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Original poster

Paying off credit card/savings?

27 replies

Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 16:37

I owe the following: £1200 on a credit card with a £2300 limit, so just over half.

£495 on a card with a £500 limit.

£800 left on a £1500 loan I took out.

£450 on an Argos store card that has a £900 limit.

£300 overdraft.

I had another credit card which had a £200 limit and I paid that in full last week and closed the account.

I feel ashamed of this, I know the figures could be a lot worse but ideally they'd be close to zero.
My financial situation is expected to improve, I currently live alone which is expensive but I'll be moving in with my partner soon.

I earn under 30k which I know is quite low, so I'm currently applying for jobs which pay over 30 and I'm doing overtime currently.

The figures are going down and I do what i can. I shop at Heron Foods/Aldi etc. ,I stopped getting my eyebrows done and I don't get hair, nails or anything, I dye my own hair, all my clothes are second hand, I still live a bit because I'd go mad otherwise, life isn't for existing.

Any other advice? I'd love to have it paid off in a year.

OP posts:
Original poster
Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 16:38

Paying off the 200 card and closing it in full felt great. I'm not saving anything atm as all my money is going into repayments, I've heard the snowball effect is a good idea so I'm trying to now repay the 500 card before tackling the larger debt.

OP posts:
Statsquestion1 · 04/08/2025 16:40

Which ones have the highest interest rate?

Original poster
Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 16:40

Statsquestion1 · 04/08/2025 16:40

Which ones have the highest interest rate?

The 500 one and the 2300 have a similar rate tbh..

OP posts:
PeonyPatch · 04/08/2025 16:41

aim to pay off the cards with the highest interest on them first.

OR consolidate all of your debt into one big loan and pay off over a longer period of time

Original poster
Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 16:44

Ok i saw the £500 one has a 48.9% APR.. the £2300 is something like 29.9%

OP posts:
BadActingParsley · 04/08/2025 16:45

Go on to moneysavingexpert.com there's some very good advice on managing debts. Also on how not to spend money. Cutting out non-essentials for a year and looking at your spending patterns for last year are both a really good idea. Look at how much you spend over 12 months not just a month - then you can plan for spendy months.

Statsquestion1 · 04/08/2025 16:46

Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 16:40

The 500 one and the 2300 have a similar rate tbh..

Show quote history

obviously pay the min on all of them but make the extra to the 500 one first to get rid and spur you on then move on to the 2300- pay the min and the min that you would have paid on the 500 one and any extra until that’s gone…and so forth.

stop the needless spending…it’s not going to help…lay low for 5-6 months and see what you can pay off.

CarpetKnees · 04/08/2025 16:54

Like pp, I was going to say pay off the one with the highest interest rate first.

Having now read you are paying 48.9% APR, I am horrified.
Seriously, forget 'living' until you have paid that one off. Take on a second job until that one is paid off at least. A couple of shifts in a pub a week or something has to be better than paying practically 50% interest Shock

grafittiartist · 04/08/2025 16:55

Well done for getting it all on paper and for paying off that first one.
Have a look at Debt Free Wannabes on MSE - lots of advice there.
Research the snowball method- which you have actually started.
Lots of luck!

Original poster
Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 16:59

Thanks, I'll feel a lot better once the 500 is paid off. I'm putting £75 on it tomorrow which means almost 20 percent paid off.

OP posts:
Anywherebuthere · 04/08/2025 17:02

Easiest thing would be to consolidate it all one loan. And then you are just making payments to one place. Switch to something with the lowest interest rate possible. 48.9% is crazy. Close down all the ones you pay off.

While the amount will still be the same, paying off one loan or credit card, it will feel better seeing it reduce each month. It will be easier to manage too.

How much does 'live a little' cost you? Your focus should be paying off your debt.

Original poster
Misophoniaistough · 04/08/2025 17:05

The 48.9 one is Zable if anyone's heard of it..my other one i owe half to if virgin money. I'll take a look at the consolidation loans now..thank you

OP posts:
pinkbackground · 04/08/2025 17:06

We used the Dave Ramsey method. Lots of info about it online and there’s a great app.

Hankunamatata · 04/08/2025 17:07

Can you consolidate the card debts onto an card with a lower interest rate or interest free period?

Hohofortherobbers · 04/08/2025 17:10

48.9% is criminal !!! Get shot of that

helibirdcomp · 04/08/2025 17:16

See this https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards/
Transfer them all to a zero interest card. There may be a small charge but probably offsets the interest you are paying do the sums. You can get something like 34 months paying no interest. Pay off as much as you can every month at least the total of the minimum payment you are making on the existing cards. Set yourself up a reminder before the end date and if necessary transfer to another zero balance card or at least the one with the lowest interest rate you can find.

Superscientist · 04/08/2025 17:18

Can any of the cards be switched to 0% interest cards?
Prioritise the cards with the highest interest rates and hit them hard especially at 49% interest
It might be worth approaching a free debt advice charity like step change for advice.

Buying second hand clothes is preferable to new but in this situation I would aim for a period of zero spend or as close to possible.

How much is your overdraft costing you? This can be a very expensive form of debt. If you are always in your overdraft your can reduce the fees by switching your payments to go out at the end of the month before you get paid again so that you spend as short of time of the month in the highest level of your overdraft but requires restraint to ensure the bill money isn't spent.

Another thing to do is to really assess how this debt came about and what you can do long term to ensure you don't get yourself out of debt to then go back to old habits and go back into debt again afterwards

SmudgeButt · 04/08/2025 17:30

Was going to suggest the MSE DebtFree forum as well. First thing they're going to suggest is to fill out a "Statement of Accounts" SOA - which is a great budgeting tool. Use your credit card or bank statements to get the details to fill it out so it's accurate. even if you don't post it back on the forum it will be a good thing for you to take a look at what your actual spending is like - there's so much many of us forget to take into account.

SmudgeButt · 04/08/2025 17:35

Anywherebuthere · 04/08/2025 17:02

Easiest thing would be to consolidate it all one loan. And then you are just making payments to one place. Switch to something with the lowest interest rate possible. 48.9% is crazy. Close down all the ones you pay off.

While the amount will still be the same, paying off one loan or credit card, it will feel better seeing it reduce each month. It will be easier to manage too.

How much does 'live a little' cost you? Your focus should be paying off your debt.

Edited

do NOT get a consolidation loan! all it does is double the problem as you still have all those cards available. This is assuming you could even get a loan because many banks will see you with a bunch of debts on which you are paying a minimal amount and know you are a bad risk. in fact them saying no is likely to be the best thing for you.

pinkbackground · 04/08/2025 19:58

Agree with others that you shouldn’t get a consolation loan.

PeonyPatch · 04/08/2025 22:03

SmudgeButt · 04/08/2025 17:35

do NOT get a consolidation loan! all it does is double the problem as you still have all those cards available. This is assuming you could even get a loan because many banks will see you with a bunch of debts on which you are paying a minimal amount and know you are a bad risk. in fact them saying no is likely to be the best thing for you.

Show quote history

That’s not accurate advice. I had 3 credit cards and I managed to get a consolidation loan from M&S. if you use MSE website it lists a number of providers you’ll likely be accepted by.

Also, once you’ve paid off the cards using the loan money, you can then cancel all of the cards.

Anywherebuthere · 04/08/2025 23:43

SmudgeButt · 04/08/2025 17:35

do NOT get a consolidation loan! all it does is double the problem as you still have all those cards available. This is assuming you could even get a loan because many banks will see you with a bunch of debts on which you are paying a minimal amount and know you are a bad risk. in fact them saying no is likely to be the best thing for you.

Show quote history

I just suggested what has worked well for people I know in the past.

Obviously OP needs to look into everything carefully before taking any steps..

Letstheriveranswer · 04/08/2025 23:51

Are you able to get another card with a 0% balance transfer for a decent period of time? Then you can transfer all the card balances to that, close the other ones. Whatever you would have paid in interest on the other cards, use to make extra payments while it is on the 0% offer period.

Make sure you cancel the other cards though, to avoid temptation!

jbm16 · 04/08/2025 23:59

Would suggest you consolidate to one card if possible, loads of 0% percent cards for 6 months etc. and try to pay as much as you can afford each month.