Opinions needed please

incognito?_2

Hi, this is my first post so I apologise if I have made any mistakes, a few weeks ago I found out that my wife has got a few debts which have remained constant over quite a few years. Some are catalogues, 1 is a credit card, and 1 is an overdraft.

We have sat down and worked out a way to pay off the debts asap, we have decided to pay all catalogues and the credit card, and leave the overdraft. The catalogues (5) are being paid off £300 a month and credit card is £100 a month. As soon as a catalogue is paid then that money will be transferred to the credit card payments, in five months all catalogues will be fully paid and a big chunk of the cc will be paid off. A friend suggested transferring the cc debt to a 0% interest for 6 months card, what do people think, personally I dont want any more ccs and want to reduce the number of debts we have not just the amount.

Any advice gratefully received

kingfisherblue

It is usual to pay off the highest APR first, as this saves you paying so much interest. I can understand that you don't want another credit card, but if you had one with 0% APR, and transferred from a CC with interest added each month, wouldn't this save a bit of money?

Either cut up the credit cards or keep one frozen in a block of ice.

As you pay off the catalogues, I take it that you are closing the accounts as well?

You sound very supportive - your wife is lucky that you are understanding and want to help.

DarkConvict

Pay off the debt with the highest APR first.

Word of warning over 0% credit cards, there is a balance transfer fee, ensure you are saving money by moving over before doing it. Furthermore do not spend on the card! When you pay off a 0% card, you pay of the 0% balance first, any new purchases made are charged at normal rates, so until you pay of the balance 0% you actual don't pay off any interest or new balances.

The other thing to do is to reduce outgoings, post up an SOA and see what people say, its amazing how much some people can actually cut out. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html (MSE format when posting)

Furthermore to see how fast you pay off debts you can fill in the snowball calculator - http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

incognito?_2

credit card was cut up years ago, although I wish I had thought of the freezing it idea. The catalogues will be closed, but interestingly they refuse to suspend the accounts from any more transactions until they are completely paid up. I just have a problem with credit cards in general, I just dont want to get another.