friends debt

mightyreds

My friend has been struggling for money of late, she doesn't come out with us anymore so we had a chat and she owes about 8500 on a credit card. after sitting down with her i've figured out she only pays the minimum payment each month and the interest rate is 19%.
I have no idea what to advise her to do, I've been looking on here for her but the best long term credit card says max balance transfer of 5000.
Would it be a better idea for her to take out a loan at a lower rate of interest and this way its all being paid off rather than her just paying the internest off her credit card?
thanks

LilacPixie

hello and welcome.

Loans are rarely a good idea because it is then all too easy to go out and spend on the freshly cleared credit card.

I would suggest she firstly needs to look at her budget, where can savings be made to make extra payments to her c card??

Is she able to transfer some of the balance to a 0% deal?? does she had a good credit history, posibly good enought to transfer the debt to two cards on 0% or low life of balance cards

mightyreds

yeah that's the only doubt I had about her having no balance on a card then going out and spending on it again and not learning.

I'll have to ask her about her credit rating or get her to sign upto the free ones to check. wont applying for 2 cards decrease her rating further though? and what happens if one says no, wont this then limit her even further?

Im sitting down with her tonight to look at her options.

LilacPixie

at the moment getting a 0% deal is harder than what it once was. 2-3 checks spread over a 6 month period should not penalise her.

I would suggest she applies for one card then if she gets it applies to a second company 2-3 months later. If she is refused I would just concentrate of throwing all spare cash at the cards.

There is a lovely SOA calculator, link is at top of the page. you may like to use that tonight and possibly post the results on her behalf if she wants

fallenwiccan

yup i can't even get a balance extension atm because i'm in my overdraft, gits, it's not like i want it use it i want it there just in case