Remortgage for debts and travelling?

[Mitz]

Re: Need release equity in home advice

I have had my mortgage of €234k for over a year now. I am trying to save to go travelling in a years time but i am being crippled by €10k worth of credit card and personal loan debts so cant save a penny. I want to look at a top-up on my mortgage but i dont know if that is the most sensible thing to do. Will it have any long term implications?

 

[ClubMan]

If you consolidated your existing debts onto your mortgage and schedule the repayment over a similar period to the original loans then you should save on overall interest charges. If you schedule them over the remaining term of the loan and don't accelerate their repayment then you will probably pay less per month but a lot more in the long run in interest charges. Karl Jeacle's mortgage calculator can be useful for crunching the numbers. Debt consolidation onto a mortgage should be done carefully and generally as a once off measure to regain control of your finances. In addition it makes sense to address the spending/budgeting issues that lead to you racking up such high cost unsecured debt to avoid it happening again. Transferring to a 0% CC balance transfer offer might also give you some respite. Have you considered that you may be living beyond your means and that you cannot realistically afford to go travelling before dealing with some of your debts? If you are planning on travelling for a good while then bear in mind that there may be tax implications if, for example, you rent your property out while away. If in doubt get indepdent, professional advice.