Store Card Help?

Seano23

hey guys,

i currently have a store card that im trying to pay off, and am considering a couple of options and wondered if anyone could help me weigh it up.

currently i only pay the minimum payment. I know thats pretty bad and its something i have promised myself will not happen again from this point on.

first off, would swapping my minium payment for a fixed payment make any difference to the amount of interest i pay per month? On the back of my statement, it says that my interest is calculated based on me paying the minimum amount by the due date.

the other option is a balance transfer credit card. I know this is a pretty good way to clear the debit but ive had a couple of things on credit lately (eg a sofa on a 0% apr over the length of the payments) etc, so i dont want to "push it" with my credit file if i dont need to.

any help would be great.

sean

david39

The interest they are referring to on the rear of your statement is the estimated amount you will pay next time assuming you make the minimum payment on the due date. The true interest you will pay depends on how much you pay and when you pay it.

Other than clearing the whole debt in one payment, the way to pay the least interest on this card will be to pay as much as you can each time and as soon after the statement arrives as possible.

In fact, your best bet would be to apply to one of the mainstream credit cards offering a 0% balance transfer (see Martin's weekly email for current offers) and then pay as much off that each month as you can.

I would not have thought that your recent credit purchases would make much difference to your ability to get one of these cards as long as all of your credit repayments are up-todate and made on time.

shiny76

Seano23 wrote: »

hey guys,
first off, would swapping my minium payment for a fixed payment make any difference to the amount of interest i pay per month? On the back of my statement, it says that my interest is calculated based on me paying the minimum amount by the due date.

As long as that fixed payment was in excess of the minimum payment then yes it would help. However you should look to pay off as much as you can afford to each month - assuming that this store card has the highest rate of interest of any lines of credit that you have.

Seano23 wrote: »

the other option is a balance transfer credit card. I know this is a pretty good way to clear the debit but ive had a couple of things on credit lately (eg a sofa on a 0% apr over the length of the payments) etc, so i dont want to "push it" with my credit file if i dont need to.

This should be the better solution. Is it just a couple of things on credit? Having a couple of new lines of credit may not affect your eligibility for a BT card. It's more about your ability to pay/afford the credit.

YorkshireBoy

david39 wrote: »

In fact, your best bet would be to apply to one of the mainstream credit cards offering a 0% balance transfer (see Martin's weekly email for current offers) and then pay as much off that each month as you can.

Be careful here, because not all storecard balances (Argos being one such card) can be transferred in the conventional way to a credit card.

OP, if you want specific advice on transferring the storecard debt then perhaps it would be best to say which card it is.

Seano23

Its a Comet Edge Card