Credit Card advice - pay off, or not pay off?!

swirlygirly

Hi all

I currently have £1600 on a 0% interest card which I used to buy furniture for my first flat. In June this runs out, so I am swapping to another 0% card.

my question is - do I just pay off the minimum (say £50pm) off the card, have a bit of money to save, and also some to spend on myself, OR do I pay off £200/300pm, pay off quicker but don't save ?

I HATE having this debt, even though its interest free, but dont know whether to take advantage of the fact its interest free, and just take my time paying it off?!!!

Robert_Sterling_3

Pay your card off in full each month by DD and live happily ever after .....

swirlygirly

Sorry, I think you've misunderstood - I currently have £1600 on the card so can't pay it off in full every month!

My question is, do I take advantage of the fact that its 0% interest and just pay off £50pm (which means it would take a long time to pay off, but without paying any interest, does that matter?), or do I really cut back, and don't save anything, and pay off £200/300pm to get it cleared quicker?

CLAPTON

It makes financial sense to pay the minimum on the 0% CC and save as much as possible so you can clear the CC once the 0% runs out.. you may or may not be able to get a new 0% in June.

However, as interest rates are quite low, the financial advantage of saving is less than it once was and if the temptation to spend rather than save is real, then pay as much back on the CC as you can.

anotherpaul_2

swirlygirly wrote: »

I currently have £1600 on a 0% interest card which I used to buy furniture for my first flat. In June this runs out, so I am swapping to another 0% card.

my question is - do I just pay off the minimum (say £50pm) off the card, have a bit of money to save, and also some to spend on myself, OR do I pay off £200/300pm, pay off quicker but don't save ?

Assuming you don't need the money saved for a rainy day...

It would be cheaper to pay off as much of the £1600 before the offer ends, so you don't have to pay a 3% fee on it to move it somewhere else. You could keep the extra in a savings account until the offer is about to end, but as CLAPTON says, with interest rates so low, it isn't going to make a lot of difference whether you pay it month by month or in a lump at the end.

anotherpaul_2

Incidentally, if you're going to pay it off fairly quickly after the end of the promotion, it might be cheaper to just pay a bit of interest, rather than a 3% fee.

never-in-doubt

anotherpaul wrote: »

Incidentally, if you're going to pay it off fairly quickly after the end of the promotion, it might be cheaper to just pay a bit of interest, rather than a 3% fee.

or pick a card company with a lower BT % rate... think there are a couple who still give fee-free BT's aren't there?