How many credit cards?

PollyByGolly

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice please.

DH and I have 4 credit cards at the moment.

We have :
Egg Card £7K limit - I have paid this off so zero balance (was £2K)
Marbles £7.5K limit - Also Paid off. (was £2K)
RBS £6K limit- Balance £4200
Tesco Visa £3.5K limit - Balance £2000 (0% till January)

The RBS card has been brought down from £5800 to £4200 - it is a 0% card, but the offer finishes in October.

DH contacted Egg and we can have an anniversary offer of 0% for 5 months with a 2.5% fee uncapped, but that seems like quite a big fee.

I am paying off around £700 per month from the cards.

I had thought about applying for a Virgin Card 0% but am not sure whether it is a good idea to keep applying for cards - when does it affect your credit rating? RBS and Tesco are both from earlier this year.

So, how many cards do you think it is sensible to have? Any advice / suggestions appreciated.

Polly.

david_hellier

I do not recommend you apply for any other cards. Someday the habit of shuffling cards will have to end. All cards effectively reduce your spending power, now or in the future.

I would call RBS and see what they want to do to keep the business. ie could they do a fixed rate till payoff.

Avoid using the cards for any more spending as they simply encourage overspending, the root of all debt.

Good luck.

loobyloo1980

I think it is sensible to have one credit card with as low a rate of interest as you can get, kept for real emergencies only. That is what we intend to do when we have got debt free. That is just my opinion though xxx

onestep

Dear Polly

I'm going to advise something different.. in your position I'd close the Egg card, and the marbles card now. Then in September I'd apply for another 0% card, so that you can balance transfer across from your RBS card. No point paying more interest than you have to!

HTH

onestep

PollyByGolly

Thanks David, I am not spending on the cards and hope to be able to up the monthly payment soon from £700 to £900.

I am looking forward to having it paid off and having a spare £900 per month!

loobyloo1980

PollyByGolly wrote:

Thanks David, I am not spending on the cards and hope to be able to up the monthly payment soon from £700 to £900.

I am looking forward to having it paid off and having a spare £900 per month!

yes that will feel fabulous :T

tanith

£700 per month :eek:

wannabedebtfree_2

tanith wrote:

£700 per month :eek:

Thats what I was thinking!!

I only get paid £719 per month!!!

moozie_2

onestep wrote:

I'd close the Egg card, and the marbles card now. Then in September I'd apply for another 0% card

That's exactly what I would suggest too. Keeping too many cards open and not used is not such a great idea as, according to the credit file, you have too much credit available that you can use at any time.

You are doing really well - keep at it and you won't have to worry about cards for much longer

PollyByGolly

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for taking the time to read and reply it is most appreciated.

I know that it seems I am paying a lot, but DH has had quite a jump in salary over the past 2 years due to passing exams, this has been a huge benefit.

In addition I have my own business and work from home. I work from 8.30am through till about 10.30pm every day of the week. I haven't had any holidays this year as I am trying so hard to knock down the credit cards.

I am lucky in the sense that I work from home and can look after my 2 boys who are 6 and 4 and I don't need childcare which saves a lot. It is tiring though!!

I take a salary of £1200 per month and £700 of this is going to the debts.

I will close the 2 cards which we've paid and apply for the virgin card and keep my fingers crossed.

thanks again for reading.

Polly

maverick007

I've often wondered about credit cards. I have 8, available credit £53,000 :eek: amount owed £1300 on one card all other cards clear:rolleyes: . I thought the more cards you had the better your credit rating? guess this is all wrong??:o