Prioritising what to pay off - multiple debts.

[DaveTheOnion]

DP and I have accrued quite a lot of debt recently. We have had work done on the house as there were 5 of us in a 2 bed house and life had become unbearable and the work has made our lives so much better. The work and finishing touches ended up costing more than we had so we took out loans and paid for things on our credit cards.
We have buried our heads in the sand for a few months but I decided this morning we need to take charge of things.
DP wants me to take charge of things which suits me. We have both agreed to stop spending on the credit cards unless its something absolutely urgent and we will discuss it before hand. The loans are for set amounts with set repayment schedules but if possible I would like to repay them sooner if that is an option with the aim of being debt free as soon as possible.
We have set up a central pot to pay money into each month which will solely be to pay off debt (Around 1k a month on top of the monthly repayments we make) so we have a really good chance to get this sorted asap although the debts are in excess of 20k!
What is the best way to prioritise the debt? For example my credit card has a horribly high interest rate- would it be best to focus there or should be get rid of some of the smaller debts first and work our way up to the bigger ones. We intend to put more money into the debt pot as debts are paid off and more money is freed up.

Focussing overpayments on the debt with the highest interest rate will save you money and help you pay it off quicker in the long run.

Can you transfer any of the higher interest credit cards to a 0% deal to reduce the cost of the debt?

Agree with above, but there is also a benefit to paying off the smaller stuff so the balances show zero on your credit file.

Can you list what you’ve got left to pay?

Also review all your finances to see if you can free up money to pay more off your debts, for example by reducing the cost of your mobiles phones, broadband etc.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Target debt with the highest interest rate. Make minimum payments on the rest. Once the highest debt is gone target the next highest etc. Keep a tight reign on holiday and Xmas spending.

I would build up a £1,000 emergency fund first then tackle debts with the highest apr first. Could you transfer any of the credit cards to 0%. Are your credits cards on 0% but soon due to finish the 0% period?

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/debt/debt-calculator

Snowballing is one method, but there are other ways to look at as well.

Highest interest rate cards first.

RBS do a 19 month 0% interest 0 fee credit card at the moment on balance transfers.

We are also currently clearing CC debt of £30k, this was built up over the years whilst I was qualifying. Currently down to £23k from January this year.

Good luck!!

I’d target debt with higher interest rate first. Like a PP suggested check out a card with interest free balance transfer as it could help it’s a 3.5 % flat fee then interest free for 18 months on interest free lots of similar deals out there.

I was really shocked recently when I noticed the interest on my credit card is over 24%. I tend to pay in full monthly. I’m sure it was 17% when I took it out.

Thank you for all the helpful replies. I will take a look at a balance transfer for my CC as i think i am paying nearly £200 a month in interest alone on that!
DP's card is thankfully 0% already for another 12 months as he's just done a balance transfer.

That link to the Debt snowball thing was really helpful. It has given me a good perspective on where to start and how long we are looking at in terms of repayment. I think we need to focus on the Credit card debt first as the other accounts are all ones where we pay x each month for x amount of time - a few have a couple of months left on them. Also 1.5 k of the debt is for a holiday and that needs to be paid soonish so at least that's something that will be done and out of the way.
Then once the debt is clear I will put money into savings to ensure we don't get into this muddle again.

I do debt counselling.

If you haven't already set up a spreadsheet with the interest rates payable. Pay off the highest first generally though sometimes psychologically it's useful to pay off any tiny amounts so the list of debtors is reduced.

Write a budget for your expenditures and allow a small discretionary spending pot (anything not spent save)