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Best way to use my new CC?

ferry
ferry Posts: 2,010 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
Ok,just got my new CC with 0% on BT's until next year,0% on purchases for 6 months.

I have a £500 o/d limit which I use almost in full each month and a small Personal Loan with £1300 left to pay(9 months left I think).
But how shoud I use my CC to get maximum benefit from it..?
I would like to reduce/totally pay my O/D if anything.

Thanks for the advice

T.
:j

Comments

  • Phoenix79_2
    Phoenix79_2 Posts: 1,434 Forumite
    What card is it?
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    ferry,

    I'm assuming your question relates to your recently acquired HSBC card?

    You said in an earlier post that you didn't want to apply for an SBT card (MBNA or Egg Money) to use with your HSBC card, so that just leaves a 'slow-stooz' operation as your way out of your overdraft.

    Simply spend on your credit card instead of your debit card, and you should naturally come out of your overdraft.

    Bear in mind though, that this debt needs repaying inside 6 months so make sure you set a budget. I don't know how you'll do that though, since you say of your overdraft that you..."use almost in full each month". If you're not careful, you could finish up in exactly the same situation come July, ie having to use the overdraft (and some) to settle the credit card.


    With a bit of forethought, there were better cards to apply for...

    Egg Money (as well as HSBC) would have let you move both your overdraft and your loan to a credit card for around 14 months (with a 2% BT fee). Whether the loan move would have been beneficial would have depended on any early repayment penalties. Either way, you'd have had much longer to repay the debt.

    M&S would have given you a 12 month 'slow-stooz', rather than the 6 months you'll have with HSBC. It would also have given you the option of a 'fast-stooz' (to get the loan on the card as well) by exploiting the travellers cheque loophole - albeit with an effective 1% BT fee

    Finally, if you do get some CC cheques at 0% (ref your earlier thread), be very careful about spending on the card. Check your order of payments.
  • ferry
    ferry Posts: 2,010 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    Thanks very much for your idepth response.
    To be honest I should have checked this forum first prior to applying for the HSBC card..

    I'll make an application for the Egg Money card and see how it goes.I suppose 2 searches on a credit file near each other isn't so bad?And at least "everything will be in one place".

    Out of interest do you know if Egg use Equifax for their searches..?
    Also,can I ask what makes an Egg Money card BT different to a HSBC BT..?
    Many thanks for the ongoing advice..
    T.
    :j
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    ferry wrote:
    Also,can I ask what makes an Egg Money card BT different to a HSBC BT..?
    Egg Money Card Trick
  • ferry
    ferry Posts: 2,010 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    Right..quick update.
    I've applied for an Egg card and its on its way but still a bit confused about whats best for me..

    Bearing in mind my situation above,is it best just to transfer loan and O/D to Egg card and pay off in 9 equal instalments when the 0% bal transfer rate expires on the Egg card and just cancel the HSBC card altogether?

    I'm not sure if I trust myself having 2 cards open...

    Cheers again for the ongoing advice.

    T.
    :j
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    OK, what I was suggesting before was to apply for an Egg Money card - hence the link to the 'card trick' article - to use in conjunction with your HSBC card. You could then have BT'd a ficticious debt from this to your HSBC card for a BT fee of 2% (to HSBC), and you'd have 14 months in which to repay the HSBC card.

    What you've now gone and done is to apply for an Egg Card. This means you'll pay a 2.5% fee for the SBT from your current account and furthermore you've only got 9 months (max) in which to repay the debt.

    Since the Egg Card has 9 months 0% on BT's but only 6 months 0% on purchases, you should not make any purchases on this card during the first 9 months.

    Whether or not you keep the HSBC card is your decision.
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