Sorting finances (debt) with wedding and baby and CC!

spike2012

Hi all

Current situation is that my partner and I are getting (happily) married in September, funded largely by my father due to losing all overtime on last year due to economic downturns etc...

My (our) current debts are:

Halifax CC, currently just over £2000, rate will increase to 22.45% in September

Bank OD, at £350, which, due to the bills near enough equating to what I take home in pay, has "shifted the £0 mark" if that makes sense, so after all the bills for the month have come out I'm about £300 OD then I'm paid again. Slowly hoping to bring this down in chunks, but at the cost of about £3 a month this isn't the most expensive debt.

I have applied for a new current reward acct. with Halifax and due to credit score, they only allowed £250 OD (with fees) instead of £1000 (without fees) The advisor stated that should my rent come out before my pay has transferred, I'd be in trouble.

So happily just sat on this account for the moment with £100 untouched in it. I am tempted to switch my monthly union DD to this acct. in order to reduce the DD's coming out on main account, but again not a massive priority,

I have applied over the weekend for the Barclaycard at 19 months with 0% for BT. I didnt see the minimum £20,000 income required but they have approved me with an income of £15,700 and have given me a limit of £1000.


I am guessing the best option would be to transfer £900 (are fees added to BT amount?) and then, set up a DD to pay for e.g £30 a month off the balance, and knock this down further as funds allow.

How do I set up a "safe" DD? I have heard of a payment method where the CC company are in charge of it and only they can cancel it. That sounds really scary and something I need to avoid...

any help is greatly appreciated. Is it a simple case of phoning them up to do a BT and also setup a DD? Obviously the more I can transfer within their 60 day window, the cheaper the debt is going to be

Spike

CLAPTON

I'm not sure what you mean about a 'safe' DD ; all DDs are covered by the DD guarentee

but I would BT as much as they allow, set up a DD for the minimum monthly amount and concentrate on reducing your other debts asap

Tixy

You say on the existing card the rate will increase to 22.45% - what is the rate now?
If its currently on a 0% deal with halifax it might have made more sense to apply for the BC in September. Although as you have it now then you could BT the max they will let you, which is presumably £900.

If your halifax is not on a 0% but is just going up in sept from a lower rate then have you not opted out of the increase?

All DDs are the same - and you can cancel them yourself. You might be thinking of a continuing payment authority which is a payment from a credit card to something (an annual subscription or similar) but these are different to DDs.

spike2012

Tixy wrote: »

You say on the existing card the rate will increase to 22.45% - what is the rate now?
If its currently on a 0% deal with halifax it might have made more sense to apply for the BC in September. Although as you have it now then you could BT the max they will let you, which is presumably £900.

If your halifax is not on a 0% but is just going up in sept from a lower rate then have you not opted out of the increase?

All DDs are the same - and you can cancel them yourself. You might be thinking of a continuing payment authority which is a payment from a credit card to something (an annual subscription or similar) but these are different to DDs.

Thank you so much for the replies, yes I didnt mean safe DD (I meant normal DD, as opposed to continuing payment authority) Thanks for that

Halifax current rate is 19% I believe, but I will need it for the hotel for a hold on the room in case we wreck it (I would have thought we won't) or else yes, I would have normally rejected the rise.

Is it possible to do 2 BT (within their 60 days)