Topic: My debts

[James Falla]

Good advice from Laura about trying to pay off your 0% credit cards before the deal comes to an end. Have you also considered doing a balance transfer for some of the card debts/ overdraft debt where you are currently paying interest or where your 0% deal is about to come to an end? Barclaycard have just announced a 0% deal which lasts 17 months which might be worth investigating.

[debtlimit]

Hi,
 
I will tell you my experience from Greece and Greek banks. I am trying to manage my debts by transferring their balance to a 0% interest for some months. Most of the people do like this. I haven't seen 17 months 0% interest though. The bigger 0% period is 6 months. Who knows, maybe in the future when everything here will be "frozen" the banks will accept 17 months or more........
 
 

[James Falla]

I assume that the 17 months zero interest deal from Barclaycard is only available to UK customers.  It is certainly a good deal but as always should be used with a bit of a warning: Once you have transferred your balances, you must cut up your old cards. Otherwise you may find that you use these again and your debts become worse....

[debtlimit]

I have experienced that issue twice here in Greece. I havent cancelled my cards, just in case. Its obvious what happened.......

[James Falla]

It sounds like you have made a classic mistake Debtlimit. Keeping your cards just in case you need them will always leave you open to the temptation of using them again. I always advise my clients to cut up their cards or even cancel the accounts for good after a consolidation otherwise nine times out of ten, they will be tempted to use them again....

[sjp17]

Hello , thanks for the advice and the encouragement , the one thing ill say is that time is a great healer and sometimes it feels like its never going to end , but i am starting to see the progress being made , the only debts im paying interest on at the moment is the rbs overdraft and the rbs loan the rest is interest free , the rbs platinum card interest period ends in may , the natwest interest free period ends in September , ive just paid off the barclaycard and cancelled it , so i dont know whether i should apply for a new one and combine the cards ? or is it possible to pay off a loan or overdraft with a credit card ? i dont think they will give me a big credit limit if i am accepted , so is it really worth my while ?
 
oh by the way petrol 142.9 a litre here , diesel 145.2 dam the goverment !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[debtlimit]

It sounds like you have made a classic mistake Debtlimit. Keeping your cards just in case you need them will always leave you open to the temptation of using them again. I always advise my clients to cut up their cards or even cancel the accounts for good after a consolidation otherwise nine times out of ten, they will be tempted to use them again....

Correct James. Its not only tempation but daily needs as well.....but the fear of losing the ability to have some money available make this decision really hard to take.
 

[sjp17]

Only cutting them up worked for me , and when i brought down the balance i always removed some of the the credit limit , same with overdrafts remove the limit and the temptation aint there ,
 
Im possibly considering borrowing £3k of my brother , interest free and paying of that RBS loan and the rest on the natwest credit card , ill pay him back at £50 a month over 5 yrs by standing order, it would free up a £116 per month to put on the natwest each month , plus i would save a lot on interest with the loan and i might get a better deal when i transfer the balance of my credit cards in may , so say theres £1000 Left on the natwest and £3500 on the rbs come may , i might manage to get that on the one card for 17 months such as a barclaycard. I still have to ask my brother but hes usually quite understanding and he has about 25k in the bank , your thoughts please ?

[debtlimit]

Personally I think it is a good idea. The most critical part though is having relatives that can understand your problem and help you.

[James Falla]

Getting an interest free loan from your Brother is a great idea if he will do it for you sjp17. Anything you can do which frees up £116 a month which can be put towards other debts sounds like a good plan to me. I am not sure if you can pay off a loan with a credit card balance transfer but I think you can do this with an overdraft. No harm in investigating the barclaycard deal and seeing what they say.

[debtlimit]

I did talked to my mother today, about my situation and she wants to help me. She will give me (no interest of course, maybe no cap. return) around 3K in order to be able to cope with my current debts. And yes I am gonna cancel my credit cards. For good.
 
 

[James Falla]

That sounds like a great result for you debtlimit. One of the hardest things about having a debt problem is getting the courage up to talk to someone about it, especially a partner or other family member. However, your experience debtlimit just proves that talking things through can really pay off. Remeber to cancel your cards and cut them up once the debts are paid and let us know how you get on

[debtlimit]

I will keep you updated James Falla. To be honest the conversation with my mother about my debt issue was really uncomfortable......It was the first time I open my financial problems to my parents.

[sjp17]

Ive been picking winkles the past four days during my time off , or whelks as we call them , its cold and hard work bending over picking them up but needs must , all you do is go when the tide starts going down and hey presto they are there,  there paying £2 a kilo at the moment, ive picked nearly 50kg so thats a extra £100 to stick on some debt , i also did a huge clear out and a three day sale on e-bay , netted me £134 , Ive started going for my weekly shop an hour before the supermarket closes , you get loads of reduced food , meat and bread etc , just stick it in the freezer , last week got steaks for 10p , its amazing , Oh and im looking into getting my taxi licence , for weekends and days off ,
 
Once the weather improves im going to sell the car £300 maybe if im lucky and use my 125cc motorbike to go to work during the summer months , better mpg and a lot cheaper to licence and insure

[James Falla]

I think you should be proud of the action you are taking to get your debts paid sjp17. It is really great to hear that you are being proactive to try and earn more money and cut costs. Good luck with it and keep us up to date with how you get on