank you. No I cant say I have ever heard of this before!

curlytop12

oh, and welcome ! you have come to a good place! good luck

AThorn22

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 1

Number of cars owned.................... [b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 1250

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 307

Other income............................ 50[b]

Total monthly income.................... 1607[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 137.6

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 399.26

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 104

Electricity............................. 25

Gas..................................... 20

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 18

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 29.5

TV Licence.............................. 13.2

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 17.7

Internet Services....................... 19.95

Groceries etc. ......................... 240

Clothing................................ 30

Petrol/diesel........................... 100

Road tax................................ 0

Car Insurance........................... 0

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0

Car parking............................. 10

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 100

Other child related expenses............ 40

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23

Buildings insurance..................... 0

Contents insurance...................... 5.78

Life assurance ......................... 10.01

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20

Haircuts................................ 0

Entertainment........................... 20

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 20[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1413[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 0

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 0

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 0[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 40771.4..(137.6)....1.84[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 40771.4...-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Lloyds bank 1..................1617.16...16.17.....19.3

Lloyds bank 2 .................3084.74...30.81.....21.54

MBNA...........................1568.74...45.9......27.93

m&S............................1931.54...48........23.9

Tesco .........................4639.22...45.49.....0[b]

Total unsecured debts..........12841.4...186.37....-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 1,607

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,413

Available for debt repayments........... 194

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 186.37[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 7.63[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 0

Total HP & Secured debt................. -40,771.4

Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,841.4[b]

Net Assets.............................. -53,612.8[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

TheAble

Not sure about the "low interest rate" cards - barring the Tesco of course they all look pretty high to me.
12k even with no interest is going to be tough to pay back over 2 years given your current £194/month available.
What sort of credit limit could you get on the 0%? You could move over the MBNA at least and close the account, then you may be able to reapply for it in 6 months for another 0%.
Any way you can increase your income?

TheAble

PS I take it you have a shared ownership property, given the mortgage. This would count as an asset. But don't you need to take out buildings insurance?

mrsmoneypenny90

Hi, well done for taking the first step to acknowledging that you have all of this debt and you want to get it sorted. Remember, you are not your debt and you are in control, think positively and it will be done! I have just done the same thing today and it’s really scary to acknowledge the problem, but that’s the hardest bit. 

My advice would be to look at a credit card snowballing repayment calculator. Basically google it and there is one a website called stoozing which I found was really helpful, it tells you the quickest way to pay off the cards and gives you the order to do it in. Obviously the more disposable income you have to throw at the debts the quicker They are going to clear. Could you maybe save some money on food shopping by making meal lists rather than shopping blind?

good luck x

AThorn22

Hi all, thank you for this. The interest rates on some are for when the 0% ends eg lloyds one finishes in July. The credit limit on the 6 month interest free is just over 1k. Yes, that is a good idea to maybe just move over the MBNA.
No way I can increase my income. I have just had a pay increase and am at the top of my band. I work full time and am a single Mum. I did start doing perfume selling but the pandemic has put a stop to that. Also I am a singer so had about 6 gigs in the pipeline which I was going to use to get it down but that won't be happening any time soon. 

Yes I am in a shared ownership property. 

Mrsmoney penny - Thank you. I have done the snowballing calculator and it says I will be debt free in 11 years....
Yes this is definitely the issue, I have limited disposable income. For shopping to be honest I am pretty good with it to feed myself and my son, I put the maximum I would spend on groceries including the little shops if that makes sense. Thank you 

fatbelly

Do you really not pay road tax or car insurance or buildings insurance or car maintenance? I am wondering if maybe you have not put those in  because you pay annually and they are not due. If the soa is  worse, then that would probably tip the balance to a dmp, where you would be paying maybe £100 a month.

If the soa is accurate then I agree to clear the MBNA card is your priority and then see if they will offer you a 0% deal.

Check your benefits are right, pay council tax over 12 months, make sure you are banking where you do not have debts.

enthusiasticsaver

Debt consolidation is the worst thing you can do.  If you cannot get any more 0% deals any loans you get will also be high interest and with your low income I think you will struggle to get a loan to cover that level of debt which is practically a whole years income.  First things first you need to stop using credit altogether and make sure you really are keeping to that budget. Ideally you would also get an emergency fund together. 

 Paying minimums only means this will take a long time to clear so I would set the direct debit on the most expensive slightly above minimum and even overpaying by a small amount will mean months if not years cut off your debt free date.  Are you receiving child maintenance if you  are a single parent? Is that the £50 in which case it is very low.  How old is your child? You are also not saving car maintenance money and have no emergency fund.  Why is there no car showing as an asset although you are running one? 

In terms of cutting back I would say groceries is high for one adult and one child, unless a teenager and as you  are paying childcare I am guessing your child is pre teen. The mobiles cost is high for one phone and I would move to sim only asap.  Can you cancel the satellite tv and move to freeview only and maybe Netflix which is cheaper? 

I think you may almost be into debt management solution territory and that would have the advantage of freezing the interest payments and reduce the monthly outgoings on debt. If your soa is correct and you wish to avoid a DMP the only thing you  can do until you increase your income is set the payments slightly above minimums and reassess when your childcare costs go or your income improves. So I would start with increasing the MBNA at 27.93 to £50 initially for the next year so you are overpaying a small amount. 

Personally if you see no sign of things improving for you soon I would explore moving to a DMP and setting your monthly repayment at £100.  It will still mean 10 years to clear the debt but at least you would have some money back in your budget to save for things like car maintenance and some in haircuts, entertainment, emergency savings.