I'm getting in a muddle with my snowballing!

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

Hi guys

As my thread suggests, I'm getting in a bit of a muddle with my snowballing and hope you can point me in the right direction before I mess things up!

I've got 2 debts at the moment with relatively high APR's, Next and Virgin and want to shift them about to pay them off quicker and by paying less interest.

I owe Next £400 @ 26.4% APR
I owe Virgin £4164 @ 13.9% APR

I've just been accepted for a Guide Dogs card with a credit limit of £2800 (was hoping to be able to transfer the lot, but beggars can't be choosers!). My original plan was to transfer £2500 (90%) of the Virgin card to Guide Dogs but in hindsight now think I should transfer the entire Next balance and £2100 from Virgin.

Is this do-able or am I completely going wrong somewhere?

mintymoneysaver

Definitely get rid of Next and put the rest of it on the card.Could you get another 0%card to put the rest of the balance on? I've just been accepted for 2 within 2 weeks of each other ( post office and nat west)

Emmzi

What is the APR of the guide dog card?

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

The APR for the Guide Dogs card is 0% for 9 months and then goes up to 12.9%. I did think about applying for another 0% card but wondered whether I should give it a few months first?

CLAPTON

what is the APR on the Guide Dogs card...if its 0% how long will that be for and what will the rate be at he end of the promotion period, how much are you able to pay off each month on these cards

Debt_Free_Chick

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt wrote:

Is this do-able or am I completely going wrong somewhere?

Do you think you might be confusing snowballing with rate-tarting?

Snowballing means that you first pay the minimum off each card. You then pay whatever extra you can afford off the card with the highest APR - so you are paying more than the minimum amount on the most expensive card.

Rate-tarting is the process of switching debt from an interest charging card to one with a lower APR or 0%.

You can use both strategies together, but a snowball means that you are paying extra off one card.

HTH

lynzpower

What might be an idea, which is what I did last week, is phone Virgin & say, you are thinking of moving your card, as you believe that there are some 0% ones on the market etc, whats the best deal they can do you? Coop dropped mine from 14.9% to 0%. Different card number, but suits me fine.

Little_Miss_Winner

Hi,

What is the total amount each month that you are able to pay off your cards?

Snich

Hey,

Here's my two-pennorth... A combination of rate tarting and getting those horrid percentages down.
Put Next balance on 0% card. Fill up 0%card with as much of Virgin balance as they will allow.
Pay minimum per month on 0% card and push all spare money towards the Virgin debt. (That's the snowballing bit).

Personally, I wouldn't apply for another card at this point (seems risky) but would wait until 8months are up then apply for another 0% card to transfer that balance to.

Obviously there are many ways to bake the cake so to speak.

The very important thing, no matter what you choose is as follows:
Repeat after me:
I Promise that I will upon transferring any balance, instantly close the account (eg Next) and cut up the card. I will then lower the limit on the other card (eg Virgin) so I CANNOT SPEND ANY MORE!

I'm sure you're far stronger that me.... but just to be on the safe side hey?!

Hugs, Snich x

Snich

PS Plus do that thing that Lynz suggested to try to reduce existing APR. V good plan lady!

gingercordial

I agree with lynz. Apparently Virgin are quite good for giving existing customers new 0% offers, so do phone up and give it a go! I'll be trying it myself soon. Even if they don't offer you 0%, they may reduce your APR a little bit so definitely worth a try.

I assume the Guide Dogs card is one of the HBOS charity cards? If so, I don't know if you've seen the threads on the charity cards on the Credit Cards board, but some people have had HBOS wrongly trying to charge them a balance transfer fee. Make sure when you phone up to do the transfers that you check whether or not there's a fee, and whether this matches your terms and conditions. If they try to charge you a fee wrongly, ask them to check with their supervisor and don't take no for an answer!