Where do I start?

magic7794

Years ago I got into a real mess financially and ended up signing a trust deed which ruined my credit for six years and it was only a few years ago that my credit began to improve.

Since then I have become a single parent and I am worried I am sliding back that way again and need to know what to do first.

My debts are:
Overdraft £1300
BOS/Halifax CC £1900
Barclaycard £600

I really dont have a clue as to which to deal with first and also how do I know how much over the minimum payment to make each month to actually make a difference to the debt??

I am so ashamed to think I am heading the same way again....

jonesMUFCforever

Find out what the APR is on all of your debt.

Then concentrate on paying the most off the highest charging rate with minimum on the rest until the highest charged debt is cleared, then you work down to the second highest etc.

This is called snowballing.

For more information then go to the Debt free wannabe board.

Bismarck

Hi, well done for posting...it's early days and the main thing is you're aware.....many have left these kind of things fester and time is definitely money!

Need to know the limits available on the cards and the OD and the respective interest rates....then you could maybe juggle these to make a big difference....

magic7794

Thank you.

Can i ask a stupid question? where on my statement? will i find the apr? and how do i find out the apr on my overdraft? do i need to phone?

my limit on Barlclaycard was £1000 but they wrote to me last week to say they were reducing it to 600.
the BOS/Halifax card limit is 2250 and my overdraft 1500

hang my head in shame

Bismarck

don't waste the energy...what's done is done...

you can't look forward and do the right thing when you're heads down looking at your feet.

Did you do something to trigger the reduction in your limit at BCard - taking cash out using the card is a bit of a trigger for them ( I went within a breath of my limit last year and had mine reduced by a bit - they put it up again recently which is bizarre...)..it's a shame because I'd hoped you could aim to clear the BCard balance and then shift the other CC over at 6.9% fee-free so you could make some inroads.

Look at the bit on the statements wher it shows how much interest they're tacking on every month....there should be some rates near there....if you type down what they are I'll answer any questions....

Are you claiming all the benefits you can?

I'd also suggest going over to the debt free wannabee board where the experts are on this...

Ephemera

Magic -

You have nothing to be ashamed of - you are here, you are among friends, you recognise that you have to change things, and you are willing to do something about it.

Why be ashamed of that?

There are many more people too afraid / lazy / unaware of their options that would have just carried on regardless and expect everyone else to sort out their problems. You should be rightly proud of yourself that you are doing something about it!!

Keep up the good work, it will take time and will have its hard moments, but you know it will be worth it in the end! And you will have lots of useful advice to give others in the future who come here who are in the same situation you were once...

dizzy_lizzie

Ephemera wrote: »

Magic -

You have nothing to be ashamed of - you are here, you are among friends, you recognise that you have to change things, and you are willing to do something about it.

Why be ashamed of that?

There are many more people too afraid / lazy / unaware of their options that would have just carried on regardless and expect everyone else to sort out their problems. You should be rightly proud of yourself that you are doing something about it!!

Keep up the good work, it will take time and will have its hard moments, but you know it will be worth it in the end! And you will have lots of useful advice to give others in the future who come here who are in the same situation you were once...

My thoughts exactly
Luvz Dizzy x

magic7794

Ah thank you all.

I've never taken cash out on a cc i think the trigger for the reduction in limit on the barclaycard was me asking for a higher limit (turned down) and most months I only make the minimum payment?