Which Card (if any)

AJ84

Hi all,

Bit of a long shot and I would appreciate not having any non-useful comments in terms of the situation I'm in

I'm after a Balance Xfer card for one if not both of my accounts but I'm unsure how to proceed.

Circumstances:
Halifax CC: £3800 @ 29.9% APR (Pay between 300-500 per month)

Barclaycard CC: £6500 currently interest free until June by which point I will have cleared another £2000 from it (I pay £300-500 a month into it)
Returns to 17.5% APR in July 2011.

Salary: Around the £42,000 mark + bonus in June

I also have a HP on a car which I pay £500 a month into (Roughly £18k outstanding).

My biggest issue is the halifax card which is killing me in interest. With low or no interest, I will have cleared this card by May/June and then the Barclaycard balance by December (Possibly also June if my bonus is as big as last year!) I'm more than comfortable with what is owed given the salary and expectations later on in the year, it's more the interest that makes it 1 step forward 2 steps back at over £100 a month.


So what shall I do? I'm really after a 6-12 month 0% balance transfer card which can't be on Halifax nor Barclaycard territory. My credit rating isn't the best currently and while I have never missed a payment, I think the overall outstanding balance is high hence the lowish score (Experian @ 650).

As mentioned, ideally, I just want to transfer the halifax balance over and cut that card up. By June once that's paid off, I can then clear the Barclays one off accordingly.

Appreciate the help!

kilasuit

pay min on bcard and hammer the payments to halifax

izools

I'd suggest having a bash at applying for a Creation Mastercard to transfer the balance at 0% for 15 months.

They're laxer than other lenders when it comes to debt v income if you have a good repayment history.

Good luck! :beer:

scottishblondie

Do minimum to Barclaycard and put everything into Halifax. Then in a few months look for another card to BT the Barclaycard. There's no point in paying out the interest to Halifax when BC is 0%, especially if there is a possibility of a large bonus coming along to clear it not long after the 0% deal ends!

AJ84

Thanks all - As silly as it sounds, I didnt even consider paying more into halifax than barclays. My whole mind-set seemed to work that I wanted to keep the higher balance lower in a quicker period of time!

I've just made my monthly payment into both cards (before typing up the thread so I can start that from Feb)

In terms of izool's comment, the reason I was considering the BT route now was because I got an email a few days ago from MSE that it would be advisable to apply for a card/loan/whatever before the end of January as banks are going to pull their socks up

Worth taking notice of that or...?

nikki1520

I've just got a card from Sh-Abbey (or Satander as it is now) with 16 months interest free and no B/T charge - was rather chuffed. I think you have to have another product with them to get one. Might be worth considering if you do need another card

AJ84

Thanks Nikki, Without being personal, how does your circumstances compare to mine in terms of overall debt + credit rating?
I know in the past Abbey have declined me where Halifax/Barclaycard welcomed me with open arms with large limits (past being maybe 12-15 months ago)

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

kilasuit wrote: »

pay min on bcard and hammer the payments to halifax

scottishblondie wrote: »

Do minimum to Barclaycard and put everything into Halifax.

Would it not be better to pay minimum plus a few quid to Barclaycard so that the credit reports don't flag that just the minimum is being paid?

AJ84

Usually round it up the nearest £50 anyway so I'd probably pay £150 instead of the £120 or whatever the minimum is with them
Good point though

AJ84

Thanks for all the advice all
I decided to give Creation a go but it got declined so I've done some sums based on the above comments about more into the halifax.
Worked out what I will do is pay the minimum of ~ £150 to Barclays
Pay £500 into Halifax

To find what the minimum (roughly) have been for the Barclaycard, I logged in to find that I could transfer a balance up to £1000 @ 0% until August 2011
So that's what I did from the Halifax balance.

It basically means I'll be able to clear the halifax with the £500 a month + a few extra payments I've got lined up by May/June leaving me the Barclaycard balance of £6750 by June when the 0% ends. This will be @ 17.5% from there on but also with a lower overall balance + higher score by then to hopefully be able to get a BT card for that £6750.

Fingers crossed lets see how things go

kilasuit

AJ84 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice all
I decided to give Creation a go but it got declined so I've done some sums based on the above comments about more into the halifax.
Worked out what I will do is pay the minimum of ~ £150 to Barclays
Pay £500 into Halifax

To find what the minimum (roughly) have been for the Barclaycard, I logged in to find that I could transfer a balance up to £1000 @ 0% until August 2011
So that's what I did from the Halifax balance.

It basically means I'll be able to clear the halifax with the £500 a month + a few extra payments I've got lined up by May/June leaving me the Barclaycard balance of £6750 by June when the 0% ends. This will be @ 17.5% from there on but also with a lower overall balance + higher score by then to hopefully be able to get a BT card for that £6750.

Fingers crossed lets see how things go

Im goin to suggest doin a SOA just to see if there is any further ways to help reduce this and increase monthly payments to both cards.

I kno even for myself its quite a useful thing to have infront of you (even if you never post it here)
Shows where the money is disappearing to and what could be done to reduce these balances