credit card maze--advice please

scrumpyjax

I hope i've got the right part of the forum for my question.....My Barclays ordinary account is overdrawn by £1425 and my Barclaycard is up to nearly £1500. I know these are not massive amounts but I want to get them cleared asap as my health isn't too good lately. .
The card is a mix of cash and goods and this months interest is £23 79 and the agreed o/d interest is £19.08.
I can afford to pay off £100 a month but with all the deals around my brain hurts :eek::eek: I've been looking at the Halifax 22month card but need some moneysaving expert input please.
I need to clear as much as possible as soon as poss.;)

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Scrumpy - if you're not sure that getting another card is the best thing, pop over to the Debt Free Wannabe board and post up a Statement of Affairs (it's in a sticky at the top of the board) - you'll get loads of advice on where savings might be possible which will help clear the OD & CC.

There's often things we pay for and think we're doing OK and it's only when others say what they're paying we realise we're paying over the odds!

HTH

Curr946

Personally i think you would be better of with a loan. The mean you pay off what is owed each month without the temptation to use it again. This only works if you close the card, and cancel the overdraft.

YorkshireBoy

Curr946 wrote: »

This only works if you close the card, and cancel the overdraft.

And, of course, have addressed the reasons behind the debt existing in the first place.

scrumpyjax

Curr946 wrote: »

Personally i think you would be better of with a loan. The mean you pay off what is owed each month without the temptation to use it again. This only works if you close the card, and cancel the overdraft.

Thanks, I will look at that option but surely a loan will carry interest as well.;)

scrumpyjax

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

And, of course, have addressed the reasons behind the debt existing in the first place.

Big time marital problems addressed.

rising_from_the_ashes

Please do not think about a loan before popping over to the DFW board.

Consolidation rarely works (over 85% of people who do it, end up with more debt) .....

scrumpyjax

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Please do not think about a loan before popping over to the DFW board.

Consolidation rarely works (over 85% of people who do it, end up with more debt) .....

Thanks..I was thinking along the lines of bringing the barclaycard up from £1816 to £2200 and paying the £384 difference into the bank which would reduce the o/d a little. Then, pay the halifax card off at £100 a month for the 22 month interest free period which I can afford. Y/N
I'm not doing anything for a while and I will do the DFW board as well.

Royce84

Hey Scrumpyjax,

A friend of mine has used the balance transfer trick of doing a balance transfer into your current account. If you can get accepted on a new credit card with a decent balance transfer offer it could work out for you. If you can get say a £2500-£3000 limit, you can transfer the balance into your current account to clear that, then pay the barclaycard off in full, then you'll have whatever the 0% balance transfer period is (say 12-18 months) to clear the new credit card. You'll immediately save about £45pm in interest. Things to look out for if you look into this option:
1: You will have to pay an upfront fee of 2.5% - 3%, but on say £3000 thats still only a couple of months interest.
2: The interest rate after the interest free period.

Never done it myself but my friend says it works and has helped him out, just maybe worth looking into.

scrumpyjax

Royce84 wrote: »

Hey Scrumpyjax,

A friend of mine has used the balance transfer trick of doing a balance transfer into your current account. If you can get accepted on a new credit card with a decent balance transfer offer it could work out for you. If you can get say a £2500-£3000 limit, you can transfer the balance into your current account to clear that, then pay the barclaycard off in full, then you'll have whatever the 0% balance transfer period is (say 12-18 months) to clear the new credit card. You'll immediately save about £45pm in interest. Things to look out for if you look into this option:
1: You will have to pay an upfront fee of 2.5% - 3%, but on say £3000 thats still only a couple of months interest.
2: The interest rate after the interest free period.

Never done it myself but my friend says it works and has helped him out, just maybe worth looking into.

Thanks...that's a good one but my repayment limit is £100pm and the longest card seems to be the 22month halifax so £2200 is the most I can afford

Tixy

scrumpyjax wrote: »

Thanks..I was thinking along the lines of bringing the barclaycard up from £1816 to £2200 and paying the £384 difference into the bank which would reduce the o/d a little. Then, pay the halifax card off at £100 a month for the 22 month interest free period which I can afford. Y/N
I'm not doing anything for a while and I will do the DFW board as well.

Does your BC account specifically state you have a money transfer / transfer to current account option available to you? BC only allow this for some customers, not all.

scrumpyjax wrote: »

Thanks...that's a good one but my repayment limit is £100pm and the longest card seems to be the 22month halifax so £2200 is the most I can afford

Still if you transferred say £2900 - then the extra £700 would still benefit from 22months at no interest. And at the end of the 0% period, yes you'd start being charged interest on whatever balance was left, for 7months or so until it was paid, but it would still work out much cheaper than paying interest in whatever APR you are paying on your overdraft for the whole 29months.