Newbie needs advice :)

badders82

Hi everyone!

I'm new to these boards so please forgive me if I seem a little dense about some of the quesitons I'm about to ask:

I have debts of about £6143 which consist of

Personal loan from HSBC - £213 to pay off
HSBC credit card - £3180 22.9% apr
Virgin credit card - £2750 - 1.2408%, 1.8735%, 1.2408%, 1.2408%, 1.2408% monthy interest

I keep reading that the best way to tackle these debts is to pay off the one with the highest interest first, what exactly is meant by this, does it mean to just pay the minimum payment on the lowest interest card whilst throwing more money at the highest?

Secondly, which of the two cards carries the most interest?

I'm paying off the minimum amount on the Virgin card (about £60), and £100 on the HSBC card (minimum is about £70)

Feel free to have a giggle at my naivety but interest rates are lost on me (the only sure thing i know about them is they're extortionate)

Any advice would be great!!!

Thanks peeps!!

Badders

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Badders, welcome to the boards.

I'd suggest completing and posting a Statement of Affairs - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/107280

Once everything is down, you'll get loads of advice - if often takes a fresh set of eyes to see an obvious area that cuts could be made to.


And you are right in that you should clear the debt with the highest interest first, then the next, and next etc.

CH27

badders82 wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I'm new to these boards so please forgive me if I seem a little dense about some of the quesitons I'm about to ask:

I have debts of about £6143 which consist of

Personal loan from HSBC - £213 to pay off
HSBC credit card - £3180 22.9% apr
Virgin credit card - £2750 - 1.2408%, 1.8735%, 1.2408%, 1.2408%, 1.2408% monthy interest

I keep reading that the best way to tackle these debts is to pay off the one with the highest interest first, what exactly is meant by this, does it mean to just pay the minimum payment on the lowest interest card whilst throwing more money at the highest?

Secondly, which of the two cards carries the most interest?

I'm paying off the minimum amount on the Virgin card (about £60), and £100 on the HSBC card (minimum is about £70)

Feel free to have a giggle at my naivety but interest rates are lost on me (the only sure thing i know about them is they're extortionate)

Any advice would be great!!!

Thanks peeps!!

Badders

Yes it does:)

jojitsui

Hi lovely, we've all been there, if we hadn't we would be using these forums

Yes you should pay the one with the higest rate first. You could try doing a balance transfer to get as much transfered to 0% intrest as you can.

I think that your HSBCcredit card is the higher one. Most loans make you pay a fine for paying off early so I'd check it out first before you try and pay off.

I'm sure more experinced peeps will add more very soon

palaran

It's hard with you quoting several interest rates for the virgin card to work out which card is the higher, but if the monthly highest rate is compounded it works out slightly higher. Probably worth asking Virgin what the actual annual rate is that you are paying so you can compare more clearly.