Unsure whether to consolidate - please advise

Verbatim · 29 July 2018 at 8:31AM

Yes but the trick is to go off piste. A few streets away, but within walking distance. And I'm talking about buying rather than renting. You have the central line tube and the Gospel Oak to Barking overground line with tube interchange at Blackhorse Road (Victoria line).

zippygeorgeandben · 31 July 2018 at 5:18PM

Monthly update

Good afternoon to all of you who read this thread. Well...and I won't get all Frank Sinatra on you but...

'And now.....the end is near.....and so I face.....the final payment.....'

A very successful month for me in terms of debt repayment. I paid an extra £140 off the Sainbury's debt, cleared the loan my sister gave me and also (as mentioned in an earlier post) paid off my student loan debt (which I had had for 21 years).

All this means that when I do my monthly update at the end of August, I will be able to officially shout it from the roof tops that I am debt free.

An interesting statistic is that roughly 18/24 months ago, 50% of my income went on expediture, whether that be rent/bills/loan repayments. This figure as from September will be 32%. I'm pretty sure that I'm in the minority of people living in London who pay less than half of their income on rent and council tax now. But it has been extremely hard work.

I should be getting an ever so slight pay increase at some stage in Autumn/Winter 2018 but only by about £60 net I estimate but hey, that's the sky each month covered.
The tutoring will probably stop now which was an enormous benefit to reducing my debt leaving a bit more free time to do some stuff.
Also, (those of you who have read the thread!) one of my goals, albeit tongue in cheek was to and I remember what I said 'To lose some bloody weight'. I have shifted 18kgs since January which I'm over the moon about and now in a healthy BMI range.

Thanks for the support and encourage, especially to those who take the time to log in and contribute to the discussion.

Dobbibill · 31 July 2018 at 11:47PM

Brilliant news :j :j

Verbatim · 1 August 2018 at 7:54AM

Very impressive weight loss and debt busting. Congratulations on both counts.

zippygeorgeandben · 2 August 2018 at 12:35PM

Thanks Dobbibill and Verbatim!

lindez · 2 August 2018 at 12:36PM

Congratulations on the weight loss and the debt busting x

zippygeorgeandben · 2 August 2018 at 12:37PM

Thanks lindez and I hope the emergency fund challenge is going well!

Martintin78 · 4 August 2018 at 1:27PM

Good afternoon everyone,

Is there such a thing as a debt consolidation loan? I have just come back from a meeting with my high street bank as I am looking to consolidate various debts in to one easy payment.

I currently pay just short of £900 per month on credit cards, store cards and past loans. I have a good/excellent credit score - never defaulted and have a good income. I was looking to borrow £15,000 over five years - this would cover all of my current debts (excluding my mortgage) - and at £260 per month, would save me over £600 per month!

When I do soft searches for a debt consolidation loan, it shows my chances of being excepted as low - 20-50%. I discussed this matter with my bank to get an understanding why this is.

They took a detailed look in to my account - looking at my income v outgoings though my account. The person in the bank said I was failing on afford ability. When you apply for a loan, obviously it looks at you income and your outgoings, but this includes the outgoing debt payments which would be covered by the new loan.

So in essence I can not get a debt consolidation loan because my outgoings which would not be there after the loan are impacting on the process.

It is frustrating, as I have clearly demonstrated I don't default on any payments, and if I can afford to pay £900 per a month, I can 100% afford £260 a month!

I know the bank would risk assess it, by saying we don't know you would use it to pay of your loans - but that takes me back to my original point - are debt consolidation loans real or just false advertising?

Does anyone have advice? Is there a way of getting a loan which would pay the debts directly - thus reducing the risk to the lender?

Thank you

Dobbibill · 4 August 2018 at 4:59PM

Martintin78 wrote: »

Good afternoon everyone,

Does anyone have advice? Is there a way of getting a loan which would pay the debts directly - thus reducing the risk to the lender?

Thank you

Hi Martintin78 - welcome to the forum.

This would be better placed as a new thread rather than attached to someone elses 'sticky' thread. (Perhaps the BG on this board can move it).

On paper you would be assessed on paying the £900 plus the £260 - the lender has no guarantee you will pay off the existing debt.

If you read through this thread you will see the benefits of not consolidating - you can attack different debts as a priority rather than converting them all into one. (normally the highest APR first).

All the best.

zippygeorgeandben · 10 August 2018 at 6:24PM

Thanks Dobbibill! I did wonder whether I'd opened up the wrong thread at first!

Unsure whether to consolidate - please advise

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