Credit card & overdraft juggling - please help!

no1gymbunny

Sorry, this is a bit lengthy, but I can't figure out what to do for the best. :eek:

BARCLAYCARD 0% now expired
Balance £0
Limit £2,000
BT fee 2.5%

VIRGIN 0% on BT
Balance £3,205.04
Limit £3,300
BT fee 3%

CAPITAL ONE 0% on BT & P
Balance £455.34
Available £1,544.66
BT fee 3%

NATWEST
Overdraft £1,613.23

I want to transfer my overdraft onto a card somehow as the APR is astronomical. I can only use Virgin to pay off the overdraft. The other cards won't allow it.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

YorkshireBoy

Will Barclaycard do you a deal? Perhaps 6.9% APR LOB? Maybe a small credit limit increase as well?

Have you only just BT'd to the Virgin card, or have you been using it for purchases as well?

How long does the Capital One 0% offer run for?

What's the overdraft EAR?

Do you have any other cards?

no1gymbunny

I've had the Virgin card for about 4 or 5 months. It was 0% for purchases til July. I've not bought with it since then. I've only had the Capital one card for about 2 weeks. It's 0% for 12 months. I don't have any other cards. I think 3 is enough!

My overdraft charge is 17.87%.

Can i just ring Barclaycard and ask for a new deal? Even if they do though I can't pay off the overdraft with a barclaycard

YorkshireBoy

Have you made a BT to the Virgin card or is the £3.2K purely purchases? :eek:

Barclaycard *were* doing 6.9% LOB recently for existing customers. Not sure if it's still available though? Might buy you some peace of mind, knowing that you won't be looking to switch it again later? The reason I mentioned this one wasn't to transfer your overdraft, but to switch and share the Virgin balance between Capital One and Barclaycard so you could BT the overdraft to an empty Virgin card...and then use the remaining credit on Virgin to pay off some of the Barclaycard debt.

That way, you finish up with the Virgin card maxed out at 0% and a small amount on Barclaycard at 6.9% LOB.

How much debit interest have you paid NatWest in each of the last 3 months?

no1gymbunny

It was a BT to Virgin. (If I remember rightly it was an overdraft - see a pattern forming here?!).

I've paid £23.41 to Natwest in debit interest to Natwest. Which, put like that doesn't seem like much, but I know I spend more than I earn. I'm sorting out a budget now. I get paid weekly and I'm paying all my bills weekly now. Weekly pay is relatively new to me and has taken some time to get used to!

I'll call Barclays now and see what they say.

no1gymbunny

Grr. Barclaycard are experiencing 'technical difficulties' - can i call back later? So are Capital One. What's going on today? I really want to get this sorted!!!

YorkshireBoy

no1gymbunny wrote: »

It was a BT to Virgin. (If I remember rightly it was an overdraft - see a pattern forming here?!).

Yes I do. You have a loan (which I've only just noticed in your signature), you've spent on a BT card (an absolute no-no), and you're constantly(?) in your overdraft...for the second(?) time around.

I've paid £23.41 to Natwest in debit interest to Natwest.

Per month, or is that the total of the 3 months I asked for?

...I know I spend more than I earn.

The trick now is to do something about it, so good luck with that.

I'll call Barclays now and see what they say.

It may not be the best way, so you might want to wait for some other suggestions.

You could still gamble on 0% offers being around next year. You could also gamble on BT fees not being 5-6%. Or you could take some surity in the form of a decent LOB deal now. Your choice really.

Anyway, I wouldn't ring on a Sunday afternoon...I'd ring during office hours Mon-Fri if you can.


EDIT: How much of the £3.2K Virgin balance is purchases?

no1gymbunny

The debit interest amount of £23.41 is the total for the last 3 months.

The Virgin card was 0% on BT and only on purchases for about a month, I made sure about that. I've literally only just got the Capital One card, so I'm not in a good position to hunt around for a new card that does a deal on LOB.

A couple of months ago I tried to get a personal loan to pay off my Halifax loan together with overdraft and credit cards. The AA came up well on a comparison site (about 6%), so I applied only to be told that I would be charged 12.9%. So, I said no thanks. Was that the right thing to do?

no1gymbunny

Only about £250 of the Virgin card is purchases

no1gymbunny

Good news! Just spoke to Barclaycard and they've offered me 0% until March 09. :-)

no1gymbunny

I'm thinking: move £1,800 from Virgin onto Barclaycard (that's the max they said I can move). Then put the overdraft onto Virgin. Sorry for being dim, I can't get my head around this juggling thing. I don't want to incur too many BT fees!