Where to start?

woody007

Good Afternoon!

2007 was a year of ignorance and I'm trying to make up for it in 2008 by clearing all my debts.

Not too sure where to start to be honest. I have been hiding from my debts for the past year and now I have a high paying job I feel it's time to start looking into the future and paying all my outstanding debts off.

I think I owe in the region of 7k but I'm not entirely sure as I haven't kept any correspondence from the collection agencies.

Will a full credit report highlight what's outstanding and who is dealing with it? I know that I have a few outstanding credit card payments that are being dealt with by an agency but I don't know which one.

Any ideas on the best way to find out what's outstanding and who's dealing with them?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

bathgatebuyer

Have a bravery award from me - standing up to your debts is the bravest and best way to start the new year. You're in good company here as we're all at various stages of being debt free. To give you an idea of what's possible, 2 years ago I had £34K of debt - I now have £4K. The hardest step to take was the first, so you're on the right route.

A credit report would highlight what your outstanding commitments are and your payment history. I use creditexpert for mine and it shows all credit searches made against my name too (which was useful as I found out that someone had applied to Welcome Finance for a £10K car loan in my name!), my payment history :rolleyes: (or non-payment history to be honest), although it won't tell you in whose hands any debts are.

The best way to start off is to outline what your existing repayment commitment are (loans, credit cards, any other debt with their APRs if you know them) along with your normal living expenses, and what your income is. There are lots of people on here who will be able to make recommendations to help you save a bit of money and tackle what debts you have.

At the moment, I aim to be debt free by the end of the year (or sooner!) and I've done it with quite a bit of help from this board.

:T well done for making a start!