Consolidate debts or try to overpay..
Discussion
ETA- Sorry for the long post all, I just thought I'd add some detail in which may help with any responses you might kindly give.
I've got a few lingering debts that have gathered over quite a long time. I was earning plenty of money in the past but a few circumstances meant I didn't make enough of an effort to pay them down and didn't give them too much thought or worry. More recently, my take home pay has halved and whilst I earn enough, the debt just isn't going down - there's always something that means I don't overpay or if I do then something crops up and undoes my good work!! I have already made various cut backs so this isn't really an ask for help on that front.
I have a loan with around 10.5k & 41 months remaining and it's about 2.9% interest, costing £275 per month, and a CC balance of around £7k currently 0%. Aside from the mortgage, no other debts.
Monthly it's costing me a minumum of £375.
My sheddy car that I downgraded to when I started earning less money is quite thirsty. I bought it for its NA Jap reliability thinking that its less likely to break, but it's getting horrific MPG on my commute and can cost up to £260 a month in fuel at 28mpg!
Would it make sense with everything above considered to get a £20k 60 month loan, pay everything off, one payment of £363, balance is definitely going down, and I'd have around £2k left plus my 900 quid trade in to buy the best used diesel I could for the money, potentially saving over £100 per month in fuel costs. It might seem counter intuitive but maybe actually having more spare cash at the end of the month will feel a bit more like I'm getting somewhere?! I'm aware swapping the 0% cc debt to a loan incurs interest, but at least its sort of kept tidy and reducing albeit slowly. And I save on fuel.
Or, do I just suck up, try and overpay the CC, reduce the debt as much as possible instead of adding to it, run the shed or try my best to change to diesel shed for minimal outlay, and keep plugging away? Keep in mind I've found it extremely difficult to pay down the CC and every time I do, something happens like the fence blows down or boiler breaks - I'd sooner get ahead with a bit of money stashed aside for things like that like I used to, but it seems increasingly difficult to do so. I am hoping that my income will increase with my new job as they are keen for me to take on more responsibility.
Any help appreciated, I can't really discuss with my OH as she isn't clued up financially, although thankfully doesn't spend more than she earns! And I'd rather not ask the advice of my parents on this one!
I've got a few lingering debts that have gathered over quite a long time. I was earning plenty of money in the past but a few circumstances meant I didn't make enough of an effort to pay them down and didn't give them too much thought or worry. More recently, my take home pay has halved and whilst I earn enough, the debt just isn't going down - there's always something that means I don't overpay or if I do then something crops up and undoes my good work!! I have already made various cut backs so this isn't really an ask for help on that front.
I have a loan with around 10.5k & 41 months remaining and it's about 2.9% interest, costing £275 per month, and a CC balance of around £7k currently 0%. Aside from the mortgage, no other debts.
Monthly it's costing me a minumum of £375.
My sheddy car that I downgraded to when I started earning less money is quite thirsty. I bought it for its NA Jap reliability thinking that its less likely to break, but it's getting horrific MPG on my commute and can cost up to £260 a month in fuel at 28mpg!
Would it make sense with everything above considered to get a £20k 60 month loan, pay everything off, one payment of £363, balance is definitely going down, and I'd have around £2k left plus my 900 quid trade in to buy the best used diesel I could for the money, potentially saving over £100 per month in fuel costs. It might seem counter intuitive but maybe actually having more spare cash at the end of the month will feel a bit more like I'm getting somewhere?! I'm aware swapping the 0% cc debt to a loan incurs interest, but at least its sort of kept tidy and reducing albeit slowly. And I save on fuel.
Or, do I just suck up, try and overpay the CC, reduce the debt as much as possible instead of adding to it, run the shed or try my best to change to diesel shed for minimal outlay, and keep plugging away? Keep in mind I've found it extremely difficult to pay down the CC and every time I do, something happens like the fence blows down or boiler breaks - I'd sooner get ahead with a bit of money stashed aside for things like that like I used to, but it seems increasingly difficult to do so. I am hoping that my income will increase with my new job as they are keen for me to take on more responsibility.
Any help appreciated, I can't really discuss with my OH as she isn't clued up financially, although thankfully doesn't spend more than she earns! And I'd rather not ask the advice of my parents on this one!
When is the creditcard interest going to kick back in?
I'd be tempted to wait until then before looking at any consolidation. Practice hypermiling? should stop any unexpected cost being a £100 speeding fine!!
What's the 28mpg car? Swapping down the lower end is tricky as fuel savings could disappear quickly if the new cars a wrongun?
I'd be tempted to wait until then before looking at any consolidation. Practice hypermiling? should stop any unexpected cost being a £100 speeding fine!!
What's the 28mpg car? Swapping down the lower end is tricky as fuel savings could disappear quickly if the new cars a wrongun?
It sounds like you're managing at the moment and have at least a reliable car which is cheap although not necessarily cheap to run. Better the devil you know in that case, it's not like consolidation is going to change the world as you're paying a ton of interest at the moment and it sounds like you have enough unplanned expenditures that you'll just end up using the credit card for them and 3nd up with more debt.
Imagine if you spend a few grand and it turns out to be unreliable, I'd imagine you'll spend a lot more in unplanned expenditures than you're spending now. £100/month in savings isn't a lot if something on the new car goes bang.
Imagine if you spend a few grand and it turns out to be unreliable, I'd imagine you'll spend a lot more in unplanned expenditures than you're spending now. £100/month in savings isn't a lot if something on the new car goes bang.
If your current car is reliable vs a potentially cheaper to run but unknown reliability of a 2.5k-3k diesel that might be better to keep. Diesels at that age and that era are now unreliable imo anything commonrail or high pressure is a ticking timebomb.
Sounds stupid but look up hypermiling techniques coast towards junctions, change up early. it is amazing how much fuel you can save.
Can you walk to work instead of the car?
Takeaways etc
2.9% is pretty low and if your card is interest free then imo for now any spare money you have needs to be towards building the rainy day fund instead of paying down debt but then immediately needing to dip into it.
Edited to add I started writing a reply before seeing the above posts and they both say the same thing. Looks like a decent answer
Sounds stupid but look up hypermiling techniques coast towards junctions, change up early. it is amazing how much fuel you can save.
Can you walk to work instead of the car?
Takeaways etc
2.9% is pretty low and if your card is interest free then imo for now any spare money you have needs to be towards building the rainy day fund instead of paying down debt but then immediately needing to dip into it.
Edited to add I started writing a reply before seeing the above posts and they both say the same thing. Looks like a decent answer
This will probably go against the consensus, but you can buy a nearly new Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo, Skoda CitiGo etc for about £100 pcm (just a cursory look on the Cazoo website).
I'd be inclined to leave the debts alone as they're cheap, and get yourself a newer car that's cheaper to run and cheap or free road tax too. You won't have massive net savings but you'll be spending the same or less than now and have a newer car that's possibly still got manufacturer warranty left.
I know that's technically adding to your debt, but you shouldn't be any worse off either, with less potential bills and cheap consumables.
I'd be inclined to leave the debts alone as they're cheap, and get yourself a newer car that's cheaper to run and cheap or free road tax too. You won't have massive net savings but you'll be spending the same or less than now and have a newer car that's possibly still got manufacturer warranty left.
I know that's technically adding to your debt, but you shouldn't be any worse off either, with less potential bills and cheap consumables.
Looking at your figures on the face of it you aren't going to save much by consolidating your finances and will end up paying more long term in interest. You mention you start making a dent then something comes up and your debt goes back up, my thought there is if say you did lump the loan and credit cards into one loan with the same monthly payment overall (more or less), what is your plan then if an appliance in your house breaks for example?
I guess you would from what you say be spending on the Credit Cards again and the debt goes higher still as you now have a bigger loan and credit card debt and you are worse off than before.
Your car doesn't sound awful in terms of bills and if it is reliable I would say keep it, trying to move to another car to save money on fuel could give you a less reliable car as it is unknown with mechanical bills which could far exceed any fuel savings.
When your current credit card 0% deals end will you be able to get other cards on 0% to keep the interest free going? Is your credit record good enough for it?
You should also look at all your monthly outgoings i.e SKY tv packages, mobile phone contracts, other monthly bills and see how they can be reduced if at all, it's amazing how it can all add up.
If it was me (and i've been there) I would concentrate on paying off one credit card at a time if you have multiple, probably whichever has the 0% deal finishing soonest and pay minimum payments on the others at the same time and work through them all in that way
You may be able to tell from my post i've been where you are, bought the t-shirt and come out of the other side again, there is a very good website called money saving expert and the forums on there are full of people trying to clear debts and offering advice to each other, there is a really good section called "Debt free Wannabe" where people will give loads of advice on this kind of thing so maybe worth a look.
I guess you would from what you say be spending on the Credit Cards again and the debt goes higher still as you now have a bigger loan and credit card debt and you are worse off than before.
Your car doesn't sound awful in terms of bills and if it is reliable I would say keep it, trying to move to another car to save money on fuel could give you a less reliable car as it is unknown with mechanical bills which could far exceed any fuel savings.
When your current credit card 0% deals end will you be able to get other cards on 0% to keep the interest free going? Is your credit record good enough for it?
You should also look at all your monthly outgoings i.e SKY tv packages, mobile phone contracts, other monthly bills and see how they can be reduced if at all, it's amazing how it can all add up.
If it was me (and i've been there) I would concentrate on paying off one credit card at a time if you have multiple, probably whichever has the 0% deal finishing soonest and pay minimum payments on the others at the same time and work through them all in that way
You may be able to tell from my post i've been where you are, bought the t-shirt and come out of the other side again, there is a very good website called money saving expert and the forums on there are full of people trying to clear debts and offering advice to each other, there is a really good section called "Debt free Wannabe" where people will give loads of advice on this kind of thing so maybe worth a look.
Scootersp said:
When is the creditcard interest going to kick back in?
I'd be tempted to wait until then before looking at any consolidation. Practice hypermiling? should stop any unexpected cost being a £100 speeding fine!!
What's the 28mpg car? Swapping down the lower end is tricky as fuel savings could disappear quickly if the new cars a wrongun?
I've got 12 months of the 0% left, and I anticipate I could likely swap to another 0% afterwards. I have another card laying dormant with no balance on it which would likely welcome my debt at 0% again I think, fortunately.I'd be tempted to wait until then before looking at any consolidation. Practice hypermiling? should stop any unexpected cost being a £100 speeding fine!!
What's the 28mpg car? Swapping down the lower end is tricky as fuel savings could disappear quickly if the new cars a wrongun?
Funnily enough, I have started driving more gently hoping it'll make a difference, and it does a little.
It's a Honda Civic so about as reliable as you can get really for shed money. I agree about changing could be worse, although I have seen some perfectly serviceable looking Mondeos, focuses, insignias, kias etc for around 3-3.5k which would probably do mid 50's driven gently. I guess they're just one big bill away from decimating the savings.
Turbo Tat said:
I've got 12 months of the 0% left, and I anticipate I could likely swap to another 0% afterwards. I have another card laying dormant with no balance on it which would likely welcome my debt at 0% again I think, fortunately.
Funnily enough, I have started driving more gently hoping it'll make a difference, and it does a little.
It's a Honda Civic so about as reliable as you can get really for shed money. I agree about changing could be worse, although I have seen some perfectly serviceable looking Mondeos, focuses, insignias, kias etc for around 3-3.5k which would probably do mid 50's driven gently. I guess they're just one big bill away from decimating the savings.
When you swap nearly always it isn’t fee free - normally 2.99% so it’s kind of indifferent to the loanFunnily enough, I have started driving more gently hoping it'll make a difference, and it does a little.
It's a Honda Civic so about as reliable as you can get really for shed money. I agree about changing could be worse, although I have seen some perfectly serviceable looking Mondeos, focuses, insignias, kias etc for around 3-3.5k which would probably do mid 50's driven gently. I guess they're just one big bill away from decimating the savings.
Soleith said:
It sounds like you're managing at the moment and have at least a reliable car which is cheap although not necessarily cheap to run. Better the devil you know in that case, it's not like consolidation is going to change the world as you're paying a ton of interest at the moment and it sounds like you have enough unplanned expenditures that you'll just end up using the credit card for them and 3nd up with more debt.
Imagine if you spend a few grand and it turns out to be unreliable, I'd imagine you'll spend a lot more in unplanned expenditures than you're spending now. £100/month in savings isn't a lot if something on the new car goes bang.
You speak sense, and these are my thoughts I suppose, although I'd likely cut the cards up or cancel them if I did the loan thing, and just do my best to get a buffer started.Imagine if you spend a few grand and it turns out to be unreliable, I'd imagine you'll spend a lot more in unplanned expenditures than you're spending now. £100/month in savings isn't a lot if something on the new car goes bang.
I'd likely save 100 quid in fuel, whilst having a slightly nicer/more suitable car, and potentially save road tax as well which is around £20 per month. As you say, not a huge saving.
vulture1 said:
If your current car is reliable vs a potentially cheaper to run but unknown reliability of a 2.5k-3k diesel that might be better to keep. Diesels at that age and that era are now unreliable imo anything commonrail or high pressure is a ticking timebomb.
Sounds stupid but look up hypermiling techniques coast towards junctions, change up early. it is amazing how much fuel you can save.
Can you walk to work instead of the car?
Takeaways etc
2.9% is pretty low and if your card is interest free then imo for now any spare money you have needs to be towards building the rainy day fund instead of paying down debt but then immediately needing to dip into it.
Edited to add I started writing a reply before seeing the above posts and they both say the same thing. Looks like a decent answer
This is sound advice and I suppose I know it makes the most sense.Sounds stupid but look up hypermiling techniques coast towards junctions, change up early. it is amazing how much fuel you can save.
Can you walk to work instead of the car?
Takeaways etc
2.9% is pretty low and if your card is interest free then imo for now any spare money you have needs to be towards building the rainy day fund instead of paying down debt but then immediately needing to dip into it.
Edited to add I started writing a reply before seeing the above posts and they both say the same thing. Looks like a decent answer
I can't walk unfortunately as its 30 miles away, I've cut down a lot on luxuries and extras in life, I don't think I can cut back much more without living a miserable existence so the best thing I can do is do as much over time as possible, and, as you say, get a buffer together before paying down the card.
I'm a bit sick of the car to be honest as it's consumption is annoying given how basic and noisy the car is, it's compromised on every level apart from reliability, but beggars can't be choosers!
Raymond Reddington said:
This will probably go against the consensus, but you can buy a nearly new Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo, Skoda CitiGo etc for about £100 pcm (just a cursory look on the Cazoo website).
I'd be inclined to leave the debts alone as they're cheap, and get yourself a newer car that's cheaper to run and cheap or free road tax too. You won't have massive net savings but you'll be spending the same or less than now and have a newer car that's possibly still got manufacturer warranty left.
I know that's technically adding to your debt, but you shouldn't be any worse off either, with less potential bills and cheap consumables.
This has crossed my mind but then my debt goes from around 17k to 25! Even though cash flow would be unaffected, and people at work might stop taking the piss out of me for my old heap lol. I'd be inclined to leave the debts alone as they're cheap, and get yourself a newer car that's cheaper to run and cheap or free road tax too. You won't have massive net savings but you'll be spending the same or less than now and have a newer car that's possibly still got manufacturer warranty left.
I know that's technically adding to your debt, but you shouldn't be any worse off either, with less potential bills and cheap consumables.
Jamescrs said:
Looking at your figures on the face of it you aren't going to save much by consolidating your finances and will end up paying more long term in interest. You mention you start making a dent then something comes up and your debt goes back up, my thought there is if say you did lump the loan and credit cards into one loan with the same monthly payment overall (more or less), what is your plan then if an appliance in your house breaks for example?
I guess you would from what you say be spending on the Credit Cards again and the debt goes higher still as you now have a bigger loan and credit card debt and you are worse off than before.
Your car doesn't sound awful in terms of bills and if it is reliable I would say keep it, trying to move to another car to save money on fuel could give you a less reliable car as it is unknown with mechanical bills which could far exceed any fuel savings.
When your current credit card 0% deals end will you be able to get other cards on 0% to keep the interest free going? Is your credit record good enough for it?
You should also look at all your monthly outgoings i.e SKY tv packages, mobile phone contracts, other monthly bills and see how they can be reduced if at all, it's amazing how it can all add up.
If it was me (and i've been there) I would concentrate on paying off one credit card at a time if you have multiple, probably whichever has the 0% deal finishing soonest and pay minimum payments on the others at the same time and work through them all in that way
You may be able to tell from my post i've been where you are, bought the t-shirt and come out of the other side again, there is a very good website called money saving expert and the forums on there are full of people trying to clear debts and offering advice to each other, there is a really good section called "Debt free Wannabe" where people will give loads of advice on this kind of thing so maybe worth a look.
Thank you for your sound advice.I guess you would from what you say be spending on the Credit Cards again and the debt goes higher still as you now have a bigger loan and credit card debt and you are worse off than before.
Your car doesn't sound awful in terms of bills and if it is reliable I would say keep it, trying to move to another car to save money on fuel could give you a less reliable car as it is unknown with mechanical bills which could far exceed any fuel savings.
When your current credit card 0% deals end will you be able to get other cards on 0% to keep the interest free going? Is your credit record good enough for it?
You should also look at all your monthly outgoings i.e SKY tv packages, mobile phone contracts, other monthly bills and see how they can be reduced if at all, it's amazing how it can all add up.
If it was me (and i've been there) I would concentrate on paying off one credit card at a time if you have multiple, probably whichever has the 0% deal finishing soonest and pay minimum payments on the others at the same time and work through them all in that way
You may be able to tell from my post i've been where you are, bought the t-shirt and come out of the other side again, there is a very good website called money saving expert and the forums on there are full of people trying to clear debts and offering advice to each other, there is a really good section called "Debt free Wannabe" where people will give loads of advice on this kind of thing so maybe worth a look.
My credit rating is very good and I've never missed payments or anything, have a modest mortgage and likely to get another 0% deal fortunately.
I will have a look at the money saving expert site, sounds interesting and a good place to start.
I don't want to get too militant with this as I'm aware plenty of people have more debt than me on cars or kitchens or whatever and don't give it a second thought, but I am keen to chip away at it steadily without living a completely miserly existence. I have cut down a lot though, shop in aldi, cheap sim card deal with an old phone, more cooking, less eating out/fancy coffee.
Good on you for getting your situation sorted, I bet its a nice feeling of achievement.
Welshbeef said:
When you swap nearly always it isn’t fee free - normally 2.99% so it’s kind of indifferent to the loan
A very good point which I have completely overlooked Welshbeef!!I suppose the main argument for the loan is psychological. Neat and tidy single payment, cut the cards up and close the accounts, carefully buy a long term economical motor, pay the loan payment and forget about it while trying to build a decent buffer. The time this would come unstuck is if the turbo exploded on the new motor or something before the buffer is big enough to sort it.
Whilst the credit card debt is technically at 0%, you do pay a transfer fee each time you switch it which is effectively then same as interest.
I was in a similar situation 18 months ago and took out one loan to pay off a lot of legacy debt and transferred the rest to a 0% credit card. I had budgeted for paying off the credit card balance over the 0% period of 18 months, but thanks to COVID everything I spent money on (holidays, pubs, football, eating out) has been banned so I've cleared the balance 9 months earlier as I put all my spare money into clearing it. I will now be overpaying the loan and plan to clear it by next summer which will be 2.5 years earlier than the term.
Given what you've described, I would certainly look at a consolidation loan as I do get satisfaction from knowing the debt is reducing each month and that there is a definite end point where it will be gone.
I'd also investigate the car situation as someone else said above, you could get something like a Hyundai i10 would be around £100 per month. My OH had a 2014 one, which I used to borrow when I was working in Swindon so doing a 400 mile round trip each week. I never got less than 50mpg, it was great on the motorway and it cost £20 a year to tax. Faultlessly reliable too. You might be able to get all that for less than you're spending on fuel now.
I was in a similar situation 18 months ago and took out one loan to pay off a lot of legacy debt and transferred the rest to a 0% credit card. I had budgeted for paying off the credit card balance over the 0% period of 18 months, but thanks to COVID everything I spent money on (holidays, pubs, football, eating out) has been banned so I've cleared the balance 9 months earlier as I put all my spare money into clearing it. I will now be overpaying the loan and plan to clear it by next summer which will be 2.5 years earlier than the term.
Given what you've described, I would certainly look at a consolidation loan as I do get satisfaction from knowing the debt is reducing each month and that there is a definite end point where it will be gone.
I'd also investigate the car situation as someone else said above, you could get something like a Hyundai i10 would be around £100 per month. My OH had a 2014 one, which I used to borrow when I was working in Swindon so doing a 400 mile round trip each week. I never got less than 50mpg, it was great on the motorway and it cost £20 a year to tax. Faultlessly reliable too. You might be able to get all that for less than you're spending on fuel now.
Turbo Tat said:
This has crossed my mind but then my debt goes from around 17k to 25! Even though cash flow would be unaffected, and people at work might stop taking the piss out of me for my old heap lol.
Try to look at the car payment like a utility bill instead of the full amount as a debt. This will also contradict the attitude of a lot of people on the forums but you need a reliable car if you're travelling 30 miles to work.Something like this https://www.cazoo.co.uk/used-car/aaa39f80-8700-11e...
Warranty till 2024
I'm thinking of doing the same as my shed corolla is also terrible on fuel and does break occasionally
I’d concentrate on paying the credit card off rather than anything else. The other loan already has a defined end point and it isn’t that far away and isn’t at high interest. The credit card on the other hand won’t be zero percent forever, and if you’re just making the minimum payments is almost endless in duration.
Raymond Reddington said:
Try to look at the car payment like a utility bill instead of the full amount as a debt. This will also contradict the attitude of a lot of people on the forums but you need a reliable car if you're travelling 30 miles to work.
Something like this https://www.cazoo.co.uk/used-car/aaa39f80-8700-11e...
Warranty till 2024
I'm thinking of doing the same as my shed corolla is also terrible on fuel and does break occasionally
God no what a horrid vehicle. Something like this https://www.cazoo.co.uk/used-car/aaa39f80-8700-11e...
Warranty till 2024
I'm thinking of doing the same as my shed corolla is also terrible on fuel and does break occasionally
Welshbeef said:
God no what a horrid vehicle.
It doesn't have to be one of those, but one of the most effective things I did when paying off debts in the past was to minimise and fix costs as much as possible. One unexpected bill from a thirsty old car can ruin progress. And seeing as he's doing 28mpg at the moment, the car I linked to or similar would be almost free!
Similarly, boiler cover and appliance cover from a company like domestic and general is relatively cheap and turns most things then in to a fixed monthly cost with fewer nasty surprises and big bills.
Edited by Raymond Reddington on Saturday 10th April 10:28
How long is your commute? Easier said than done - but if you've taken a huge pay cut to commute further (or the same distance) - might be worth spending the effort to fix that rather than fiddle around with a car which is only going to save you £150 per month and cost you a lump to purchase. In the mean time try all the money-saving tips - hyper-miling, cycling shorter distances and cutting out unncessary stuff until you've paid the debt off.
And all 'eating out fancy coffee' is unnecessary .. don't be hitting the pub next week!
And all 'eating out fancy coffee' is unnecessary .. don't be hitting the pub next week!
Edited by fido on Saturday 10th April 10:04
Silenoz said:
Whilst the credit card debt is technically at 0%, you do pay a transfer fee each time you switch it which is effectively then same as interest.
I was in a similar situation 18 months ago and took out one loan to pay off a lot of legacy debt and transferred the rest to a 0% credit card. I had budgeted for paying off the credit card balance over the 0% period of 18 months, but thanks to COVID everything I spent money on (holidays, pubs, football, eating out) has been banned so I've cleared the balance 9 months earlier as I put all my spare money into clearing it. I will now be overpaying the loan and plan to clear it by next summer which will be 2.5 years earlier than the term.
Given what you've described, I would certainly look at a consolidation loan as I do get satisfaction from knowing the debt is reducing each month and that there is a definite end point where it will be gone.
I'd also investigate the car situation as someone else said above, you could get something like a Hyundai i10 would be around £100 per month. My OH had a 2014 one, which I used to borrow when I was working in Swindon so doing a 400 mile round trip each week. I never got less than 50mpg, it was great on the motorway and it cost £20 a year to tax. Faultlessly reliable too. You might be able to get all that for less than you're spending on fuel now.
Well done on bettering your situation, I am certainly tempted with the loan thing simply to keep it tidy and have a defined end date. I didn't realise actually that you can over pay on a loan, is this something most lenders offer?I was in a similar situation 18 months ago and took out one loan to pay off a lot of legacy debt and transferred the rest to a 0% credit card. I had budgeted for paying off the credit card balance over the 0% period of 18 months, but thanks to COVID everything I spent money on (holidays, pubs, football, eating out) has been banned so I've cleared the balance 9 months earlier as I put all my spare money into clearing it. I will now be overpaying the loan and plan to clear it by next summer which will be 2.5 years earlier than the term.
Given what you've described, I would certainly look at a consolidation loan as I do get satisfaction from knowing the debt is reducing each month and that there is a definite end point where it will be gone.
I'd also investigate the car situation as someone else said above, you could get something like a Hyundai i10 would be around £100 per month. My OH had a 2014 one, which I used to borrow when I was working in Swindon so doing a 400 mile round trip each week. I never got less than 50mpg, it was great on the motorway and it cost £20 a year to tax. Faultlessly reliable too. You might be able to get all that for less than you're spending on fuel now.
You're right about the car, I probably could finance, fuel, tax and insure one for a small chunk less than what I pay now. I'm just reluctant to get in more debt.
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