advice on loans and credit cards

[miaboo]

Hi
Can you reduce your monthly payments on loans and credit cards without it affecting your credit rating and will companies do this anyway?
We currenltly have 2 loans which are £227 and £204 per month and 2 credit cards which are £65 and £30 per month, I've been looking at the figures as I'm currently on maternity leave and want to be a stay at home mum and even If I returned to work would be in the same suituation money wise as not working, these payments are a massive part of our outgoings and is there anyway of reducing them or do I just have to deal with it as after all its our debt!!

The only way without affecting your credit rating would be to consolidate them eg apply for a new loan for the full amount you owe. You would need to take it over a longer term than you currently have for it to lower your monthly payments and it will cost you more long term (as you will be paying the interest for longer).

Other than that you could only do it by speaking to your creditors and explaining you can't afford the debts any more and paying a reduced amount. This will damage your credit rating and if you could afford to pay but would just prefer extra breathing room each month they are unlikely to agree to it (most lenders want a statement of your income and outgoings to "prove" you can't afford it any more).