Should I get a line to repay credit cards

[hairfoilsgo]

I'm a single parent and currently have some credit card debt that I would like to sort

Card 1 - £3300 and I pay about £75 a month Interest

Card 2 - £5209 - currently no interest but that will change soon

I can get a bank lone to clear over 5 years but in total will pay over £6000 in interest

My current repayments on credit cards are £350 a month as only making minimum payments

What I be better off getting the line on carrying on with repayments

Well, what is the interest rate on the loan? Make a spreadsheet and compare the cost of borrowing the money that way and the cost of paying off the cards at the current rate.

The problem with clearing the debts with a loan is that unless you've dealt with whatever caused you to run up the debt in the first place, odds are you'll run up some new debt on the now-cleared cards, and have to pay it off alongside the loan.**

Instead of taking out a loan to pay debt, have you tried asking for a payment plan with these two cards, I would look at doing this first before taking any further debt on.

I've just looked at stepchange and maybe my best option is a debt repayment plan though then, interest will be frozen and I can repay at a affordable monthly cost

You need to do a budget that includes all your outgoings. There’s a good one on the moneysavingexpert site. You’ll have to do this if you want to go with Stepchange so might as well get started!

£6000 in interest? surely thats not right

I did a payment plan when I was younger, it did affect my credit rating but so did having debt that was barely repaid.
I had an affordable monthly amount and it made me never want to be stupid with money again

Have you considered applying for another 0% balance transfer card so all your payments are coming off the balance?

What are the relative rates? The £6000 interest on the loan sounds a lot, is the rate high?

Can you afford the credit card payment and can you get another balance transfer?

As a PP has said you need to review your finances to see what you can afford before you commit to anything.

If you can afford the credit card minimum and can get new balance transfer offers that's the best course of action. A good tip that someone mentioned on here a few days ago is to check the minimum payments as they vary between 1 and 3%, so if you got a balance transfer offer with a lower minimum payment that would really help.

However if you're struggling with the payment and are using debt to make your normal living expenses that's an indicator that you might need a more formal solution and an expensive loan that you can't afford to service isn't the answer.

But no-one can say without a full picture of your situation. Look at the debt and budgeting section of Moneysavingexpert.com and do everything that is relevant. It could be that you have some non essential spending you could cut back on but if not, it will signpost you to possible solutions.

Another thing to be aware of is that a very high percentage of people who take loans to 'pay off' debt end up running up more credit card or overdraft debt either because they can't afford the payment and all their normal living expenses or they continue to overspend on none essentials because they haven't addressed the problem that got them into debt in the first place.