I don't intend any insult, but it is hard to imagine the OP has a job that is going to earn sufficiently that will allow him to service 7K debt easily given the complete lack of understanding of the most basic aspects of credit and seemingly not since he last made such inquires
Banking?
- Thread starter DX24
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I don't intend any insult, but it is hard to imagine the OP has a job that is going to earn sufficiently that will allow him to service 7K debt easily given the complete lack of understanding of the most basic aspects of credit and seemingly not since he last made such inquires
Soldato
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True yeah, still a bit of a mess he has got himself in.
Caporegime
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Nah peasants are those earning less than say £12k a year.
My point being op won't have the readies to easily get rid of £7k worth of debt. He's came on here to ask questions as he's suddenly wondering why he's having financial difficulty.
With his IQ assumed from the type of questions he's asking. He's never going to have a well paying job.
I'd class anyone who is entitled to tax credits, etc if they were to have a child as a low earner. Think the threshold for a household is around £32k that is up to 2 people in employment. However the government is lacking in this area of helping the masses who work. It should be £40k and they should increase the tax free allowance to £20k too. Simply increase some duties to make up the short fall.
I don't know how anyone on say less than £12k a year has a chance. All their money must just go on essentials. Therefore they would be peasants.
£7k of debt
Plenty of people around who are exactly like the OP. It's one of the reasons this country is in such a mess. Of course bankers love this type of slave, and so western culture is all centred around advertising BS products that people don't need. It's a sick old world.
I was a low earner with ~£13K of debt, which was more than my gross annual income. Partly because I was a fool and partly because some financial companies worked to keep me on the edge of bankruptcy because that's the way they could get the most profit out of me.
Fortunately for me, that was back when us peasants were still allowed contracted hours so it was possible for me to work two jobs. Also fortunately for me, I was able to get a very well paid part time job teaching at a college. After 5 years of working silly hours (the teaching job involved a surprising amount of work outside the classroom, so the hourly rate was much less than it initially seemed) with everything above subsistence going to my creditors, some creditors offering reduced interest and one remarkably nice company completely waiving all interest, I cleared my debts apart from my mortgage and a bit under £1000 on a credit card I foolishly left on minimum payment direct debit for several years even though I had worked myself into a position to be able to make much larger payments. I even left it on minimum payments for maybe a year after I had plenty of spare money. Silly of me - the amount I pointlessly gave the card issuer in interest payments would probably have bought me a 1080. A 1070 at least.
But if I was in that position today, I would be screwed. No chance of a second job today and no chance of a part time job with a high enough rate of pay even if a second job was possible. Someone in that position today would probably have double my costs for rent or mortgage as well (I bought a house for £28K many years ago, so my mortgage is a quite small payment even with my minimum wage peasant flunkey income).
I was speaking today with someone who has hundreds of shoes. I asked them why. They didn't know. They have plenty of money so the cost isn't a problem, but it's an illustration of how far the "buy stuff" idea goes. Nobody needs a roomful of shoes. What use is a roomful of shoes?
That's a bit odd TBH. If the card has to be paid off each month then shouldn't it be called a charge card, not a credit it card. There's a distinct difference in much of the rest of the world.
A Credit card (usually Visa or MC) doesn't have to (but should) be paid off each month, aside from a minimum payment. Any balance you don't pay off is charged interest.
A Charge Card (AMEX) on the other hand has to be paid off in full each month or you get hit with late payment fees.
That aside they both should really be used the same way, with the full balance direct debited automatically each month.
Soldato
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#edit sorry, posting issues.
I was going to suggest @DX24 gets some financial advice from one of the debt counseling services. Your situation is pretty normal. Too many people don't understand finances, personal or business.
There is nothing wrong with personal debt either; providing you proactively manage it and ensure you have ways to service it through regular income/salary or selling assets. It should also be viewed as a risk which needs to be managed incase circumstances change.
I am however struggling to understand how you don't have comprehension of the charges when these are usually clearly set out in the statements or even a simple phone call to the card issuer would suffice.
It looks like the Apr may have increased to ~29% or it in the absence of clarity, it could be the £200 includes repayment proportion and interest. Again all is explained in the statement.
Credit isn't renewed, it may be reviewed and your terms changed but with a credit card it's a rolling loan/debt.
Rather than a 0% card, I would recommend a bank loan. I only suggest this as your financial acumen and discipline suggests to me that managing repayment is better with a fixed goal/loan and off credit cards where you could keep spending.
Thus, get a bank loan over 36-48months to pay off the balance and assuming your credit record is ok your bank should lend at a low apr. Cancel your credit cards and where you can, make loan overpayments. You may pay more in interest than on a 0% Apr balance transfer but it feels like a better managed lifestyle option.
I was going to suggest @DX24 gets some financial advice from one of the debt counseling services. Your situation is pretty normal. Too many people don't understand finances, personal or business.
There is nothing wrong with personal debt either; providing you proactively manage it and ensure you have ways to service it through regular income/salary or selling assets. It should also be viewed as a risk which needs to be managed incase circumstances change.
I am however struggling to understand how you don't have comprehension of the charges when these are usually clearly set out in the statements or even a simple phone call to the card issuer would suffice.
It looks like the Apr may have increased to ~29% or it in the absence of clarity, it could be the £200 includes repayment proportion and interest. Again all is explained in the statement.
Credit isn't renewed, it may be reviewed and your terms changed but with a credit card it's a rolling loan/debt.
Rather than a 0% card, I would recommend a bank loan. I only suggest this as your financial acumen and discipline suggests to me that managing repayment is better with a fixed goal/loan and off credit cards where you could keep spending.
Thus, get a bank loan over 36-48months to pay off the balance and assuming your credit record is ok your bank should lend at a low apr. Cancel your credit cards and where you can, make loan overpayments. You may pay more in interest than on a 0% Apr balance transfer but it feels like a better managed lifestyle option.
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Exceptions can probably be made, but this is Germany. People aren't encouraged to get into debt, they are helped to avoid it. You would never get this situation where credit cards with huge limits are sold to people who clearly have zero idea about what they are signing up for.
Soldato
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Credit Cards are ok for protection and the 0% rate. They are the devil though.
Most AMEX cards issued in the UK are credit cards just like any Visa or MC.
Caporegime
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£28K? surely you mean decades ago and not years? i think even flats nearby me sell for triple that these days. the average house price in the UK is what £300K?
Soldato
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Skewed by London pricing like most averages.
There are still places you can get houses for like £50k even now.
Caporegime
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even so. i'm pretty sure it was stated that the average price paid by a first time buyer was around £200K+
I live in Scotland so far away from london and if you want a detached home in a mediocre area it's £150K+. A detached home in a decent area is £300K+. You have homes in Glasgow up for sale at £3 million. so it's not fair to just say it's london. far from it. there are properties worth millions in every city. i saw a flat in Glasgow for millions too apparently designed by some famous artist, etc.
so it's not just london but every large city that has expensive housing. it's only small towns far away from cities that have cheap housing. even places that are a 30 minute drive from glasgow (with zero traffic) your still talking £300K+ for a large detached home. it's only when you get into near the 40-50 minute drive (with zero traffic) that your seeing "cheap" housing. it's a false economy being that far away if you work in the city and all your friends are in the city too. what you don't pay in housing you pay in commuting.
even semi detached in a decent area is anywhere from £200K to £800K in Glasgow depending on the area and size of home (remember i said semi-detached and yes £800K in Glasgow).
so yeah £28K will get you a flat in one of the worst areas of Glasgow, places resembling a war zone. however 30 years ago it would have got you a decent flat in a decent area or even a decent home in a mediocre area or small home in a decent area.
I don't think anyone has bought anything remotely near £28K in a half decent area for at least 20 years.
The traditional Amex is a charge card, but you're right, Amex do also do credit cards. No idea what is more popular though.
I presume the gold reward card is the most popular of their cards for example because of the rewards and signup bonus.
Decades are years. Just a bunch of them
Years seem to get shorter as I get older.It was ~20 years ago. It's also a very low price area even today - houses like mine and near mine have sold recently for as low as £50K.
EDIT: It's not a war zone neighbourhood either. In the 20 years I've been here I've never had any trouble. It's a quiet cul-de-sac. No street violence, no nutters who'll batter you for complaining about their anti-social behaviour, very little theft. I was burgled once, about 15 years ago, and that's the only burglary I know of around here. There have probably been others, but it's not a common occurence. No loud music at night. Very rarely anyone shouting in the street. It's quite a nice neighbourhood. The houses are small terraced houses, but adequate.
Here's a £50K example that's not very far from me:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-pr...?prop=42287121&sale=89409741&country=england#
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Caporegime
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Decades are years. Just a bunch of them
It was ~20 years ago. It's also a very low price area even today - houses like mine and near mine have sold recently for as low as £50K.
well people in your area must be laughing then if it's that cheap. £50K here would get you a small flat in a terrible area. £50K is what a deposit is these days.