Just need a quick answer to my query if anyone has a minute

beach_3

I have just upgraded my halifax current account from a solo card account to a fully fledged switch card account which I have tried to do before and they have refused and said I must keep my account in better order. As I have done for the last year the upgrade has been allowed. During the process of doing this they also gave me a halifax credit card which has 0% interest for 6 months however there is a 3% balance transfer fee, which I did not realise. My intention was to transfer my credit card debt from my current 0% card which ends in December to this one. Now I realise I will be charged quite heavily to do this. What I would like to ask is, should I try to apply for the M&S card 3.9% on life balance or other more competitive 0% cards or will this just mess up my credit if I apply for too many cards? Wish I had not got the flipping halifax one but now that I have it I am thinking maybe I should just use it. What should I do?

Thanks

moozie_2

Hi there

I think more information is needed here....

1. How much is the balance you wish to transfer?
2. How long will it take you to repay it?
3. Do you have any other credit cards?

Moozie

beach_3

Hello,

I have 10,000 on crdit cards this currently sits on 3 cards, 5,000 on a 0% card finishing in December Natwest, 1,500 on a Virgin 15.9% and 3,500 on Lloyds 13.9%. No other credit cards except the new Halifax card. I have 500 per month to pay these cards off. So still need to work out how long this will take to pay off, I try to use the snowball system highest interest first.

Thanks

kickingkay

will you not incurr that 3% charge on all tranfers or just as a complete transaction and could you not go back to them and ask if they will be more competetive as you have shopped around and found the best rate at the moment is xxxxx it might be worth a go

beach_3

Ok, thanks I will give it a try. I was also thinking it might be worth applying for the 3.9% card and putting what I can on that then the rest on the halifax whatever transfer fee I can bring them down to as it will probaly still be less than 6 months interset at 13.9% which is my lowest apr card when my 0% finishes.

Thanks for your feedback it can be like a minefield trying to think which is the best way to go.

CLAPTON

if you can get a low LOB card then thats probably the way to go...but be careful about applying for too many cards in a short space of time.
however, transferring the Virgin and LLoyds balances to your new card ..even with a 3% BT charge is still a good deal.

tesuhoha

I'm at present applying for 3 0% cards (know we've been accepted for 2 of them) and the way I think of it is, who cares if it affects your credit rating temporarily. If you get the 0% card and make regular payments it helps your debt go down then your credit rating will go up anyway. To avoid your credit rating going down too much make sure you close down any unused cards. As I say I care more aboutpaying off my debt than my credit rating so am willing to risk it for 0% deals.

beach_3

Yep thats what I thought but just wanted to run it by someone else, thanks for your reply

moriarty888

Hi there,
What decisions did you come to? I think that these large transfer fees are getting ridiculous. But at least it really encourages me to pay off as much of my interest fee balance as I can before I have to apply for another interest free card.:rolleyes:
I noticed one of your posts before, because you situation seems very similar to my own. Reasonably large take home, but the cost of living, working, partying and competing in London for the last 15 years, has meant loans popping up here and there, holidays stuck on this card and that card....:o
Sometimes I feel awful because people on here are doing so wel on so little, and I feel like I'm not really doing as much as I can, but it helps to know there are others on here in a similar situation. Hopefully we'll get there before we're 105 and have a little fun along the way :beer:
P.S. get that signature done, it really does help to focus the mind, or at least shame me into bashing that debt on the head