Inching closer to DFD - need advice though

Wee_Pilsbury

Hi all

At the beginning of this year I got some really good advice in this very forum about what options to take in moving towards my DFD. As good as the advice was - I fell off the MSE wagon - only returning in June as per my sig below . I suppose what I'm really saying is that I ignored the good advice at least some of the time:(.

The situation now is that between 2 credit cards I am paying £450 per month in an effort to clear them by April 2011. One of them is on 0% until February but the other is from MBNA at a ridiculous interest rate of almost 24% a year:eek:. I always pay the £450 a month between them and although it means money can be a bit tight, if I'm being a true MSE convert I can get by quite well. The problem is that some months I end up spending on the card (not the 0% one:D) and as such, end up back at square one.

I have now been accepted for a Barclaycard 0% deal for 15 months and I can't decide whether to transfer just the MBNA balance or whether to transfer both balances. If I transfer both balances, I would possibly set up a Direct Debit each month for £257 - thus clearing the whole thing off within the 15 month 0% deal period. (The one thing I really am well behaved in is not spending on a 0% balance transfer card.) Although this would put my DFD back by about 6 months, my thinking behind this option is that I am spending on the card because I leave myself a bit short sometimes, all in an effort to clear my debts quickly. At least this way it would be cleared rather than going down and then up again! The other thing in favour of this option is that it would give me more money in my pocket and also allow me to save a wee bit as well (at the moment I only have a very small emergency fund to which I add £25 a month).

Any advice will be very much appreciated and I really, really mean that. I want to be debt free but going at it too hard isn't actually getting me anywhere. Or maybe I'm just a wuss:rotfl:


Thanks for reading!

:wave:

bottleofred

Hi,

If you transfer both balances and do set up a direct debit for the £257, at least you'll be almost £200 per month better off and won't have the interest to pay. However, you'll need to be disciplined to ensure you don't end up using the 0% cards.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Wee_Pilsbury

Thanks for that! I am tempted to do it that way, more so because I have been so disciplined with the 0% card I have already. If I go ahead though I will close one card (probably MBNA) and stick the other one, plus the new card, in the freezer - well insulated of course. Nice to have it there for a dire emergency but also to make sure it's impossible to use on impulse:)

Ta!