CC transfer or pay off seperatley

mateymate

Hello forum

As it's 2009 I have thought about becoming debt free (well, credit card free) for a while now. I have this debt from student days and I am getting a bit sick of it. Here is the low down:

Card 1: £1,446.00 - I think this is around 19% APR and was used to transfer a balance from Card 2, about 12 months ago. To be honest I have been paying the minimum amount by direct debit and have forgot about it.

Card 2: £1,884.00 - This was my original card and has a slightly better APR, I think.

I am currently paying £45 on card 1 and £35 on card 2 every month and looking at statements I am pretty much just keeping them happy and the debt isnt really going down. I'd like your advice on how to change that.

My first thought was to attack card 1, with payments of around £300 a month, close the account and then do the same with card 2, or is it more effective to transfer card 1 balance onto card two and pay £300 a month off just the one card?

Any help appreciated!

TrickyDicky

Doing a balance transfer will likely incur a 3% or more fee. I think you're just better off attacking card 1 then moving on to card 2.

If you can, get card 3 with a 0% for Xmonth balance transfer offer, and that will save you a few months of interest, less the 3% fee, and you should be able to pay it off quicker.

anotherpaul_2

TrickyDicky wrote: »

If you can, get card 3 with a 0% for Xmonth balance transfer offer, and that will save you a few months of interest, less the 3% fee, and you should be able to pay it off quicker.

I agree, this would definitely seem the best option if you can get another card. The 3% fee for transfering the entire amount (both cards) would be about £100, so a month and a half (ish) of the current interest. Then £300 a month pays the entire amount off in less than 12 months, so ideally a card with a 12 month free period.

If you don't get enough credit to tranfer both, transfer the card one balance and as much of card two as you can. Then pay the remaining money off the old card first until it is cleared (not forgetting the minimum on the new card). And finally the new card.


If you can't get another card, the cheaper option is probably to pay card one rather than transfering it to card 2. But without interest rate details it's not possible to calculate for certain.