credit card help please ;)

proplusplus

hi,

i'm a student, and have £1,400 on credit card with halifax.

am paying around £28/month, and then £25 is interest, which i can afford, but my balance is only going down £3/month.

is there anyway i can change CC company to reduce my payments for X amount of months?

the prob is i don't really have an income other than some money my parents give me and my student loan...

thanks,

proplusplus

newmum1

could you transfer to a 0% card while you pay off the debt......

kenshaz

newmum1 wrote:

could you transfer to a 0% card while you pay off the debt......

That would be fine as long as Proplusplus is eligible for a new card,ie no income,see Martins article on 0% cards or life of balance transfers before you do anything,he explains the situation in detail ,more than individuals could

dudleyboy

Credit card companies don't tend to approve applications from students (or anyone who isn't "working") so I doubt you'll be accepted for a 0% cc (tho i guess there is no harm in trying). I'm assuming your credit card is a student one - perhaps through the same bank as your student current account? - or did you get it before you were a student?

I can't remember what my student cc interest rate was - about 7% i think? - tho don't know if that was low because being a student or just the average rate back then (about 6 years ago).

i appreciate money is probably tight but any chance of cutting back on other expenditure so you can up the payments each month? Also, you could ask parents or a (very) good friend who's working to apply for the HSBC credit card (having explained your situtation):

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/credit-cards/hsbc-bank-credit-card

With 0% interest for 9 months you could transfer the whole balance and then set up a standing order to repay them £175 a month (for 8 months - just to be on the side of caution). Again, a hefty amount per month for a student so if not possible then maybe a low interest "life of the balance" arrangement instead?

I had to swallow my pride and ask for the above... thankfully they agreed and I was able to pay the card off far quicker due to their generousity. Those were some tight months tho i can tell you... but it was worth it in the long run.

Best of luck

proplusplus

thanks - will try and follow the above

dunno why i was offered a credit card - was a poor interest rate, but accepted at the time so i could use ebay to create a sellers account

then they just kept upping my spending limit... and i was stupid and spent.
i dont know why they offered it to me - as soon as i was 18, they said i could have one.

might just wait til the summer and then pay off once i get a job - can't afford to pay much more than monthly minimum.

marcosw7

dudleyboy

proplusplus wrote:

i dont know why they offered it to me - as soon as i was 18, they said i could have one.

"Get 'em while they're young" i'm afraid. Like the old sweet cigarettes, alchopops and (utterly useless) football sticker albums...

They know they'll make a mint out of you while you're young, naive / complacent and lacking worldly/monetary experience/knowledge... like when you say...

proplusplus wrote:

might just wait til the summer and then pay off once i get a job - can't afford to pay much more than monthly minimum.

... which means they can make another £150+ from you in interest over the next 6 months while you only make a £18 dent in your actual debt.

If you can't make more than min payment, and i appreciate that, then perhaps ask your parents to "tart" on your behalf... trust me, they'd much rather help you out now than bail you out later when your debt has snow balled and your studies/health begin to suffer as a result.

Don't bury your head in the sand or sit on it for a sunnier day as it'll just escalate. Deal with it today and show them that YOU are in charge of your finances and not them!