my card juggling proposition

SeriouslyStressed

Hi, I posted this over on the Credit Card section last week but it's been buried in the mass of mails and has never gotten a reply.... so here it is here ( i figure it IS to do with my debt free wannabe status! )

I'm thinking of trying out the old shuffle to push the companies to offer me lower APR's ( pref LOW LOW LOB's as i've read some good stuff here re rates offered unofficially )
I'd like to dip my toes in here to see what you think my chances are.

I checked my Credit File via Experian last week and it's showing all green up to date and all good for the last 36 months that are on file
( no missed payments etc )
My current National Credit Score is 953/1000

This is my first stage in a strategy to reduce my outgoings as I'm struggling to meet the minimums and have been for the last year.

Here's my proposed shuffle..
Current position:

TSB 2264 C limit 3500 6.9% LOB
Citibank 1774 C limit 6710 5.8% LOB
Tesco 8833 C limit 9500 15.76% regular and i spend on this card

Transfer all TSB to Citibank

TSB 0 C limit 3500 6.9% LOB
Citibank 4038 C limit 6710 5.8% LOB ( they leave a 100 buffer so would be 6610 limit )
Tesco 8833 C limit 9500 15.76% regular and i spend on this card

SHOULD force TSB to call and offer better LOB % I'm aiming at 1.9% as has been given to other people here that use TSB, but anything better than current is ok i suppose. Once I've got a new lower rate on TSB card, I'd transfer up to it's ( TSB ) limit from Citibank to TSB.

TSB 3500 C limit 3500 ???% LOB
Citibank 538 C limit 6710 5.8% LOB
Tesco 8833 C limit 9500 15.76% regular and i spend on this card

and transfer remaining Citibank balance to Tesco ( briefly )

TSB 3500 C limit 3500 ???% LOB
Citibank 0 C limit 6710 5.8% LOB
Tesco 9371 C limit 9500 15.76% regular and i spend on this card

which SHOULD? result in Citibank offering me a better rate?
Hopefully! If yes, then trans max amount to Citibank from Tesco

TSB 3500 C limit 3500 ???% LOB
Citibank 6610 C limit 6710 ???% LOB
Tesco 2761 C limit 9500 15.76% regular and i spend on this card

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If I was able to get ANOTHER card with a limit of at least 3,000 I would then be in a postion to transfer the remaining Tesco balance out, and onto the new card, until such time that any new card 0% offer expires or Tesco phone me up to offer a great LOB % figure.

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What do you think my chances are ????????
Spanner in the works, is that I've no job now, so applying for a new card is going to be a major problem due to lack of decent income. I cant see me getting a job in the forseeable future, so I'm up against the wall.

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Lastly, what realistic percentage LIFE OF BALANCE Figures do you think I'll achieve?

I've no savings, otherwise i'd skip the 538 trans from Citi to Tesco, and I'm unable to pull 538 out of the air to achieve it either, but it should buy me a few months to try and sort myself out.

I'd really appreciate a few opinions and idea's on this as I'd like to get the ball rolling.

The idea is of course, to reduce my debt, or at least make it bearable whilst I sort myself out, but I also cannot increase my outgoings beyond £350 a month as thats all I have to fire at my Debt.
The Citibank card has a minimum of 3% of balance each month and the other two are set ar 2% minimums... so i'm really up against it.

JAMIEDODGER

TSB 2264 C limit 3500 6.9% LOB
Citibank 1774 C limit 6710 5.8% LOB
Tesco 8833 C limit 9500 15.76% regular and i spend on this card


your credit score is amazingly good, so the first thing i would try is to get a 0% card. even tho you dont work, it might be worth a try, as a "homemaker".

first thing i would do is transfer half the citibank to tsb and half to tesco. that will clear the citibank card.

then ring them up and ask what they will offer you for balance transfers (hopefully less than 5.8%)

i would also say that if you are now not working, if you havent already, write yourself a proper budget and stop using the credit cards for the time being until you have sorted it all out. you need the three cards to juggle with, so dont spend on them (just for now tho, until you are in a better position)

then transfer as much as you can from tesco to citibank.

now you have:

TSB 3464 C limit 3500 6.9% LOB
Citibank 6600 C limit 6710 5.8% LOB
Tesco 2807 C limit 9500 15.76%


now tesco is your priority. pay minimum payments off the other two and whatever is left out of the £350 to tesco.

its pretty much what you were saying i think. but while you are paying off these, you cannot spend on them because the payment you send them each month will be paying off the lowest % part of the debt first.obviously if you can get a 0% card this would be fantastic....4 cards to juggle with!!

HTH

SeriouslyStressed

Thankyou JAMIEDODGER!!

I was trying to avoid any additional balance tranfer to TSB whilst there's a balance on it as TSB charge 2% of the amount of the transfer.
I thought if I cleared it off first, they might waive the 2% fee and give me a better rate to regain my custom. ?????? am I dreaming a bit too much?

Re getting another card... I'm worried that as my income is now below 10k (8.6k) , I will be pretty restricted in which cards to look at ( to use as an intemediary in my shuffle )

I tried for a halifax card early last year and got turned down as they said I had too much credit available already. ( I wrote to them after getting the rejection, pointing out I wanted to transfer a large balance and not increase my available credit, but they still turned me down )

Re the current Tesco card... as it's close to it's limit, I think I've just been singled out and stung with a higher APR ( unless it's just a huge APR hike globally ? )

Spending on the card ( tesco ) is a problem as I have alot of stuff comes off it each month ( ISP, other net subscription, my URL payments come off it ( dont really want to lose these as I'll not get them back ) my ebay payments for listings etc come off the card, and one's registered with paypal )
I have to buy my fuel with the card as I have to hold the cash back to pay my monthly minimums! ( eeek I KNOW this is BAD, but I have no way around it ) and I have a few other things that need payment soon too ))))))

I'm hoping a shuffle will buy me a couple of months breathing space.

oooh how did i manage to get in this situation!!!!! aaaaargh.

It's going to be a REAL shame to destroy my impecable credit score and history.

I had initally thought to phone the card companies to explain my situation, but fear that it would put an instant black mark on my credit file, and would also mean from there onwards I would be unable to use that companies card to shuffle etc..

??????????????

Regarding TSB..... I'm hoping I can clear them at some stage ( through balance transfers ) if I'm to go into voluntary bankruptcy, as my bank account is with them and I've had it for 21 years with no defaults, no bank charges imposed etc etc........... hoping that if I dont owe them anything, I'll be allowed to keep that account open ( just return the chequebook )

I've applied for a Natwest Step account just incase ( plan B ) but not heard back from them yet.

basically, i have 320/350 max cash a month before doing the borrow from peter to pay paul routine... to pay 3 card minimums, 270, 60 and 50 . hmm obvious problem... I can only sell so much stuff for a finite duration before I'm propperly up against the wall.