paying off my halifax with a credit card

poly66

Hi, im new to the forum, Id like to know what credit card i can apply for to pay off my OVERDRAFT which i have with Halfax so i can close my Halifax account as they charge £30 per month just to have it!! , most credit cards will only transfer other credit card balances, im a bit stumped even after searching this site and reading about super balance transfers, i still cant find one. Any advice much appreciated x

stephane_2

Mbna, egg, post office credit cards....

Leanne200

I used an Egg card to money transfer the balance to my Halifax acc to pay off the overdraft... That was a year ago now and this month the lot will be paid off! Huge reflief!

opinions4u

How big is the overdraft?

How much do you spend in a typical month that could be spent on a credit card?

How much do you credit the Halifax account with each month?

There might be cheaper ways to do this ...

poly66

Hi and thankyou for your replies, the overdraft is £2,300 its actually my partners he has £1,100 paid into it a month from his salary and £120 from working tax credits. I have £96 paid to me a wk for child tax credits, we pay our rent and council tax and our household bills inc car ins etc...., currently we have one credit card and pay £40 off it a month the balance is £1,900, we do not use the credit card to buy anything its purely to pay off, its a 0% one. We do not have any other debts apart from £100 to next which i pay £15 off a month. I could probably spare fifty pounds on a credit card a month maybe a bit more, we really are trying to clear these debts. thanx

opinions4u

poly66 wrote: »

Hi and thankyou for your replies, the overdraft is £2,300 its actually my partners he has £1,100 paid into it a month from his salary and £120 from working tax credits.

1. £30 a month is not that expensive for a £2,300 overdraft.

2. Make absolutlely sure you don't go over £2,500 at any stage, as the charge doubles.

3. If it isn't already, ask Halifax to change things to a Reward account (not Ultimate Reward) and then you will earn £5 a month cashback as well.

4. As your debt reduces, the £30 a month in charges that I just described as "not that expensive" will become comparitively expensive against other forms of borrowing.

I have £96 paid to me a wk for child tax credits, we pay our rent and council tax and our household bills inc car ins etc...., currently we have one credit card and pay £40 off it a month the balance is £1,900, we do not use the credit card to buy anything its purely to pay off, its a 0% one.

But this will become expensive when the 0% rate ends.

We do not have any other debts apart from £100 to next which i pay £15 off a month. I could probably spare fifty pounds on a credit card a month maybe a bit more, we really are trying to clear these debts. thanx

There is a risk here of moving the debt to a 0% card, but only repaying £50 a month. While during any medium to long term promotional period it makes sense, what happens at the end of that period? Many card issuers will jack up the rate, often to 30% plus, and all you have achieved is shifting a problem from an overdraft to a credit card.

If you paid £50 a month and had a four year interest free deal it would take you that long to clear the overdradt.

If you're going to transfer debt, the MBNA "rate for life" card might be the best place to move to at 5.9%. Don't use the card for anything else though.

But often the concept of shuffling debt around is flawed. Unless you spend less and repay more you will never really get on top of things.

Good luck!

(If it was me, I'd take the £5 a month from Halifax, switch the debt to the MBNA offer if you can get it and then completely re-evaluate my spending patterns - perhaps with help from the Debt-free Wannabe part of this forum).