Seem to be going round in circles...

m3aty

Hello all, I am new to the forum and am looking for people opinion's my my situation. I like to think i'm fairly level headed but have still managed to get myself in a bit of a mess. I have the following debt:

Loan: £4900 (paying £317 a month)
Credit Card 1: £4700 (still on a 0%)
Credit Card 2: £4800 (paying approx 14%)

I have been trying to pay off £150 off each Credit Card per month on top of the loan payment but I always seem to end up getting an unexpected bill or something at the end of the month which I end up getting the cards out for, these amounts have not really moved for a few months.

Would I benefit from applying for a loan to pay off all of the above? Would that take the pressure off a bit as i'd have one payment to worry about instead of 3? I'm worried about applying though in case it gets rejected and makes my situation worse by having a black mark against my name.

I have never missed a payment on any of these, or any other bill so I like to think that I have a fairly good credit rating, but when I applied for a card last month with the intention of transferring the balance from Credit Card 2 on to it (for a 0% offer), it was rejected.

I'm 26, have a fairly decent job and my own home but this is just lingering over me am I struggle to get through the month and want to be debt free ASAP. I've already cancelled my gym membership, cut down on my phone bill and eBayed anything that will sell, but am having no luck.

Any advice/comments greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

M.

shopaholic2008

Hello and welcome

Why not post a SOA then the clever people on this site will be able to point you in the direction of some money saving.

From what i gather on here a lot of people are against consoldating but there will be plenty of people that will be able to offer good advice along soon

onedayiwill

Hi,

Consolidation works for some but for many of us it is dangerous - we consolidate but still keep spending on the cards... so then we end up with a loan and run up still more debt. As you currently are still spending on the cards for the "unexpected bill or something" I certainly wouldn't advise consolidating.

Bills should not be unexpected. We should be budgeting for them (even the ones we can't predict like car/washing machine/boiler breakdown). I've been working on this over the last year and it sure as heck makes things easier.

If you post an SOA then people will be able to provide more specific advice.

ltm07

Hi, check out the www.whatsthecost.com snowball calculator,which will tell you how much per month you need to be paying off each debt. It may also be worth transferring cards onto a low LOB cards when the 0% deal comes to an end. As others have said too,if you put your SOA up on here,then there will be plenty of good people who will be abe to save you a few quid, good luck!

Welshlassie

You need to post an SOA, this will help identify any areas that you can cut back on. Also plug you debt figures in a snowball calculator www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx this will show you how much to pay off each debt and in which order. If you are able to afford £150 per debt each month, you may find that this helps you direct your money more effectively.