A little bit of debt

n65uk

I say a little bit...

Owe £580 on a play.com credit card (3 months left interest free)

Owe £980 on a natwest credit card (16.9% APR)

Am paying back minimum on play.com card (£25), a £75 a month on natwest card.

I don't know if it's worthwhile me trying to combine this into one card, or into one loan.

Does anybody have any advice on whether that is a good idea or not?

My credit rating is fairly good. (I think). I've not been turned down for any credit, in any forms.

bottleofred

As they are small amounts of money, you may be able to get a 0% credit card and transfer the balances onto it. There are some incredible deals that offer up to 20 months at the moment and if successful, you could pay the entire balance off in this time.

allybee101

Go for a 0% balance transfer (BT) card if you can get one rather than a loan. You can overpay on a credit card whereas loans are usually fixed amounts and you pay a penalty if you overpay (usually a percentage of the balance).

For a 0% BT card find out what they will charge you for the transaction (usually 3% of the balance) and work out whether the BT fee will be cheaper than the interest you'd pay if you kept it on the old card. Be careful. Some banks are advertising 0% balance transfer and then whacking interest on the balance transfer fee - usually only a small amount but still very naughty. Natwest are bu**ers for this - they did it to me on the CC I've had for 2 years. Read the small print very carefully.

And just make sure you don't use the new card to buy anything on as the purchases will still attract interest.

mrsb83_2

A 0% balance transfer is definitely your best bet. Just make sure you don't use your other cards and end up with debt on 3 cards.