where has the credit gone?

[winterblues25]

I’ve usually never had a problem being accepted for credit but just tried to increase my credit limit on my card recently and was refused, new balance transfer card and loan applications refused, credit score good, even the balance transfer offers on my credit card which I’ve had for years have been withdrawn??

Sounds like you've applied for too many traceable credit cards/loans within a six month period. Lap it up for 6 months and try again using a soft search like MoneySupermarket. Been there, learnt the lesson!

Yes I’m sure your mum had great fun with all that, sorry it’s not something I’ve got either the time or inclination for, just as well we have our 5 sets of school uniforms 😌
Homestly it’s hilarious how invested people are in my children’s school uniforms 😂

I agree 100 percent. I think you sound like superwoman op, And it's good you don't let the debt stress you out too much.

Managing a baby who doesn't nap, work, and up so much at night is extremely exhausting, but it sounds like you appreciate your kids and life very much. I think you should be proud.

Considering we raise our children more than adequately with our own earnings, I do hate to think what that poster would say to someone who had to rely on benefits to support their children, would probably suggest they should put them up for adoption at birth?

I appreciate the thread has moved on a LOT but 67% to one lender is where you might be sticking. And I know that’s what you’re trying to change. Have you exhausted ClearScore, MSE credit club etc?

Thank you ❤️ it is exhausting for the moment and knew it would be at this stage. So very lucky to have a wonderful DH, fab DSC and to have been able to have the children I have. Also to have the career that I do and love. Our finances are something I have on spreadsheets and keep under constant review but main priority for now is to just keep all those plates spinning, whilst trying to keep sane of course!

Not managing, some examples:

• Being one missed pay cheque away from having no credit left at all.
• A routine change in credit terms, namely an increase in interest rate, leaving you scrambling to try to find a way to bring that interest rate back down.
• Being in the position where you are posting online to try to figure out where you can get more cheap credit from.

What would you do if one of you lost your job?

Your not in £8k of dept due to George clothes. You put those down as examples to justify your spends, but come on, extra pair of gloves ain't causing this, extra set of uniform that can come cheap enough. What are you really spending this money on?

Don't want to work more to earn more as the nasty tax man gets it all. Same as they do to all of us. Extra is still extra.

Said you had more spare cash on benefit top up as a single mum. So did I. But guess same as me there has been a lifestyle creep. You kept saying about posters expecting you to have no mortgage. Not once have I seen this suggested. But I do suggest you probably took out the max they would give and it has left you short for the rest of your living costs. You have bought beyond your means.

You somehow think it is better that you use credit cards for essentials than luxury. Not true. Luxury are usually 1 off payments you can budget for. Yours is ongoing.

You say your step children have good jobs, so why is your DH funding them while putting your family further in dept. It's a mad concept.

You say about others having car finance, well they are getting a car out of it and the interest is fixed for the duration of their payments. What have you got to show for it?

Your so deep in it and so set in your mind that this is OK. Sad, but you can't keep blaming the tax man & the banks, this is your doing. There are many people living on or below your salary making it work without the credit cards.

Your DH needs to stop the child's payments as they are as you put it earning well. He needs to get his dependent children out of dept. You want to blame everyone but yourselves.

You havn't got a disabled DC though so what is your point. Why do you think you are so worse odd than the rest of the population with your 2 shifts a week. Even of the uniform was the reason for your dept (it aint) that would be what £50-£100 a year maximum? Do you think the posters on here are thick enough to believe you have racked up all this dept because you are so much sleepier that the rest of the population and that buying 3x more uniform than you need each year will get you into £8k dept in no time

but @winterblues25 8k is a lot of debt…you are so used to it now that you consider it ok. I personally would not be able to sleep if I had 8k on a cc! I don’t even have a cc and I like that I don’t! But each to their own.
and no I have no loans only my mortgage.

I actually think it might be the cancelling loans and credit cards that’s affected you. So if you had say a card paid off having that left sitting on your record shows a better divide of having available credit v what’s used. Sorry if I don’t make sense but like having for example a card on your record with 3k of the 4k limit used only v having a card with 3k of 4k used and another card with 4k available (like it’s paid off and out of the interest free or low interest rate so no longer used) it makes it look better over all that your using less than half of your available credit rather than if you cancel that card and then your using 75% of your available credit

Where has the revolving debt come from OP?
The extra children's clothes are a red herring. You don't run up debt like this by buying extra polo shirts.
Are you running out of cash and putting groceries and petrol on your Cc?
Because that is a real red flag.
When i was i debt I had all sorts of attempts to try to get out of it, although realistically it was hopeless. It weighed me down.
I think it's your attitude to it that is taking people by surprise tbh.

Agreed. Employers consider this in the equation when they decide what your salary will be—it’s part of your payment package, and would be very short-sighted to turn it down,

And this is the blueprint for how we want OP’s kids to live because their parents are £8k in CC debt?

£8k debt in itself, on paper, for a dual income family -not a cause for a bank to be concerned if they see it coming down.

£8k debt that is growing exponentially every month because only the pitiful minimum payment is being paid off every month - a cause for concern and a reason why a bank would shut down credit. It’s in their interests and in your interests @winterblues25

Why did you accrue £16k debt 5 years ago? Did you have “an excellent credit rating” then?

It’s 2026. It’s cheaper to buy the spare tops at Asda than to use the amount of water, energy, and laundry detergent, not to mention the petrol and pound coins to get to a laundrette that you mention in your plan. 5 school tops cost pennies in 2026.

The reason why DSCs don’t get the full loan to cover their full uni expenses is through no fault of their own—it is due to the parental income. Which is why the government expects the to make a parental contribution to make up for the shortfall. If DH pulls that, it will be very difficult for a FT student to come up with that kind of cash quickly, particularly on minimum wage from a PT job. They may need to quit uni—not a great idea to walk away with no degree, yet still responsible to pay back the loans they’re taken out so far. To become someone with thousands in student debt, yet no degree is not a great place to be.

In which case why on earth are you on here asking for advice? You’re living a precarious lifestyle that you can’t afford.

Why are you paying interest on your credit card? Clear the balance each month. I have never paid interest on my credit card. We use it for day to day spending and groceries as well as initially paying for larger purchases. I don't buy anything unless the money is in the bank. I use a slightly higher interest Internet saver in tandem with the no interest paying bank account.
Take some time to see how you can make the best use of your income and definitely clear that balance on your credit card.

You can't even get a loan or a low interest credit card, your debt is growing with a ridiculously high interest rate and you seem to have no intention of dropping credit use and tightening your belt to pay it down quicker. That isn't money management.

Fwiw to answer your original question no I don't struggle to get credit. My credit card company just doubled my limit without me asking, I've asked them to put it back. DH just applied for a new credit card as the 0% on his old one expired, he rarely uses his but we are going abroad on holiday in February half term and the hire car is in his name so he will need an active credit card for that. So even as someone who doesn't consciously utilise credit and pay it off to maintain a good credit score it was easy.

We pay my credit card off every month we only use it for things like larger purchases, booking flights etc for the additional protections and to earn points, we have a nice lifestyle and I'm able to afford to save for pensions, savings and to save for DC. If DH or I lost our jobs we'd still be fine. We both have excellent credit ratings.

Borrowing money to clothe your children 🙄

Whilst also having significant housing equity and having the option to suspend our pension payments tomorrow?? This is just how we juggle our finances 🤷‍♀️ You’re implying someone would have to have more assets and income than us to be ‘managing’ ??

I’m not asking for advice, far from it, I think all the posters giving unsolicited advice have confused you into thinking I was asking for advice. Please go back to my original post where I was simply asking about other people’s experiences of credit availability at the moment

Do you ever manage to go on holiday?

Guessing no savings. How’s pensions?