In debt - how best to pay off credit cards and what to do re mortgage port

TheAble

Be good to see some APRs on those unsecured debts. You're focussing more on the monthly repayments which is understandable, but the interest rates are what drive cost and are the more important consideration.

startingover2025

@MattMattMattUK thankyou for feedback; petrol costs and commuting costs are high as we travel into London to work and my son plays for a London football academy so there are matches in London twice a week. This is ending at the end of the season (thank god). We can make adjustments and cut backs but I can't see how we will ever get on top of all our debt without moving?

RAS

Moving also has high costs, EA fees, lawyers, SDLT, removers etc and possible implications for future travel costs. Not saying you shouldn't do it but you've not been fully considering the costs of your lives to date, so you need to assess this properly before you make a move that doesn't do what you really want.

And apart from the APRs what are the limits on those cards?

You may be able to edit your SOA when you have10 posts?

MattMattMattUK

startingover2025 said:

@ MattMattMattUK thankyou for feedback; petrol costs and commuting costs are high as we travel into London to work and my son plays for a London football academy so there are matches in London twice a week. This is ending at the end of the season (thank god). 

Are you travelling in the cheapest way, season or flexi ticket, free parking a short walk from the station, that kind of thing? Have you worked out how much you will save once the football ends?

startingover2025 said:

We can make adjustments and cut backs but I can't see how we will ever get on top of all our debt without moving?

That is why I think that it would be good to try and figure out where the money has gone, but I think from your SOA you should be able to save £600+ off of your costs. 

As others have said I am not sure moving is going to improve things, there are costs associated with it that will likely wipe out any savings you intend to make, on top of the issues mortgaging with the levels of debt you have. Others with better knowledge of that side of things will be able to advise, but an DMP or IVA to stop interest on the debt is likely the way to go, then making proper lifestyle adjustments to get things under control in the long term. 

Grumpelstiltskin

You may not agree with e but I think in the majority of cases these Football Academies are a rip off.

How many of the young lads who pay good money for training and matches ever get to play football at a good professional level?  I don't know but my guess is a very small proportion.
I think they give false hopes to young teenagers which is wrong.

Desmond_Hume

MattMattMattUK said:

startingover2025 said:

@ MattMattMattUK thankyou for feedback; petrol costs and commuting costs are high as we travel into London to work and my son plays for a London football academy so there are matches in London twice a week. This is ending at the end of the season (thank god). 

Are you travelling in the cheapest way, season or flexi ticket, free parking a short walk from the station, that kind of thing? Have you worked out how much you will save once the football ends?

startingover2025 said:

We can make adjustments and cut backs but I can't see how we will ever get on top of all our debt without moving?

That is why I think that it would be good to try and figure out where the money has gone, but I think from your SOA you should be able to save £600+ off of your costs. 

As others have said I am not sure moving is going to improve things, there are costs associated with it that will likely wipe out any savings you intend to make, on top of the issues mortgaging with the levels of debt you have. Others with better knowledge of that side of things will be able to advise, but an DMP or IVA to stop interest on the debt is likely the way to go, then making proper lifestyle adjustments to get things under control in the long term. 

Until the SOA is populated in full, I think your figure of £600 is a very rough guess at best?  As someone else pointed out, no hair cuts, no gifts, car(s) never need tyres?  There are some very big holes in that budget, as it stands (which I appreciate was stated). 

MattMattMattUK

Desmond_Hume said:

MattMattMattUK said:

startingover2025 said:

@ MattMattMattUK thankyou for feedback; petrol costs and commuting costs are high as we travel into London to work and my son plays for a London football academy so there are matches in London twice a week. This is ending at the end of the season (thank god). 

Are you travelling in the cheapest way, season or flexi ticket, free parking a short walk from the station, that kind of thing? Have you worked out how much you will save once the football ends?

startingover2025 said:

We can make adjustments and cut backs but I can't see how we will ever get on top of all our debt without moving?

That is why I think that it would be good to try and figure out where the money has gone, but I think from your SOA you should be able to save £600+ off of your costs. 

As others have said I am not sure moving is going to improve things, there are costs associated with it that will likely wipe out any savings you intend to make, on top of the issues mortgaging with the levels of debt you have. Others with better knowledge of that side of things will be able to advise, but an DMP or IVA to stop interest on the debt is likely the way to go, then making proper lifestyle adjustments to get things under control in the long term. 

Until the SOA is populated in full, I think your figure of £600 is a very rough guess at best?  As someone else pointed out, no hair cuts, no gifts, car(s) never need tyres?  There are some very big holes in that budget, as it stands (which I appreciate was stated). 

It was a £600 saving off of the costs that were already posted, which not insignificant. Of course I do also expect that the other costs not currently listed could well match or exceed that potential saving. 

MattMattMattUK

Grumpelstiltskin said:

You may not agree with e but I think in the majority of cases these Football Academies are a rip off.

How many of the young lads who pay good money for training and matches ever get to play football at a good professional level?  I don't know but my guess is a very small proportion.
I think they give false hopes to young teenagers which is wrong.

According to figures for all clubs, academies and training schemes 0.012% of the 1.5 million male participants, the stats do not improve for those paying fees. The success rate only improve for those who receive club sponsorship and fully funded places, where it rises to around 0.21% for under 14s, 1.2% for 14-16 and 2.4% for 16-18 year olds. 

I agree that they give false hope, that the system will chew most of them up and spit them out whilst making the academy owner very wealthy, I also recognise that it is very difficult to crush your child's dreams. 

EssexHebridean

OK - as established there are currently holes in the SOA that you know about, but that still suggests a monthly surplus of around £200 or thereabouts. So my biggest question, right now, is where does that money go, as things stand? 

Have you checked whether there is any eligibility for 0% balance transfer cards at all - not necessarily to apply immediately but to know where you stand and what options you may have to ease the pressure a bit.  

startingover2025

@essexhebridean - we have no money left at the end of every month; the surplus is always swallowed up by necessities like hair cuts, clothes, shoes, dentist... it never stretches to anything bigger, which is why we always end up asking for parental help (NOT a situation I want to be in). I'm wary of applying for 0% cards as I think I'll be turned down and if we are trying for a mortgage port then I don't want to have too many credit checks on file. @MattMattMattUK yes we are definitely using the cheapest way to travel. Once the football ends we will be around £150 a month better off. I know there are huge expenses incurred by moving, but I am worried about taking out DMPs. I feel it might be better to move and wipe out all the debt, give us a clean slate and reduce the mortgage at the same time, than to stay in our house and do a DMP. But I might be wrong here.
As for my stepfather's £20,000 loan, I have it - but I haven't used it yet as this does rule out staying in our house.