Time to fix my debt.
Discussion
Hi guys,
I was after a bit of advice. I know I've gotten myself into a mess (Not THAT bad) and I'm working hard to get it sorted.
So, round about I was 18 I thought it would be smart to take out a credit card with a £1000 limit - The APR on it is 19.9 % (Student Card). I told myself I'll manage it well but it spiralled and now it is maxed out. Then, at 20 some unfortunate circumstances meant I had to take out a loan for 8000 at a rate of 9.9% and was given a CC by the Bank at a similar rate, that CC is also maxed out. I also have bits and bobs of other debts in terms of store cards.
Now, I am keeping up all the monthly repayments for everything and for the last 2 years I've been working my day job which pays pretty well but due to the amount of debt + repayments + fuel + bills, I don't really have much left to save with. So I got a second job on weekends at my local supermarket which was sh*t but it allowed me to save a decent amount of money every month.
My total debt amounts to somewhere in the region of £4000 now spread across different cards and one store credit account.
Let me cut to the chase. After about a year of dedicated saving (first year was written off as I had to get a new engine) I've managed to save about £3000. So what do I do with it?
1. Pay off all the credit cards + store cards (Repayments total to approx £160 a month in total) and continue paying my Loan repayments which are @ 167 a month for a remaining 33 months.
2. Put the money in a secure account with no access to it and simply use it to pay off my loans monthly installments for the next 18 months and save keep up CC repayments (This way they will clear a year and a half from now)
What do you guys think? Suggestions are welcome please.
I was after a bit of advice. I know I've gotten myself into a mess (Not THAT bad) and I'm working hard to get it sorted.
So, round about I was 18 I thought it would be smart to take out a credit card with a £1000 limit - The APR on it is 19.9 % (Student Card). I told myself I'll manage it well but it spiralled and now it is maxed out. Then, at 20 some unfortunate circumstances meant I had to take out a loan for 8000 at a rate of 9.9% and was given a CC by the Bank at a similar rate, that CC is also maxed out. I also have bits and bobs of other debts in terms of store cards.
Now, I am keeping up all the monthly repayments for everything and for the last 2 years I've been working my day job which pays pretty well but due to the amount of debt + repayments + fuel + bills, I don't really have much left to save with. So I got a second job on weekends at my local supermarket which was sh*t but it allowed me to save a decent amount of money every month.
My total debt amounts to somewhere in the region of £4000 now spread across different cards and one store credit account.
Let me cut to the chase. After about a year of dedicated saving (first year was written off as I had to get a new engine) I've managed to save about £3000. So what do I do with it?
1. Pay off all the credit cards + store cards (Repayments total to approx £160 a month in total) and continue paying my Loan repayments which are @ 167 a month for a remaining 33 months.
2. Put the money in a secure account with no access to it and simply use it to pay off my loans monthly installments for the next 18 months and save keep up CC repayments (This way they will clear a year and a half from now)
What do you guys think? Suggestions are welcome please.
Sod all - It's got 9 previous owners and was given to me by a friend leaving the country for a reasonable price. The thing is I'm not "broke" - I can afford to run both cars, I was just looking at the smartest use of my savings in my account and which debt to clear first - The CC's or the Loan
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.p...
Read some of the threads on the MSE forum. Scary.
Read some of the threads on the MSE forum. Scary.
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