Advice needed rgd tricky 0% purchase....

Foonkysteve

Hi there, I am new to the forum, been lurking for a few days, now taking the plunge. Please be gentle

I have a tricky one for you....
My partner and I are planning on having the garden done, its a big job, needs lanscaped, levelled, concreted etc.. the works.(estimated total cost £4000 - £5000) We don't have the money right now, but after seeing some of the great deals on credit cards; 0% on purchases for 12 - 17 months etc.. we thought we can get it done this summer, and pay for it before next summer.

This all sounded great. Now the spanner in the works; The company we intend to use unfortunately don't take credit cards (found this out this morning) They do take cash, cheque and BACS or transfer.

Is there any way around this on the cheap? I know the cheapest way is of course to wait until we have the money next year, but we would love to get it done sooner, and as we live in dundee scotland, its best to strike while the iron is hot, for the 3 weeks of sun we get per year (if were lucky).

After reading on this site yesterday, i was following the instructions to boost my credit rating, so i cancelled my current credit card with my bank (lloyds tsb) which had a £5000 limit, but i never used it. So i have burned my bridges with my bank for a new credit card for at least 6 months.

I had originally hoped to take out the Tesco credit card 0% on purchases for 16months, which is of no use now. However after calling them today, it turns out the credit card i had with them around 4 years ago is still active, although the account has been dormant for around 3 years. It is now cancelled, but they told me i could apply online again as a new customer, and i would be initially declined, then could go through an appeal process. I didn't like the sound of this as it could tarnish my credit history?

The closest thing to a solution i can come to is, using a 0% cash transfer card. Apparently this allows me to transfer credit to my bank account but at a 4% fee, which could be up to £200, even with this type of card i would still have to pay the minimum payment each month to keep the 0% deal going. If i didn't want to pay the minimum each month, I would then need another card (maybe Barclaycard) with a 0% balance transfer, to clear the cash transfer card, but the balance transfer would incur another 3% transfer fee. Potentially a total of 7% in transfer fees between the 2 cards £350!?!?!

This all i can come up with myself, but im fairly new at this, I must be missing something, Im hoping some of the pro's on here can offer some advice?

Apologies for the long post, and thank you in advance for any advice/input/help.

Foonky

benroles

Hi... just a quick note, REGARDLESS of which deal you end up doing you will ALWAYS have to pay the minimum amounts to maintain the 0% deal. It's not like a "buy now, pay later" deal where you spend nothing until the balance is due. Effectively you transfer and then pay off the minimums (thus maximising the 0%) and then pay a 'lump sum' to settle the balance when the time is due (or not but then you incur interest at full rate).

Another option with things like a purchase card is to buy EVERYTHING you can think off and put it on the purchase card. With the money you 'save' in your bank account you can then pay in cash for your work. However, saving up £5000 will take a while going down this route...

Best bet is something like Fluid as you say that allows 0% transfer to banks but you will incur a 4% fee. Still, over the life of the balance you are getting the money lent very cheap. You then just want to divide the balance by the number of months of the 0% deal (always remembering to pay the minimum) and you should have saved enough then to clear the lump sum balance when the deal runs out.

B.

[Deleted User]

You're going to need to make the minimum payment on any card you get.

So a money transfer card is your best option.

brendon

Is there something stopping you from taking your custom to a provider who accepts credit cards?

Foonkysteve

Ah! I knew i would learn something here.

I literally thought it worked like buy now pay later. seriously. I feel a bit stupid now. That's fine though, cash transfer card does seem like the best bet now.

Thank you Benroles and zx81 much appreciated.:)

Brendon, that would solve all the problems. What we want done in the garden is mainly printed paving which is zero maintenance. (suits me perfectly) It is a bit of a specialist process, and our local company is well reccommended. We have learned our lessons from recent past experiences with shoddy workmanship and 'mates rates' we're going for quality and peace of mind this time round

JakeGreen

You could pay them by PayPal for a 3.4% fee

zerog

JakeGreen wrote: »

You could pay them by PayPal for a 3.4% fee

But they may not be too happy about sending their passport to paypal, which will probably be required to withdraw £5000 from paypal to a bank account.

Typhoon2000

You could pay yourself ( Or your wife ) with PayPal, it doesn't have to all in one go.

Foonkysteve

Typhoon2000

Apologies for being a noob, but how does that work exactly?


The MBNA card on this site (MSE) looks like a good deal:
MBNA platimum card:
24 Months 0% on money transfers

I know this is another stupid question, and you never know how much of a credit limit you are likely to get, but........ Is there a rule of thumb regarding 0% length? i.e. am i likely to get a larger/smaller credit limit if i go with a 24 month money transfer card as opposed to say a 12 month 0% card?

So it looks as if i may have picked the card, the next step is to apply, it would be a bummer if i was either rejected or got a credit limit of £250.

benroles

Typhoon's suggestion is correct but could be seen as a bit dodgy by Paypal and get your account suspended, particularly if it's a large amount.

Basically you log in to your account with your shiny new purchases 0% card. You select 'send money' and enter your wife's email address. You choose credit card as the payment method (noting you'll incur a 3.4% fee). You then basically 'pay' your wife and the money comes of your credit card and in to your wife's paypal account. She can then withdraw this to her bank account as with any paypal balance.

HOWEVER... PayPal don't like big movements of money and certainly I think this would end up getting flagged. Getting the money unfrozen etc. can be onerous, particularly in terms of sending in various docs etc. If you achieve it though you've found a way to get money of your purchase card (albeit at a reasonable cost in terms of the paypal fee).

I don't think whether you go for 12 or 24 months will affect the size of limit given... it's more around your credit worthiness and salary. Do you have other debts etc? Do you have a good credit history? Do you earn £100,000 a year hence a £12k limit is peanuts etc.

As people have suggested try the MBNA checker to see likelihood of acceptance. If I was you I'd go for the 24 month card as you get the interest free for longer. Whilst the 12 month has lower fees for transfer, this is NOT true for money transfer (Still at 4%) so you get none of the benefit and less interest free time to payback.

B.

Foonkysteve

Hmmm The Paypal idea seems a bit risky for me.

Thank you for explaining how it works though

I was just about to apply for the card, then read your post. Great advice but I cant seem to find the mbna checker here