Which card do I pay off?

KGRyder · 14 March 2018 at 7:01PM

Hi, Ive never posted here so I apologise if this is in the wrong place.

I've got two credit cards: Capital One and Vanquis. I have £500 in my savings account that I want to pay off one of my cards.
My Cap 1 card has a balance of £589, my Vanquis has a balance of £3,500. My Cap 1 minimum payment is £20 (but I pay £50), and my Vanquis one is £170 something (but I pay £200).

Is it better to just pay off my capital one card completely, or to pay a little off my Vanquis card?

Personally I feel paying Vanquis is better as it brings down the monthly payment, but paying off Cap 1 would get rid of that card completely and give me more money to pay off Vanquis anyway :huh:

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Deleted User] · 14 March 2018 at 7:03PM

The one with the highest APR.

KGRyder · 14 March 2018 at 7:17PM

They're both about the same (around 34%) so I'm not sure that will make much difference

[Deleted User] · 14 March 2018 at 7:18PM

Then whichever one you fancy.

SnowTiger · 14 March 2018 at 9:31PM

KGRyder wrote: »

They're both about the same (around 34%) so I'm not sure that will make much difference

Are you still using the cards? If so, you're paying interest on purchases from the time they're made and missing out on up to 56 days interest-free credit.

In such a case I would be minded to go the extra mile (£89) and pay off the Capital One card.

KGRyder · 14 March 2018 at 9:34PM

I’m no longer using the Capital One card as I wanted to pay it off, but I am using the Vanquis one

moatmeister · 15 March 2018 at 12:13PM

Assuming no other complications, I would pay off the cap 1 fully as recommended above.

Also maintain overpayments on Vanquis

Then if your strong willed enough, use cap1 sparingly in such a way you can afford to pay it IN FULL every month, ie for one small amount of shopping or £20 of petrol, and pay in full and by the due date without fail.
This will continue to build your positive credit history at no extra cost or expense to you and you will work towards getting a mainstream card that you could do a 0% balance transfer on to pay off Vanquis in the foreseeable future

enthusiasticsaver · 15 March 2018 at 2:50PM

As you are paying almost £100 a month interest on the Vanquis I would put it to that one and stop using it. Paying for anything on cards with that sort of interest rate is very very expensive. I would not reduce the monthly payment though. Have you looked at cutting back elsewhere.

SnowTiger · 15 March 2018 at 4:30PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

As you are paying almost £100 a month interest on the Vanquis I would put it to that one and stop using it. Paying for anything on cards with that sort of interest rate is very very expensive. I would not reduce the monthly payment though. Have you looked at cutting back elsewhere.

As interest is about the same on both cards, it makes sense to to pay off the Capital Once card in full and use that for spending.

Then pay the Capital One card balance in full every month and throw every spare penny at the Vanquis card.

Which card do I pay off?

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