Some Advice Would Be Great :) - New Here

Gooner10

Just an update really to the above:

So I have paid £1200 from our joint savings to pay my wifes credit card, so at the moment we are left with £300 in our joint savings.

I now have credit card debts of:

Amazon MasterCard (£4500) I have done a balance transfer this evening from my Tesco Card of £1400 which brings the Tesco Card down to a £600 balance.

I just wondered whats the best thing to pay off first? I have 0% on Amazon card until December 2012 and 0% on Purchases on Tesco card until November 2012.

So total debts of around £6000 , now realistically we can afford to pay back £400 a month without putting anything into savings however even doing this for a year our debt will not be cleared and this is dependant also (touches wood) on myself and my wife staying in our jobs.

Anyone got any other suggestions on what I can do?

Thanks

Andrew

shiny76

Gooner10 wrote: »

Just an update really to the above:

So I have paid £1200 from our joint savings to pay my wifes credit card, so at the moment we are left with £300 in our joint savings.

I now have credit card debts of:

Amazon MasterCard (£4500) I have done a balance transfer this evening from my Tesco Card of £1400 which brings the Tesco Card down to a £600 balance.

I just wondered whats the best thing to pay off first? I have 0% on Amazon card until December 2012 and 0% on Purchases on Tesco card until November 2012.

So total debts of around £6000 , now realistically we can afford to pay back £400 a month without putting anything into savings however even doing this for a year our debt will not be cleared and this is dependant also (touches wood) on myself and my wife staying in our jobs.

Anyone got any other suggestions on what I can do?

Thanks

Andrew

Hmmm, not sure the transfer from Tesco to Amazon was worthwhile. Presumably you've paid a fee and only got an extra month to pay that £1200 off.

From what I can gather, the RBS card has nothing on it and the Barclaycard has £120 on it. I'd close the Barclaycard asap, that way in 6 months time (or after) you can re-apply as a new customer. Hopefully they'll have their long BT promotions still running! Perhaps leave the RBS card for occasional purchases and to prove you're not maxed out on credit!!! (alternatively closing the RBS card may lead to increased credit limit offered on a new card but thats a risk)

I'd make all my purchase on the Tesco card until you come within a comfortable range of your credit limit (just in case you've forgotten something that gets charged to that card!). Meanwhile putting all extra money into my savings account that pays the highest interest.

Then come end of Sept/Oct I'd look around for best BT deal I could find (either in terms of length or transfer fee). Apply for new card, then pay off Tesco or Amazon with whatever I felt comfortable releasing from my savings (think emergency fund). Then BT the remaining balances from the Tesco and Amazon cards to the new card.

Finally close any cards you don't think you'll need.

Please note: this is what I would probably do given the info you've provided, I'm not financially trained and the above would require some financial discipline. Hope it helps

Gooner10

shiny76 wrote: »

Hmmm, not sure the transfer from Tesco to Amazon was worthwhile. Presumably you've paid a fee and only got an extra month to pay that £1200 off.

From what I can gather, the RBS card has nothing on it and the Barclaycard has £120 on it. I'd close the Barclaycard asap, that way in 6 months time (or after) you can re-apply as a new customer. Hopefully they'll have their long BT promotions still running! Perhaps leave the RBS card for occasional purchases and to prove you're not maxed out on credit!!! (alternatively closing the RBS card may lead to increased credit limit offered on a new card but thats a risk)

I'd make all my purchase on the Tesco card until you come within a comfortable range of your credit limit (just in case you've forgotten something that gets charged to that card!). Meanwhile putting all extra money into my savings account that pays the highest interest.

Then come end of Sept/Oct I'd look around for best BT deal I could find (either in terms of length or transfer fee). Apply for new card, then pay off Tesco or Amazon with whatever I felt comfortable releasing from my savings (think emergency fund). Then BT the remaining balances from the Tesco and Amazon cards to the new card.

Finally close any cards you don't think you'll need.

Please note: this is what I would probably do given the info you've provided, I'm not financially trained and the above would require some financial discipline. Hope it helps

Thanks Shiny

The only thing with closing my Barclaycard is it does have the highest limit out of all cards I have at £7000, and I think if I apply for credit in the future if I closed that card whether I would get anywhere near this limit?

Do you think if you have a Barclays Bank Account you would still be able to apply for a Barclays Credit Card? I may look into closing the Barclaycard, I may pay that off then close the card, then re apply come December time when my 0% is up.

With the transfer I have done yesterday it will leave around £600 on the Tesco card with the extra money from work I will have this month I could technically afford pay the Tesco card off, is this worth doing do you think so it would just leave me with the Amazon card.

Thoughts would be appreciated, sorry to bug you .

Andrew

shiny76

Gooner10 wrote: »

Thanks Shiny

The only thing with closing my Barclaycard is it does have the highest limit out of all cards I have at £7000, and I think if I apply for credit in the future if I closed that card whether I would get anywhere near this limit?

Do you think if you have a Barclays Bank Account you would still be able to apply for a Barclays Credit Card? I may look into closing the Barclaycard, I may pay that off then close the card, then re apply come December time when my 0% is up.

With the transfer I have done yesterday it will leave around £600 on the Tesco card with the extra money from work I will have this month I could technically afford pay the Tesco card off, is this worth doing do you think so it would just leave me with the Amazon card.

Thoughts would be appreciated, sorry to bug you .

Andrew

Can't see there being a problem getting a Barclaycard whilst having a Barclays Bank Account. If anything it may be a help (they may be able to tell more about your credit worthiness).

As for the Tesco card, I'd stick the money into savings then pay it off and close it in Oct time. It's not costing you anything (assuming you keep up the minimum payments) so you may as well earn interest on the savings account and maintain an emergency fund.

That said, you probably won't earn a great deal, so for 'peace of mind' you may want to pay it off and close it.

No worries about bugging me, it's a break from the tedium of work. I'm just surprised no one else has offered an opinion!

Gooner10

shiny76 wrote: »

Can't see there being a problem getting a Barclaycard whilst having a Barclays Bank Account. If anything it may be a help (they may be able to tell more about your credit worthiness).

As for the Tesco card, I'd stick the money into savings then pay it off and close it in Oct time. It's not costing you anything (assuming you keep up the minimum payments) so you may as well earn interest on the savings account and maintain an emergency fund.

That said, you probably won't earn a great deal, so for 'peace of mind' you may want to pay it off and close it.

No worries about bugging me, it's a break from the tedium of work. I'm just surprised no one else has offered an opinion!

Thanks shiny

Although I have a Barclays Bank Account its not my main account and only has around £20. I have a RBS bank account which I use on a day to day basis.