I know it could be worse but.....

K_D

I've sat down today and had a good look through my finances, and it ain't pretty.

Here's the breakdown...

Monthly Income: £1200

Out
Rent (and bills): £400
BCard: £100
MBNA Card: £100
HP1: £125
HSBC Loan: £211
Mobile: £80
RAC: £15
HP2: £26

So it could be worse. Here's the debts:

BCard: £3174 @ 14.9% APR
MBNA: £2854 @ 0% APR (for the next couple of months then 16.9%)
HSBC: £8672 @ 12.9% APR
HP1: £4286 @ 11.9% APR
HP2: £746 @ 29.9% APR

To clear all of my debts I'm looking at a loan of around £17.5k (given the settlement figures I got today)

My problem lies with the fact I'm not on the electoral role (and won't be for varying reasons). I bank with HSBC and have accoutns with Coventry and Barclays - Barclays won't even give me a loan quote because I'm not on the role. HSBC will, but their APR is about 13%. I'm looking to get this clear in 36 months - I know if I had a target like that - 3 years then debt free, I could stick to it!

Although I can't get a loan I seem to have little problem with credit cards offering me their services, and BCard whapping my limit up every couple of months the cheeky monkeys!

I try to pay £100 a month off the credit cards which is normally baout £30 more than minimum payment, but with the interest rates it's about 35 years before I'll clear them at present!

I'd be mighty grateful of ANY suggestions on how to try and sort this out. I know it's not the end of the world and i have about £100 a month to "play" with, but its still worrying me at the minute.

CAFCGirl

Hi there and welcome to the forums!

My recommendation would to go onto whatsthecost.com and use the snowball calculator.

You can type in how much debt you have to each company, the APR and minimum repayments/fixed repayments, and then tell it how much you have to sevice your debts each month. It will then calculate who you should pay what to and in what order in order to pay off the highest interest debts first so it costs you less money to have borrowed from them...

I'd be very warying of getting a consolidation loan, especially for that amount of money. Its not a quick fix and will end up costing you more in the long run in terms of interest.

I'd check out whatsthecost and the snowball calculator first, as you may find this gives you a 3 year target, and will cost you less in interest than a loan would...

HP2 costs you the most, yet is your smallest debt so I'd say go for minimum repayments to MBNA and HP1 and throw all the extras you have at the hp2. Snowball calculator will explain exactly what payments you need to make..

That and I'd also look at reducing your mobile phone bill as thats a lot of money to be paying out!

Good Luck and remember to keep in touch and let us know how you're getting on

HHH_2

oh dear not sure about that previous post. most people on here would say dont consolidate as it only makes things worse. no offence meant if it's in good faith but the previous poster shouldn't be putting stuff like that on here. hopefully someone will be along soon to give some good old mse advice.

TangledMemories_2

Hi, I can't really offer any more advice except to say that on my mobile contract I have:
600 minutes
500 texts PLUS unlimited texts
All for £35 a month

ALOT less than your £80.

RAS

:spam: :spam: :spam: :spam: :spam: :spam:

graham is a spammer. Reported to abuse.

sunshine_shell

I got a loan to consolidate my 2 credit cards and i WISH i NEVER took it out!!!

Look at the snowball calculator and see what it says I wish i had done that, i truely think that i could have paid over half of what i owed off by now, instead i have to wait another 4 1/2 years and i don't know how to get out of it.

Get into the spirit of DFW and see where you can save money and throw it at the debt

I wish you all the luck in the world:A

Shell

supersavershal

Does rent and bills include food, do you live at home with parents? There is nothing listed for birthdays, christmas, haircuts etc.
Can you list how much you spend for each of these?
It might be worth paying the minimum on your low or 0% cards and paying off your HP2.
Welcome to mse, please avoid a consolidation loan if you can, ive been there it doesnt help much.You end up paying more and in debt for longer and they usually talk you into borrowing more than you need.

peb

OK, you have put rent and bills as £400.00 can this be broken down? How much is spend on food - for how many? Gas, electric costs. You don't mention transport - be it car tax, petrol etc or public transport. You really need to get that mobile cost down - sorry but 10 years ago a mobile was a luxury, now it is seen as a necessity. £5 pay as you go lasts me up to a year! Next; you say you have money over - do you actually have that money left at the end of the month? If not do a spending diary; literally write down every penny you spend.

Sorry to bombard you with questions but to make inroads we have to look at everything!

Usually a consolodation loan is not a good idea - you end up paying off more in interest over a longer time and if you have not addressed your overspend then the debts just build up again.

Good luck and keep posting.

In_Search_Of_Me

Please dont consolodate - it rarely works cos you just breathe a sigh of relief & go & spend more (see my sig!)! Much better to budget & knock it down plus you have the incentive to get rid of the B**** cards!! Also much more satsfying as you get rid of them! Hng in there ad as others have said that mobile is v. expensive - can you go PAYG & use it for emergencies only? No mention of food etc either...I assume you eat!!

K_D

Thanks for all your replies guys - and so quick - I'm impressed!

The £400 includes rent and food, heat, light etc. Not living with parents but thats a long story!

The phone bill - yes it's very high! I took the largest t-mobile Flext contract just over a year ago when I was using the allowance each month with no problem. Since then I've slashed it massively but to downgrade will havbe to sign another 18mth contract. Ok, so as I type I'm seeing the sense in it! By the way, it's an 18mth contract.

The money "over" at the end of the month goes on haircuts, birthdays, going out etc, so at the end fo the month in reality there's probably no more than about £10 left. I have a company vehicle which I use so I don't spend on fuel (and don't get taxed either - it's a van) or maintenance.

I've been to the bank this afternoon and they won't lend me the full £17.5k, only £15k over 40 months @ £465 a month. So I have the option of doing that and tarting cards around, but I'm also heeding warnings about consolidation - I ignored my mother's warnings last night (I know she frequents these parts) - hey, when did we ever think our mothers were right?

Just an extra thought - the HP2 until now has been 0% APR. It's about to become 29.9%. Is it worth putting that onto a credit card at 15.9%?

Thanks again guys (and girls)!

RAS

K_D

have a look at the snowball on www.whatsthecost.com to get an idea of how to pay off the ccs. Normally, we would suggest paying all your extra off the Bcard as this is the most expensive but with MBNA coming up fast, that may be the better option if you cannot get another 0% or LOB card.

Can you get some extra part-time work? Do a car boot sale, anything to start the turning the tide round?

I assume that you cannot over pay on the HP agreements? Or at least if you did, there would be no advantage.