Credit card or loan?

[FermezLaBouche]

I'm leaving my house next month to relocate for work, and also downsize a bit to try and give myself a chance to clear my debts. Due to my own crapness and some unexpected large expenses recently, I've got behind with my bills. I won't get my deposit back on my house until these are all settled.
Would anyone be able to advise me as to my best option? My current debts are:
Overdraft: £1650
Bank Loan £2000
Credit Card £450
Bills - approx £800 - (I can't express how crap I feel for letting myself get in this situation.)
I am thinking of applying for a credit card to pay off the utilities, then commit £200 every month to clearing my debts, which should be possible with the downsizing.
I am not sure what my credit rating is at the moment, but any suggestions as to what I should do would be hugely appreciated. I'm so upset with myself for getting into this mess. Thanks

First of all, you need to check your credit rating to see if it's likely that you would be accepted for a credit card or loan.

Next, work out your monthly income and outgoings, adding some extra on to put aside into savings (I aim for £50 a month, although don't always manage it) to pay for unexpected bills from now on, otherwise the same thing will happen again. Don't forget to include things you pay for once a year, eg I pay my road tax annually, so divide the cost of that by 12 for a monthly average (and remember to start putting it aside each month).

This will leave you with a figure that is the maximum you can repay each month from your debts. If you think you can get an interest free credit card to repay them, and can pay it ALL off while interest free, this would be wise to do. Some (not all) credit cards allow you to pay money into your bank as a transfer and still be interest free (my virgin card for example used to send me credit card cheques which I could use interest free). This way you can pay off the overdraft with it if high enough credit limit. If not, pay overdraft off separately.

If you can't do this with 0% credit card, a loan to repay everything (including your existing loan) would be a good idea so you have just the 1 payment each month. The higher your monthly payment, the quicker it's paid off (and the less interest you pay back) so have the payments as high as you can without over stretching yourself.

Thanks for such a considered answer RockChick and for not judging. I have a feeling my credit history is not good. I took out a consolidation loan in Jan to pay off my OD and existing CC but was in a car crash, which meant I had to use the money to buy a new car and pay for the damage I caused. :(
Will my bank count it against me if I get 2 loans so close in time to each other?

Thank you for the other tips - these are all things I know I need to start doing, but it's difficult (as Im sure many on here know) to pull yourself out of your own mess.

There's slightly less chance of a loan being accepted if you've applied fairly recently, but in all honesty jan was a while ago now. I worked in a bank selling loans, mortgages etc until a couple of years ago and we always told customers to ideally wait 3-6 months between credit applications so you should be fine now with that. Honestly, check your credit report and ask in the bank, they should be able to give you an idea of how likely it is that you will be accepted for anything without doing a full credit score on you.

Oh, and I wouldn't judge you, practically everyone gets into a bit of a mess with finances at some point in their lives, you are doing the right thing sorting it out while it's still at a manageable level!

Hope you get something sorted.