Credit card advise needed

inni007

Afternoon all,

Looking for some advise please on what I should do regarding my debt on 2 credit cards.
no1 card has a balance of around 1300 (barclays)
no2 card has a balance of around 4200 (Virgin)

The plan was to get all the debt or as much of it as possible onto the one card - I prefer to do that on the barclay card as I would like to keep the Virgin card with as low debt as possible just in case I need to do emergency cash balance transfers etc or if I need to do some emergency repairs etc.
I have around £3000+ credit on the barclay card left.
I cant get any more cards to try and benefit from any new balance transfer offers so am really stuck with these 2 cards.
I have no current offers on these cards as they have expired.
I'm making regular payments on both cards - more on the virgin one and just doing the minimum on the barclays one.
Just really need some advise on what the best option would be for me given my scenario above.
Any advise will be appreciated.

CLAPTON

what are the APRs on the cards?

why can't you get a new CC?

JimmyTheWig

What interest rate are you paying on both cards?
What is your reason for wanting to keep the Virgin card for emergencies rather than the Barclaycard?
How much can you pay off this debt each month?
Have you tried phoning both companies asking if they'll do you a deal on a balance transfer?

inni007

Thanks for the reply.
I'm at work at the min so not sure what the APR's on the cards are - will find out
Reason I couldnt get a new CC was in Aug I went for a new card that had a really good rate - balance transfer for lifetime of the debt which was shown on this website - was hoping to transfer my debt to this card but got rejected - at this time my credit rating wasnt great - on experian it was rated poor due to me moving house and having a few credit accounts open.
My credit rating is now fair due to settling 2 credit accounts but not sure if I should go for another CC as its been only 2 months since I tried a new CC.

inni007

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

What interest rate are you paying on both cards?
What is your reason for wanting to keep the Virgin card for emergencies rather than the Barclaycard?
How much can you pay off this debt each month?
Have you tried phoning both companies asking if they'll do you a deal on a balance transfer?

Thanks for the reply.
Will find out about the APRs on both cards.
I wanted to keep the virgin card as this one allows me cash transfers to my current account - barclays doesnt offer this - just something useful to have around if needs be.
I'm currently paying £30 per month on the barclays card and £100 per month on the virgin card.
I'll give them both a call and see if they can give offer me some sort of deal - thanks for the advise.

inni007

Got the info about the APR for both cards

Virgin card
Monthly rates

Rate Type

1.4566% Balance Transfers
2.0751% Cash
1.3061% Card Purchases
1.5976% Money Transfers/Cheques


Barclays

Interest Rates
Annual Purchase Rate 15.90%

I noticed I've been offered a balance transfer promo from barclays for 0% interest till 1st October 2013 with a transfer fee of 3.9%
I can only transfer just under £3000 of the £4200 I have on the Virgin card - do you think this is a good offer or should I wait and try and get a better deal with a new card?
I havent had a chance to call them to see if they can give me a better deal but will try tom

[Deleted User]

inni007 wrote: »

I noticed I've been offered a balance transfer promo from barclays for 0% interest till 1st October 2013 with a transfer fee of 3.9%
I can only transfer just under £3000 of the £4200 I have on the Virgin card - do you think this is a good offer or should I wait and try and get a better deal with a new card?

It's a much better option than your original idea of just transferring everything to on card for the heck of it and still paying the transfer fee. Then make min payment + £1 on the Bcard and throw everything else at the Virgin balance.

With a bit of luck, as the Virgin balance drops, you may then get a Virgin offer. I seem to get them every month, probably due to clearing in full each month.

JimmyTheWig

inni007 wrote: »

I noticed I've been offered a balance transfer promo from barclays for 0% interest till 1st October 2013 with a transfer fee of 3.9%
I can only transfer just under £3000 of the £4200 I have on the Virgin card - do you think this is a good offer or should I wait and try and get a better deal with a new card?
I havent had a chance to call them to see if they can give me a better deal but will try tom

Yes, bite their hand off.
It's not a market-leading deal (there are cards out there with longer 0% deals for a lower fee) but given that this deal is on the table to be used now (i.e. you don't have to wait to be accepted for a new card, etc) and you don't think you'll qualify for the best new cards anyway then I think this is your best bet.
By all means ask them to do something better. Maybe see if they will do a low-rate "life of balance" transfer, which might suit you better. No harm in asking. But if I were you unless they offer anything better then I'd be taking the 0% interest today.

Deleted_User wrote: »

Then make min payment + £1 on the Bcard and throw everything else at the Virgin balance.

I agree.
[I thought I didn't at first, but had the two cards mixed up. The Barclaycard is the lower interest card, so pay Virgin off first.
If you use either of the cards for day-to-day spending (not necessarily a good idea in this scenario) then use the Barclaycard. Once the Virgin card is paid in full (as quickly as possible, hopefully!) then use this for day-to-day spending and pay it off in full each month - that means you won't get charged interest on your spending.


OP, be aware that when you do the balance transfer you may well have to pay the transfer fee in full in the first month after doing this. This will be on top of any regular minimum payment.
3.9% of £3000 is £117, so this will probably mean you have to pay more than your regular total of £130 that month. Is that possible? If not, rearrange things so that it is.
Also you need to check what the ongoing minimum monthly repayments will be. Different companies have different rules so you may have to pay more as a minimum by going down this route. The amount of money it will save you will almost definitely make it worth it, so again rearrange things so you can make this work.

On that note, do you know how long it will take you to pay off the debt at this rate?
Even with no interest it will take you over 4 years.
But you are currently paying significant amounts of interest. Even with the 0% balance transfer you will still be paying a lot of interest. When the 0% deal runs out next October, if you can't get another deal then your interest will shoot up again.
Meaning that at this rate it will take you way more than 4 years to pay off.
Pay as much off these debts as you can, as quickly as you can.

It may help to do an SOA (statement of affairs) where you list your income and outgoings and posting it up here on these boards. People will be able to comment and help you cut bills, etc.

inni007

Many thanks for the advise, will take all on board.
Really appreciate the help.

inni007

just an update.
Managed to speak to someone at Barclaycard and have been offered 6.9% lifetime of the balance till its cleared - with a transfer fee of £86 for total transfer of £2989.63
They said my monthly minimum repayments will be around £16.54 for £2989.63 balance transfer.
I understand my current balance for the £1300 will still be the same and wont be covered by this 6.9% offer.
I guess this offer is the best one I can get for my circumstances - agree?
again thanks for the guys who have given great advise so far.

JimmyTheWig

inni007 wrote: »

I guess this offer is the best one I can get for my circumstances - agree?

We don't know all your circumstances, so impossible to agree or disagree, but I will say the following would be best (though not all possible) in this order.
1. Pay off the full balance on both cards straight away. E.g. you've got money sitting in a savings account doing nothing or something valuable you don't need that you can sell.
2. Do the 0% balance transfer and pay the whole lot off within about a year. E.g. upping your total payments from £130 a month to around £475 a month - for example if you are able to cut down significantly on spending.
3. Do the 0% balance transfer and at the end of the year do another 0% balance transfer. This will only work if such deals are available at that point in time and if you qualify for them.
4. Do the life of balance transfer at 6.9% interest.
5. Do the 0% balance transfer and don't get a new deal at the end of the year.
6. Carry on as you are paying full interest on the full amount.

I'm assuming that options 1 and 2 aren't possible for you. If they are they they will save you a significant amount of money in interest. It would be worth it in the long run.
Even if you can increase what you pay each month a little it will help, in addition to options 3, 4 or 5.
Obviously option 3 turns into option 5 if you are unable to do a further transfer this time next year. It's up to you to decide whether you think you'll be able to get a deal in a year's time (in which case option 3 would be better than option 4) or not (in which case option 4 would be better than option 5).
Don't do option 6!