Buried head for too long....

floss2

:hello:

With regard to moving, personally I would stick where you are, especially with a new baby due in 4 months. Apart from anything else, there is no guarantee that the house would sell at all, never mind for enough to clear the outstanding mortgage AND repay the money you have spent out. However, can I suggest that you get a rent book from WH Smith, and write your payments into it, so you've "got a record" if your BiL asks. You never know if you might need it in the future.

Why not try & get the APR reduced on that credit card, and look into the Virgin card for a 0% balance transfer. And in the meantime, start to snowball your spare money onto the cards to reduce the balances.

Oh, and go & lie down - you're expecting a baby & you need some rest :grouphug:

Love Floss x

jak

BT phone line- if you apply online for paperless bills then this will drop to 10.50pcm.Good luck.x

RAS

Hi

And if either of you can get a 0% or low balance transfer, then you can get it down even faster.

Also have a look here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/make-money

there are things you can do from home to make a few bucks.

As a starter, think about e-bay and car boots etc, to get money for anything you do not need.

And join www.freecycle.org for those things you need for the children. it is like e-bay but you get the things for free.

You might want to call the thread - got head out just in time?:rotfl:

Scared4future

I have spoken to hubby about calling MBNA to reduce the APR but he seems to think that this will affect our credit score.. Does anyone know if this is true??

As soon as this mess is cleared up we want to find another way onto the housing market and as we have never faulted on payment in anyway our credit score should be good still so we shouldnt have any probs with a mortgage.

I think its amazing how a high profile lender such as MBNA can get away with a 30%+ APR and I only found out by doing my own maths! Serves us right for not being more money savvy!!

xx

chevalier

It is all in the asking.

If you ask to have your APR reduced, because you have seen a better offer elsewhere (and let's face it anywhere would have a better apr than that), and are thinking of moving this won't affect your credit score.

If you rang up and said you are struggling could you reduce the apr then maybe it would.

But asking the first way can't do any harm. If they only put it back to 20% (which is still way too high), then that would be a massive interest saving

best of luck
chev

Scared4future

Update about my horrendous MBNA APR...

Called them last night and it was reduced from 34.9% to 24.9%.... OK not great but still knocks off 6 months from my Snowball!!:T

Seems there are alot of people out there blindly paying (like I was) this huge rate... so if your a newbie Debt free Wannabe, its maybe worth checking what APR your paying?? (Look for the teeny weeny writing on the back page of your statement :rolleyes: )

This did not affect my credit score and I got the feeling that they are charging people this rate until they call and complain... then instantly reducing it!! Its that 'variable' word again!! Was told it was to compensate for financial loses elsewhere within the company :mad:

izzybusy23

Scared4future wrote: »

Update about my horrendous MBNA APR...

Called them last night and it was reduced from 34.9% to 24.9%.... OK not great but still knocks off 6 months from my Snowball!!:T

Seems there are alot of people out there blindly paying (like I was) this huge rate... so if your a newbie Debt free Wannabe, its maybe worth checking what APR your paying?? (Look for the teeny weeny writing on the back page of your statement :rolleyes: )

This did not affect my credit score and I got the feeling that they are charging people this rate until they call and complain... then instantly reducing it!! Its that 'variable' word again!! Was told it was to compensate for financial loses elsewhere within the company :mad:

Good news on reducing your MBNA APR.. tbh they are the worst card you could go with (I have one with them but paid off now) so if you could balance transfer to a 0% card that would help you loads. Do not attempt Virgin though as they are linked to MBNA.

Do you have a Tesco Clubcard? If so tescos are doing a clubcard credit card which you are probably more likely to get accepted for if you use a club card, which offers 0% balance transfers for 13 months. Also Sainsbury's are doing a good 0% balance transfer for 12 months. I would definately try to get rid of MBNA as soon as you can.

As you done a lot of work on that house thinking it would be yours, I would say to your BIL that you are only prepared to pay say £300 rent, and use the rest up to pay off the debt. Seems like the only fair way to me.

Good luck!

Edited to say, the reason why MBNA can 'get away' with charging this extortionate APR is because they are a US bank, and we know what mess the yanks are in now don't we!!!! If you get a letter from MBNA, don't dismiss it as a circular, its probably them advising on interest rate rises.. just to keep you aware.

LilacPixie

Have you looked into Maternity Allowance. Its for self employed and those who do not qualify for maternity pay. Its 112 a week i think but worth alook to see if you will qualify.

Scared4future

Its amazingly how obvious some things are.. Looked into SMP and I should be entitled, have got to call the HR dept at work tomorrow to make sure :T

Also taken a closer look at all my bills and found out that I have been paying £3.35 a month to BT for something that I cancelled almost a year ago :mad: . Going to call them tomorrow and have a good moan and hopefully get some compensation back!!

Its amazing the feeling of empowerment when you are in control of your finances... Ive finally managed a full nights sleep for the first time in weeks
:beer: