Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

How much debt are you really in?

28 replies

mummytopebs · 10/04/2009 21:16

Am gettin myself a bit down about debt, we have enough to pay payments every month but not if things go wrong - like car needs fixing etc. Just wondering wether to put it all on a massive loan over bout 7 years and save some of the loan in case stuff goes wrong - we owe bout 20k in visas, overdraft, loans x please be honest cos i feel like we are the only people in this situation

OP posts:
HotCrossGoober · 10/04/2009 21:18

Only overdraft which is £100ish.

gscrym · 10/04/2009 21:18

I'm way worse than that. I stuck my head in the sand but it's all getting sorted now.

thisisyesterday · 10/04/2009 21:20

well, we have a mortgage
apart from that I have £180 on my credit card.

but fear not, you are most definitely not the only people in your situation.
have you spoken to someone like cccs? they give free debt advice and would be able to tell you the best way to reduce your debt as quickyl as you can

CarGirl · 10/04/2009 21:22

CAP are also a charity that helps people

www.capuk.org/help/needhelp.php they can negotiate reduced payments on your behalf etc

AnonForSurvey · 10/04/2009 21:31

Car loan of £7.5k

Loan of £10k

Credit cards amounting to around £17k

Total of none mortgage credit £34.5k

We also have a large mortgage (£400k)

Thankfully our household income is large enough for us to sustain that debt without it causing us problems.

AnonForSurvey · 10/04/2009 21:33

If the rate of interest on one big loan is more manageable and would actually work out cheaper then I would seriously consider it to wipe the slate clean. Only if the repayments are affordable though.

I would avoid those dodgy IVA loan things like the plague though.

AnonForSurvey · 10/04/2009 21:33

If the rate of interest on one big loan is more manageable and would actually work out cheaper then I would seriously consider it to wipe the slate clean. Only if the repayments are affordable though.

I would avoid those dodgy IVA loan things like the plague though.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 10/04/2009 21:33

Credit card £4,400

Overdraft on my old accoutn £1000 but SO from business account will start whittling that down.

£400 on our joint account but DH has £1500 due to come in soon from wages.

solidgoldshaggingbunnies · 10/04/2009 21:35

Lots, things v bad at the moment due to non-paying client and having had to borrow at v high interest rates. My income is about to increase but it's still very sticky.

FAQinglovely · 10/04/2009 21:38

this is a really great page for helping working out whether it's going to cost you less in the long run.

Some people it works for getting a loan to pay it all off) , but others find it works out better to pay each debt as they are and as each debt "ends" then they have more to spent on the next one.

ickletickle · 10/04/2009 21:38

none, but a 355k mortgage which is plenty big enough..

Flibbertyjibbet · 10/04/2009 21:49

About £3k left to go on the mortgage.
Thats it, both cars are old ones we paid cash for, chopped up the credit cards years ago and we save up for stuff rather than get loans.

Original poster
mummytopebs · 10/04/2009 21:54

I would like to wipe the slate clean the monthly payment would be the same as we are paying now but would allow for a bit newer car (ours needs a lot doing to it that we havent got money for) and bit in bank incase anything should go wrong x What do you think, is this a good idea

OP posts:
FigmentOfYourImagination · 10/04/2009 21:56

I think it would be a good idea to speak to an IFA.

Phoenix · 10/04/2009 21:58

Just don't go back to credit cards and overdraft like we end up doing

solidgoldshaggingbunnies · 10/04/2009 22:23

And FFS don't ever touch either Payday loans or Provident unless you are absolutely utterly sure that you can pay the whole farking lot off within about a month. .

Original poster
mummytopebs · 10/04/2009 22:25

how can you speak to an ifa?

I wont go back to ccards etc because we are both working now and dd starts school sep so no more childcare-yippeeee

OP posts:
Flibbertyjibbet · 10/04/2009 22:46

Trouble with ifas is that they get paid for taking commission when they sell you something ie another loan.

Personally as one who was once in a mess with cards and loans if I were in your position I would not take out a loan to give yourself some money in the bank.

You will have payments to make on that loan so you'd probably end up using the loan money in the bank to make the payments.

The moneysavingexpert.com always says to rank your debts in order of the highest to lowest interest rates they are on.

Pay off the minimum on the ones at lower rates whilst paying off as much as you can on the one with highest interest as this is the one costing you the most. When you've paid that off you go for the one on the next highest rate.

If you are able to make all the payments ok now then you should be able to manage at least a bit extra each month on the highest one. Then when dd starts school try and use all the 'childcare' money each month to get rid of all this debt, before you get used to having it to spend.

Then when its all paid off use the money each month to build up that nest egg.

(thats basically what i did some years ago and am completely debt free apart from miniscule amount left on mortgage).

FAQinglovely · 10/04/2009 22:48

agree with everything FJ says.

And try using that website I linked to see how much interest you'd pay on the full amount over X years, compared to if you keep things as they are and pay each one off.

I was when I did my (relatively small - but still significant) ones.

feedthegoat · 10/04/2009 22:56

Definately agree with Flibbertyjibbert.

Also, you wouldn't be wiping the slate clean. The debts wouldn't be clear in reality, just shifted elsewhere.

Lubyloo · 10/04/2009 22:56

Just wanted to say that an IVA is not a "dodgy loan thing" and for some people it can be a solution and help them avoid bankruptcy. More info here.

Also you can see an IFA on a fees basis rather than commission.

sarkin · 18/04/2009 09:58

Lots of information here on debt consolidation remortgages here. Agreed IVA does not work as in year 4 they ask for equity in your property to repay IVA. 60% of people can not do this and the IVA fails.

alurkerspeaks · 18/04/2009 18:05

I wouldn't borrow money to put it in the bank. Loan interest rates are much much higher than anything you can get on savings at the moment.

I'd make a concerted effort to pay off as much debt as possible.

Pay off the debts which cost you the most first. If you want to have 'rainy day' money do you have an overpayment facility on a mortgage that you could then draw back down on.

dilemma456 · 19/04/2009 22:38

Message withdrawn

dilemma456 · 19/04/2009 22:41

Message withdrawn