Debts

[harlacem0507]

Needing advice/some honest options really as my friends are too nice lol!

Have a few debts - £1800 for my new clutch (that's been put on a brand new credit card which we (dh) have never owned before because we don't want to rely on them) got a 20 month interest free card

£380 Argos card (new washing machine last year) due this November

£730 holiday (I absolutely know this was a bad move but the deposit is paid now!) due march

I work for the NHS as a nurse and I will be expecting a backpay of around £400 in October but I really want to my daughter's bedroom carpet done, she's been waiting ages as the floor is dreadful (when we moved in last year it was already there)

Now, I probably already know the answer but I really want to get the £400 to pay for the carpet but I know I should pay off the Argos card but does anyone have any advice on how to delay this without it affecting my credit? Also, do these debts sound okay or quite bad? As some have said they aren't bad at all yet others said it's quite a lot! Please be kind 🤣

You don’t ‘have’ to pay off the argos card but you will need to start making repayments plus you will also pay interest back to day 1 and going forward (you lose the whole interest free part.).

You need to pay Argos otherwise you’re going to end up paying a lot in interest as you lose the interest free so it goes back to day 1.

Pay your debts before you start booking holidays and putting new carpets in because this becomes a constant cycle and before you know it you’re stuck and being shafted by interest everywhere you look.

The debts are a lot if you can’t afford to pay for a £350 washing machine without putting it in a card. You really should pay the debts before you go spending more money on non essential things like carpets.

You really don't need to spend £400 on a bedroom carpet, not sure where you are but there are distinct carpet warehouses and you'd get a carpet for £100. Your debts are manageable, nothing outrageous.

The debts in and of themselves sound manageable the problem is your inability to stop an accruing further debt for things you don’t need. If you get the carpet what’s the next thing you will need? Christmas gifts? Holiday spending money? this is how really bad debt snowballs.

You don’t have enough for emergencies like car repairs and washing machines without going into debt so you shouldn’t be doing holidays and carpets right now.

if the carpet was really necessary then you should have prioritised it over a holiday. Clear the Argos card and the holiday first before buying carpet.

Don’t buy anymore non-essential goods and keep up the repayments for your existing debts, the bigger repayment for which of the Argos and holiday debts has the highest interest.

When you don’t even have £400 in savings to buy a new washing machine, this should be a big flag that you need to take a serious look at your finances.

Have a big review of all your finances to see if you are leaking money anywhere and also whether you have sufficient money on paper.

It might only need a few tweaks to free up enough money to pay your debts off and save money so you can pay for car repairs and white goods replacements without borrowing.

Have a look at

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

Get the Argos paid off in full,…if you don’t the interest will be back paid to the date you bought it and it’s a very high interest

Thanks all, every single reply was right I just had to get a reality check ✅ it's so hard when you work like a dog for pittance 😔

Have you not had any spare money to chip away at the Argos card. As that’s usually why people get the interest free for 12 months to use that 12 months to pay it off?

Being totally honest I've kind of ignored it thinking I had plenty of time left. Idiot.

This. It's crazy to book a holiday you can't afford. You'd do better to repay all debt before going on holiday.

The Argos interest rate is loads, you really don’t want that adding 12 months interest on.

We have an Argos card, but we pay a bit of it off each month, not leave it until its 'due'. You need to rethink how you approach debt on cards, treat it like a monthly bill to gradually reduce, not aim to pay a lump sum because that will never happen. Same applies to your new credit card. Dont ignore it.

I'm sure your daughter can wait a bit longer for a new carpet.

When you are in debt, I would recommend that you take a holistic view of your finances as a whole.

I see you are a nurse, so I can appreciate that your income is low. Would it be possible to work some bank shifts to earn a little extra?

Have you taken a look at your outgoings recently? Could you reduce anything so you have a little more left over to pay off debts?

Are you getting the best credit? Argos cards sound very expensive; could you get a much better rate via an overdraft or a different credit card? Essentially transfer the balance to pay less interest. I pay nothing on my overdraft if I pay it back by the end of month - which I always do, as my salary goes in there. In this way, the debt is interest free, which could make a big difference.

Could you switch your bank account, to get some benefits? We did this a couple of years ago and got some good cash bank incentives with NatWest. This can help with overall costs / spending and help leave you a little more in the bank each month to clear your debt quicker.

If you are worried you can always call the national debt line https://nationaldebtline.org/

Don't ignore the other debts until you get too close. It's amazing that you've got back-pay coming which is enough to pay off the Argos card! But presumably you don't have an extra £730 lump sum coming in March.. in fact Christmas will have happened in between, which is always expensive.

It's in just 6 months time. Can you put £120 a month onto that so you pay it off when it's due?

Then you can switch that repayment to the clutch. You'll have 14 months left to pay that off if you just took it out - but it's a bigger debt - so £130 per month will clear it when it's due.

Yes I'm definitely going to use my backpack in October to pay off the Argos card so at least it'll be paid interest free, the carpet will have to take a back seat now it really isn't a priority at all. I'll be pleased once that is paid off then it's just the holiday to pay off which is a bit more expensive 😬 I'll have to try and get some bank shifts in but it's hard with a 14 month old to care for!