# Debt consolidation?



## Outofmydepth (3 Aug 2010)

Age: *31*
Spouse’s/Partner's age: *N/A*

Annual gross income from employment or profession: *€42000*
Annual gross income of spouse: *N/A*

Type of employment:* Private Sector - Life Assurance*

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or - *Yes*
(b) saving? - *Not saving a penny right now (no savings apart from shares)*

Rough estimate of value of home *€160,000*
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: *€238,000*
*What interest rate are you paying? 5.25% - fixed rate for another 5 years.*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc 
*Credit card - €5000 (maxed out & card cut up) - MBNA*
*Personal loans (4) - *
*€8500 - repayment is €395 per month - due to end May 2012* *- Halifax
* *€5000 - repayment is €160 per month - due to end April 2013 - Rabo Direct*
*€7000 - repayment is €290 per month - due to end Dec 2012  **- Car finance through Opel - With PTSB*
* €10000 - repayment is €245 per month - due to end Dec 2014 - BOI*
*______*
*€30,500 - total repayment is €1,090 *


Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? *No*
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? *€5000*

Savings and investments:* Shares that are now worthless at the moment, so I'm leaving them for now until the share price eventually recovers. I had planned on cashing them to pay for the car, but share prices crashed and I took a car loan instead.*

Do you have a pension scheme? *Yes*

Do you own any investment or other property? *No*

Ages of children:* N/A*

Life insurance: *Mortgage protection only*


*I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a debt consolidation loan, but I'm not sure how willing a bank would be to take on the restructuring of external debt? Has anyone had experience of this? My outgoings on loans are what is crippling me - If I could shave off a few hundred from it, I'd be in a much better place. *

*I'm trying to set up a part time job as a makeup artist (already qualified) and I've also qualified to do spray tans, but really the market isn't there any more for spray tans. The makeup business will be slow to take off, but I'm going to stick with it. I am only advertising on free websites for now, as I can't afford to advertise properly. My tenant moved out recently, and despite having ads up for the room, I'm not getting any response at the moment.*

*I've made terrible decisions over the last few years by taking out loans and maxing my credit card. I'm here to take responsibility for this and start to get myself out of this mess. *

*Any advice would be very much appreciated. *


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## Outofmydepth (6 Aug 2010)

Is this post in the right location? I'm just surprised that there have been no replies.


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## micro (9 Aug 2010)

Are all the loans with one bank or several? I recently had loan/overdraft and CC with one bank and got my CU to take it on. Do you have any CU savings that you could use as collateral? 
What are your total outgoings per month? 1100E personal loans, min repayment on CC and mortgage of c. 900? 
As for part-time nixers- there are a few websites that have recently started up (I think one is called pamperme or similar) that do private parties. They seem to be a group of beauticians, nail techs etc who do hen parties, corporate nights and that sort of thing. It might be worth your while to look into something like that? You could also advertise on the various wedding sites?
Are there any colleges near you? If so, get in touch with their accommodation services and add your name to the list for rooms. 
Best of luck


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## dmos87 (9 Aug 2010)

Hi out of my depth,

Firstly, well done on getting on here and filling out the money makeover thread. Its a good step forward. It was posted in the wrong section so no responses  

Can you clarify for us how much your mortgage costs each month? And also the amount you would expect from a room share please. 

The four loans - are they all with the same provider? Please list and specify. There may be a chance to merge some of them to reduce the monthly payments - this is needed so you can clear that mountain of credit card debt. 

Please don't panic. Despite being in a bad position you do have a good sizeable income and a skill that could offer an additional income on the side. What I want you to do is please come back with the above details and also a budget breakdown (i.e. money in - wages, money out - mortgage, bills, car, petrol, food, etc. etc.). We'll try to help as best we can but the more info you can provide the clearer it all is.


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## Outofmydepth (9 Aug 2010)

Ah ok, didn't realise it was in the section...apologies!

Mink - in response to your questions:
My loans are with several institutions - I've edited my initial post to show where they are with. I've no credit union account.

Total outgoings are as follows:
€1090 on loans
€1114 on mortgage
€45 on health insurance
€50 approx on NTL and broadband (I know I could try get a better deal)
€50 approx on ESB (over the summer months)
€13 on TV licence
€13 on mortgage protection
€40 on car insurance
€20 on phone credit
€50 on credit card - but this is what gets put on the back burner every month
€30 petrol
_____
€2515

My travel expenses are taken at source, so my net pay is about €2550. So basically my outgoings = my income. Up until now I have been using my tenant's rent to live on during the month. This was €400 per month which covered food and going out once a week. I also have a management fee to pay. It's €1600 per year, and so far I've paid €400.

Great idea about those websites. I'll get ads up on them asap.

dmos87 - I think I've answered most of your questions above. I've the room up for €350 plus bills - average for my area based on research on Daft. I'd really hope to merge the 4 loans into a more manageable repayment, so that I can start getting the credit card down.


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## niceoneted (9 Aug 2010)

First off perhaps a Mod could be so kind and move this to money makeover rather than close it for being in wrong forum - user is new. 

You say your travel expenses are taken at source which leads me to think that you use public transport for work and are on the tax saver scheme. If so why not think of getting rid of the car it doesn't appear that you have it that long if the loan is to run til 2016 (assuming 7 yr loan). It's the largest of your loans and will mean you cut out petrol/car insurance and all the other related expenses with cars. 

Have you contacted your cc company to see will they freeze the balance as is now. also could you try to transfer card to a 0% balance transfer company. 

Your correct you need to bring in more income. Any possibility of going interest only on the mortgage for 12 months to help clear the cc. What about loan from family to clear cc.


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## Outofmydepth (9 Aug 2010)

I actually mixed up two of the loans & their terms - I've amended them now. Car loan ends at the end of 2012, and BOI loan ends at the end of 2014. 

I would definitely consider downgrading my car. I reckon I could sell it for €9000ish and maybe pay off one of my debts (not sure which one should be tackled first - if I pay Halifax then I have almost €400 to put to better use). I would need to use some of the money from the sale of my current car to buy an older car, as I need my own transport for the makeup/tanning. 

I'm going to contact MBNA this week to talk to them about freezing the balance on my card.


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## cartman1 (10 Aug 2010)

Hi outofmydepth,

Firstly the bad news. No bank is interested in taking on any other bank's debt at the moment so i don't think a debt consolidation loan is possible. The good news is you do have some options to help you. Niceoneted's suggestion of going interest only for 12 or 24 months is a good one and definitely worth trying with your mortgage provider. I would be very surprised if they said no as it is in their interest to help you sort out your finances. Alternatively, you could approach each lender individually and ask them to accept lower payments, which is effectively extending the term but it will give you some breathing space.


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## niceoneted (11 Aug 2010)

IF you sell the car pay off the car - don't be paying for something you don't have - also it may be a case where you will have to clear the finance on it or it might affect new owner. If you can manage to get 9k for it you should be able to get a run around for 2k. Have you someone you can help you do this with if your not happy doing it yourself.

That would free up 290 a month which can be your living expenses until you sort out the others. 
Do try to go interest only. 
Oh and start a spending diary. Write everything down you buy from something less than a euro to the big items. 
Good luck and keep us posted.

Just on a quick look over of the loans - they all seem as if they were only taken out this year - is that correct? What were you using all the money for?


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## Outofmydepth (11 Aug 2010)

> Firstly the bad news. No bank is interested in taking on any other bank's debt at the moment so i don't think a debt consolidation loan is possible. The good news is you do have some options to help you. Niceoneted's suggestion of going interest only for 12 or 24 months is a good one and definitely worth trying with your mortgage provider. I would be very surprised if they said no as it is in their interest to help you sort out your finances. Alternatively, you could approach each lender individually and ask them to accept lower payments, which is effectively extending the term but it will give you some breathing space.


 
This is what I suspected. I think I’ll talk to my bank about going interest only for 12 months. Hopefully they will be agreeable to it. 




> IF you sell the car pay off the car - don't be paying for something you don't have - also it may be a case where you will have to clear the finance on it or it might affect new owner. If you can manage to get 9k for it you should be able to get a run around for 2k. Have you someone you can help you do this with if your not happy doing it yourself.
> 
> That would free up 290 a month which can be your living expenses until you sort out the others.
> Do try to go interest only.
> ...


 
Good advice, I should pay the car finances off with the proceeds from the car sale & use the remainder for a runaround. I might also put some of the money onto the credit card, just to make a start on it. 

Loans were taken out in May 2007 (taken out with my then fiancée, and I was left with repayments after he skedaddled), April 2008 (an ‘I’m dumped’ loan), and Dec 2009 (cleared other credit card debts). Car finance started in Jan 2010, but I ‘bought’ the car in Jan 2008 – it’s was a 50:50 deal. 

I can’t make excuses for myself. I lived beyond my means, trying to prove to myself that I didn’t need a man to be successful in my life…totally stepped on my own point. I was actually doing fine until January when my tenant moved out & my car finance started. On the plus side, I have now got some people interested in the room I’m renting, so hopefully I’ll get that sorted in the next few weeks.

I really do appreciate everyone’s advice here, it has been brilliant. I’ll keep you updated in my progress of getting out of debt.


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## niceoneted (11 Aug 2010)

Good on you. I understand where your coming from re the loans now. 

IS there any way you can get ex to take over one loan if it's more hassle than it's worth -understandable. 

Good that you have potential tenant there but remember to follow through with the car, MBNA, and bank re mortgage and going interest only. It's only by doing all this and curbing your spending that you will clear it all quicker. As well you don't know how long you'll have the tenant for. 
Best of luck.


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