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my plan, what do you think?
lynsayjane
Posts: 3,547 Forumite
sorry i think this has turned out a little longer than planned!
at the moment i have three credit cards and an overdraft, all at 0%.
now one of my cards 0% runs out at the end of this month and i have the money from my charges refund in my savings account to pay this off, balance of card is £665.80.
my second card has already run out of 0% but i've been using it as a cashback type card (get points to use off of sky bill), balance on this is £478.98
the third card has 0% for another five months and the balance is at £1372, limit is £3000
my overdraft is £750 and 0% until december.
savings account has £1196.80
i'd like to move as much as i can onto my third card for simplicity, it'd be nice to only have one debt to concentrate on. also my current account is with a&l and it has a 6% interest when your in credit.
i've called up the card and they don't transfer from overdrafts, just credit cards. now my thought was that i could bt my second credit card (can't with the first one as they are affiliate cards) and use the money i was going to pay off that to clear as much of my overdraft as possible, should clear about £500-£600 of it and they rest could be cleared from my feb wages.
this would leave me with one credit card with a balance of about £1800-1900 on it, so i'd have one figure to save up for to pay it off. i know i'll probably have to get another 0% card to bt that when it runs out, but i have a good credit rating (no arrears etc) so it won't be a problem to do this.
what do you guys think? recently my life and finances have felt terribly complicated and this would make life much easier. thanks for all your help and advice
xxx
at the moment i have three credit cards and an overdraft, all at 0%.
now one of my cards 0% runs out at the end of this month and i have the money from my charges refund in my savings account to pay this off, balance of card is £665.80.
my second card has already run out of 0% but i've been using it as a cashback type card (get points to use off of sky bill), balance on this is £478.98
the third card has 0% for another five months and the balance is at £1372, limit is £3000
my overdraft is £750 and 0% until december.
savings account has £1196.80
i'd like to move as much as i can onto my third card for simplicity, it'd be nice to only have one debt to concentrate on. also my current account is with a&l and it has a 6% interest when your in credit.
i've called up the card and they don't transfer from overdrafts, just credit cards. now my thought was that i could bt my second credit card (can't with the first one as they are affiliate cards) and use the money i was going to pay off that to clear as much of my overdraft as possible, should clear about £500-£600 of it and they rest could be cleared from my feb wages.
this would leave me with one credit card with a balance of about £1800-1900 on it, so i'd have one figure to save up for to pay it off. i know i'll probably have to get another 0% card to bt that when it runs out, but i have a good credit rating (no arrears etc) so it won't be a problem to do this.
what do you guys think? recently my life and finances have felt terribly complicated and this would make life much easier. thanks for all your help and advice
xxx
0
Comments
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is there a BT fee if you BT from second card to the third one?0
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CLAPTON wrote:is there a BT fee if you BT from second card to the third one?
nope, i got the smart car one so no bt fee0 -
Hi.
The first question i'd ask is the real cost of your borrowing - in particular the sky points card. Is the interest you're paying worth the points you get? I'd be surprised if it is.
Secondly, and i hope this isn't heresy, but why don't you consider using some of your savings to clear cards? I find that having too many accounts makes it easy to get further into debt. Consolidation may be the best way to help plan and budget.
I may be able to offer a bit more helpful advice if you had an idea of a budget - how much money could you 'save' each month to pay off these debts. Imaging living in a world where you have no debts!0 -
JohnThomas wrote:Hi.
The first question i'd ask is the real cost of your borrowing - in particular the sky points card. Is the interest you're paying worth the points you get? I'd be surprised if it is.
Secondly, and i hope this isn't heresy, but why don't you consider using some of your savings to clear cards? I find that having too many accounts makes it easy to get further into debt. Consolidation may be the best way to help plan and budget.
I may be able to offer a bit more helpful advice if you had an idea of a budget - how much money could you 'save' each month to pay off these debts. Imaging living in a world where you have no debts!
in answer to first question, i pay the bill of in full each month, i've not paid interest in months, not since finding this site!
second question my savings account is my refunded bank charges, i put it into my savings account temporarily to build up a bit of interest before my 0% runs out rather than pay it off the card straight away. my charges were £800odds, the rest is what i've added from wages etc
i've closed off three current accounts this year (long story!), have closed all my store cards (no balance on any) last year when i joined here. only reason i have so many cards (nowhere near fully used) is i had to have two to transfer all my debt previously, now i only 'need' one and will only have one shortly. as for living in a wrorld with no debts, thats why i'm here and trying to reorganise my finances.0 -
Hi - it seems like a reasonable plan to me. My suggestion would be to cancel the first card account once you have paid off the balance. This both removes temptation and could help if you need to apply for another card for a BT as lenders look at your total credit available as well as your payment history when evaluating your credit application.0
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don't worry the card is (almost) as good as cancelled, i only kept the sky one because i had enough points for £15 off my bill and am nearly at another £5 off. it's not much but every little helps!0
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