We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Advice please
Options
Hi All
I wondered if I could ask for some advice please, am trying to sort out our money situation and getting a bit mixed up!
Currently my OH & I owe approx £22k on a mixture of 2 loans (his), and then credit cards and an overdraft. 2 of the cards are on 0% and will be ending relatively soon, and the others aren't. I'm wary of continually applying for 0% cards, as we would have to apply for multiple cards (we wouldn't get a single card with a big enough balance to cover what was needed), and therefore continully having credit checks run against us.
Our monthly outgoings on this are just over £600, we are also paying off a no-interest loan to his parents which I haven't factored in, this is non-negotiable. So basically we are paying out the majority of his monthly salary on our debt. Credit cards are cut up and not used, so no additional debt is accruing.
We'd like to apply for 1 large loan to cover the whole amount, over a long period of time. I know we may end up paying more interest in the long run, but the priority is to reduce the monthly outgoings. I'll be going on maternity leave in June, so we need to save up as much as possible to allow me to take off more than 3 months of maternity leave. Currently we have approx £150 a month disposable income, which covers any extra petrol needed on top of the 1 tank we budget for, as well as presents and anything extra (including preparing for baby's arrival!)
The loan that we have looked at with Tesco is £22,500 over 10 years with an advertised APR of 8% - we'd be paying approx £10k in interest which seems very high to me. If we split if between 2 smaller loans to get a reduced APR, combining the repayments wouldn't save us any money.
So, after that epic post (!) could I ask people's advice on what they think that would be the better option, or if you can think of any other solution? I really want to try and get this sorted out and keep on top of it.
Thanks in advance
I wondered if I could ask for some advice please, am trying to sort out our money situation and getting a bit mixed up!
Currently my OH & I owe approx £22k on a mixture of 2 loans (his), and then credit cards and an overdraft. 2 of the cards are on 0% and will be ending relatively soon, and the others aren't. I'm wary of continually applying for 0% cards, as we would have to apply for multiple cards (we wouldn't get a single card with a big enough balance to cover what was needed), and therefore continully having credit checks run against us.
Our monthly outgoings on this are just over £600, we are also paying off a no-interest loan to his parents which I haven't factored in, this is non-negotiable. So basically we are paying out the majority of his monthly salary on our debt. Credit cards are cut up and not used, so no additional debt is accruing.
We'd like to apply for 1 large loan to cover the whole amount, over a long period of time. I know we may end up paying more interest in the long run, but the priority is to reduce the monthly outgoings. I'll be going on maternity leave in June, so we need to save up as much as possible to allow me to take off more than 3 months of maternity leave. Currently we have approx £150 a month disposable income, which covers any extra petrol needed on top of the 1 tank we budget for, as well as presents and anything extra (including preparing for baby's arrival!)
The loan that we have looked at with Tesco is £22,500 over 10 years with an advertised APR of 8% - we'd be paying approx £10k in interest which seems very high to me. If we split if between 2 smaller loans to get a reduced APR, combining the repayments wouldn't save us any money.
So, after that epic post (!) could I ask people's advice on what they think that would be the better option, or if you can think of any other solution? I really want to try and get this sorted out and keep on top of it.
Thanks in advance
0
Comments
-
Are you plannning to apply joint or just in OHs name? How much does he earn?
£10k in interest may seem high but its because the debt is being repaid over such a long period. 8% on an unsecured loan of £22,500 is actually very competitive.
Do you realise that the 8% is only a representative rate?, by which only 51% of successful applicants are offered a loan at that rate, others are offered a higher rate (or declined of course).
If the issue is just to get you over a 3month period of maternity, and you can afford the repayments otherwise have you looked at whether you are able to take repayment holidays on the 2 existing loans?A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who giveor "It costs nowt to be nice"0 -
Thanks Tixy.
Glad to know the 8% is competitive - and yes, aware that we're not guaranteed to receive that. We were planning to apply jointly, or if we took 2 smaller loans, we'd apply for one each.
Can't take payment holidays on the loans, and tbh there is more balance on the credit cards.
We can afford for me to take 3 months of maternity, I'd like us to be able to reduce our outgoings/save enough to enable me to take another 6 months after that (which I know is wishful thinking), but its also part of the long term plan to allow me to also reduce my hours are work (so less money spent on childcare), and also just to increase our quality of life. Both working full time in stressful jobs, but have no money in the month to actually enjoy, and this sometimes causes OH to be very low and depressed about things which isn't healthy.
We also have so much to do to make our house baby-ready (not being unrealistic either - we have no heating, need to carpet the baby's room etc, not buying expensive baby clothes etc), so we need to reduce outgoings so we can do this.
But as I said, this is a long term thing to help us get on top of debt and improve our quality of life 0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.5K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards