Tax Rebate - Advice on what to do with cash!

polly30

I have just had a tax rebate of £1300 which was completely unexpected and so im im planning on paying it straight into my credit card. My debt is as follows:

£4300 Virgin APR 18%

£2700 Barclaycard 0% until Nov 2009

Egg £1100 0% until Aug 2009 and then standard APR think it’s around 17%

I have unsuccessfully tried to get a new card with a 0% balance transfer but keep being declined despite never missing a payment in 4 years. I think this may be down to having 3 cards all run up to the balance. So my thoughts are to clear the Egg card in full which will reduce the number of accounts I have and hopefully help me get a 0% BT card in a few months.

Is the best way to go or should I be paying it into my Virgin card given its got the highest interest rate?

Poolie

You should really clear the one with the highest interest first so Virgin.

Although you would feel better about clearing 1 account, but can you be sure Egg will offer a new 0% BT in a few months? If not then best to clear the Virgin

talana

Poolie is of course strictly correct, you should pay off the highest interest one first.

- however from August Virgin will be on 18% and Egg on 17% (you think, best to check!). Not a huge difference in APRs, so the advantage of paying it off Virgin will be minimal.

- If you pay off Egg, wait till you get the zero balance statement then call and ask if they have any balance transfer offers for existing customers. OK wouldn't expect 0%, but they may offer a good rate to keep your business.

YorkshireBoy

What are the limits on the cards?

On another thread you said you have/had a Sainsburys card. This will still be visible on your credit report and may explain your recent rejection(s). Do you have any other available credit/debts that need tidying up before making your next application?

On the info provided so far though, I'd be clearing Egg (and then trying for another deal)...but at the same time bearing in mind that Virgin (or more accurately MBNA) will likely hike your rate up if the high balance (and minimum payments?) continues.

polly30

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

What are the limits on the cards?

On another thread you said you have/had a Sainsburys card. This will still be visible on your credit report and may explain your recent rejection(s). Do you have any other available credit/debts that need tidying up before making your next application?

On the info provided so far though, I'd be clearing Egg (and then trying for another deal)...but at the same time bearing in mind that Virgin (or more accurately MBNA) will likely hike your rate up if the high balance (and minimum payments?) continues.

The limit on my Egg card is 1500, virgin 5k and Barclaycard 3.5k

I have just closed the Sainsburys card. My thoughts were to try and get a better deal from Egg on clearing the balance and a higher blance and if this fails, close the account and give it siz months before trying for a completely new card with a 0 BT deal.

Poolie

To get the balance transfer you are better to wait till your credit report catches up with closing your Sainsburys card. This may take a few months and will hopefully make you more desirable to Egg.

I had to close an old card before Barclaycard would allow me a discounted balance transfer.