Snowball tells me to pay off 0% first - is this right?

The_Boss

Bit confused. Surely three months payment towards the cards attracting interest, then clear the lower 0%, then 6 months clearing one attracting interest followed by 3 months targeting the final 0% pays less interest?

Skinnylatte

I'm confused too, if I was any good at maths I wouldn't be in this mess!

The_Boss

Can you copy and paste the whole workings table please.

Skinnylatte

cut and paste wasn't working for me, and now I've hit the back button by accident and lost the lot. Will come back to it tomorrow, as my heads fried right now. Thank you for looking and trying to help though.
Which snowball that does an interest free period would you recomend and I'll try again tomorrow
Debt number 1Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance


Debt number 2Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance


Debt number 3Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance


Debt number 4Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance



The Bottom Line It will take you 40 months to pay off these debts if you snowball correctly. During that time, you'll pay £4,804.00 in interest.

If you paid the same amount per month, but changed the order in which you paid your debts so you weren't paying the highest interest rates first, it would cost you an additional £20.00 in interest.

See the chart below for a breakdown of your monthly payments. Any months in red mean that the amount you entered as the amount you want to spend per month servicing you debt isn't enough to cover your minimum payments. In the "payments" column, any value shown in blue indicates that you're paying more than the minimum

It's important to note that while, financially, snowballing in interest order will cost you less, sometimes, emotionally, it makes more sense to pay off some the smaller debts first. That can be a great incentive when starting to deal with your debt.

What if I consolidated?

General [URL="javascript:openWindow ('/popups/consolidation.aspx')"]reasons[/URL] why consolidation is not always a good idea

First things first, I am not a financial expert, nor do I intend this site to give any kind of finance advice. I just give you and easy way of seeing the figures.

That said though, in my opinion, consolidation generally a bad idea. If you're in debt, it's because you spend more than you earn, and it's all too easy to get a consolidation loan, pay off your current debts, and because your monthly outlay is less, you feel you have more spending power and run up new, extra debts.

Consolidating debts into your mortgage, or another secured loan is (again, in my personal option) an even worse idea. Secured debt means that if you default on payments you'll lose your home. Not only that, but your mortgage will generally be on a much longer term, so although the interest rate may be less, in the long run you'll be paying far more.

For example, according to the figures you've just entered, you currently owe £14,900.00. If you consolidated that into your mortgage at, say 5.5% over 25 years, you'd end up paying £12,549.71 in interest. By snowballing correctly, you'd pay £4,804.00


Save Snowball If you login, you'll be able to save snowballs!


DateTotal DebtBarlcay 0% (24.99%)Halifax (24.90%)Barclay MC (19.90%)MBNA (19.90%)Total DebtInterestBalancePaymentBalancePaymentBalancePaymentBalancePayment(EOM)July 2013£14,900.00£1,500.00£232.00£1,800.00£36.00£6,700.00£134.00£4,900.00£98.00£14,400.00£192.13August 2013£14,592.13£1,268.00£233.52£1,764.00£35.28£6,676.97£133.54£4,883.16£97.66£14,092.13£191.47September 2013£14,283.61£1,034.48£235.02£1,728.72£34.57£6,654.03£133.08£4,866.38£97.33£13,783.61£184.66October 2013£13,968.27£799.47£236.62£1,694.15£33.88£6,627.61£132.55£4,847.05£96.94£13,468.27£190.06November 2013£13,658.33£562.84£238.09£1,660.26£33.21£6,604.83£132.10£4,830.40£96.61£13,158.33£183.30December 2013£13,341.62£324.75£239.66£1,627.06£32.54£6,578.60£131.57£4,811.22£96.22£12,841.62£188.65January 2014£13,030.28£85.09£85.09£1,594.52£187.90£6,555.99£131.12£4,794.68£95.89£12,530.28£188.01February 2014£12,718.28£1,406.62£273.77£6,533.46£130.67£4,778.20£95.56£12,218.28£169.23March 2014£12,387.51£1,132.85£274.91£6,500.54£130.01£4,754.12£95.08£11,887.51£186.41April 2014£12,073.93£857.94£275.68£6,478.20£129.56£4,737.78£94.76£11,573.93£179.78May 2014£11,753.71£582.26£276.57£6,452.47£129.05£4,718.97£94.38£11,253.71£185.04June 2014£11,438.74£305.69£277.34£6,430.30£128.61£4,702.75£94.06£10,938.74£178.45July 2014£11,117.20£28.35£28.35£6,404.76£377.96£4,684.08£93.68£10,617.20£179.45August 2014£10,796.64£6,128.66£406.64£4,667.98£93.36£10,296.64£174.03September 2014£10,470.67£5,818.73£406.96£4,651.94£93.04£9,970.67£163.08October 2014£10,133.75£5,500.28£407.33£4,633.47£92.67£9,633.75£162.82November 2014£9,796.57£5,179.03£407.65£4,617.54£92.35£9,296.57£152.06December 2014£9,448.63£4,849.42£408.02£4,599.21£91.98£8,948.63£151.24January 2015£9,099.87£4,516.47£408.33£4,583.40£91.67£8,599.87£145.35February 2015£8,745.22£4,177.57£408.65£4,567.65£91.35£8,245.22£125.87March 2015£8,371.09£3,826.46£409.11£4,544.63£90.89£7,871.09£133.03April 2015£8,004.13£3,475.11£409.42£4,529.01£90.58£7,504.13£122.74May 2015£7,626.86£3,115.84£409.78£4,511.03£90.22£7,126.86£120.45June 2015£7,247.32£2,751.79£410.09£4,495.53£89.91£6,747.32£110.36July 2015£6,857.68£2,380.00£410.45£4,477.67£89.55£6,357.68£107.45August 2015£6,465.13£2,002.85£410.75£4,462.29£89.25£5,965.13£100.82September 2015£6,065.95£1,619.00£411.06£4,446.95£88.94£5,565.95£91.04October 2015£5,656.99£1,227.70£411.41£4,429.29£88.59£5,156.99£87.16November 2015£5,244.15£830.08£411.72£4,414.07£88.28£4,744.15£77.60December 2015£4,821.74£425.20£412.07£4,396.54£87.93£4,321.74£73.04January 2016£4,394.79£13.36£13.36£4,381.43£486.64£3,894.79£65.83February 2016£3,960.61£3,960.61£500.00£3,460.61£54.72March 2016£3,515.33£3,515.33£500.00£3,015.33£50.96April 2016£3,066.29£3,066.29£500.00£2,566.29£41.97May 2016£2,608.27£2,608.27£500.00£2,108.27£35.63June 2016£2,143.90£2,143.90£500.00£1,643.90£26.89July 2016£1,670.79£1,670.79£500.00£1,170.79£19.79August 2016£1,190.58£1,190.58£500.00£690.58£11.67September 2016£702.25£702.25£500.00£202.25£3.31October 2016£205.56£205.56£205.56£0.00£0.00


Snowball CalculatorNumber of debts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Including your minimum debt repayments, how much per month do you want to spend on servicing your debt? £This should be at least the total of your minimum monthly payments. If it's less don't panic, please visit The Motley Fool "Dealing with Debt" discussion board for help. Which way would you prefer to snowball? Interest order Balance order [URL="javascript:openWindow ('/popups/snowballing-types.aspx')"]What does this mean?![/URL]
Debt number 1Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance
Debt number 2Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance
Debt number 3Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance
Debt number 4Debt nameBalance£Non-flexible?A non-flexible loan is one you can't make overpayments on Standard APR%Introductory interest rate of % for months (optional) Minimum monthly payment£ fixed, or % of balance
The Bottom Line It will take you 40 months to pay off these debts if you snowball correctly. During that time, you'll pay £4,804.00 in interest.

If you paid the same amount per month, but changed the order in which you paid your debts so you weren't paying the highest interest rates first, it would cost you an additional £20.00 in interest.

See the chart below for a breakdown of your monthly payments. Any months in red mean that the amount you entered as the amount you want to spend per month servicing you debt isn't enough to cover your minimum payments. In the "payments" column, any value shown in blue indicates that you're paying more than the minimum

It's important to note that while, financially, snowballing in interest order will cost you less, sometimes, emotionally, it makes more sense to pay off some the smaller debts first. That can be a great incentive when starting to deal with your debt.

What if I consolidated?

General [URL="javascript:openWindow ('/popups/consolidation.aspx')"]reasons[/URL] why consolidation is not always a good idea

First things first, I am not a financial expert, nor do I intend this site to give any kind of finance advice. I just give you and easy way of seeing the figures.

That said though, in my opinion, consolidation generally a bad idea. If you're in debt, it's because you spend more than you earn, and it's all too easy to get a consolidation loan, pay off your current debts, and because your monthly outlay is less, you feel you have more spending power and run up new, extra debts.

Consolidating debts into your mortgage, or another secured loan is (again, in my personal option) an even worse idea. Secured debt means that if you default on payments you'll lose your home. Not only that, but your mortgage will generally be on a much longer term, so although the interest rate may be less, in the long run you'll be paying far more.

For example, according to the figures you've just entered, you currently owe £14,900.00. If you consolidated that into your mortgage at, say 5.5% over 25 years, you'd end up paying £12,549.71 in interest. By snowballing correctly, you'd pay £4,804.00
Save Snowball If you login, you'll be able to save snowballs!
DateTotal DebtBarlcay 0% (24.99%)Halifax (24.90%)Barclay MC (19.90%)MBNA (19.90%)Total DebtInterestBalancePaymentBalancePaymentBalancePaymentBalancePayment(EOM)July 2013£14,900.00£1,500.00£232.00£1,800.00£36.00£6,700.00£134.00£4,900.00£98.00£14,400.00£192.13August 2013£14,592.13£1,268.00£233.52£1,764.00£35.28£6,676.97£133.54£4,883.16£97.66£14,092.13£191.47September 2013£14,283.61£1,034.48£235.02£1,728.72£34.57£6,654.03£133.08£4,866.38£97.33£13,783.61£184.66October 2013£13,968.27£799.47£236.62£1,694.15£33.88£6,627.61£132.55£4,847.05£96.94£13,468.27£190.06November 2013£13,658.33£562.84£238.09£1,660.26£33.21£6,604.83£132.10£4,830.40£96.61£13,158.33£183.30December 2013£13,341.62£324.75£239.66£1,627.06£32.54£6,578.60£131.57£4,811.22£96.22£12,841.62£188.65January 2014£13,030.28£85.09£85.09£1,594.52£187.90£6,555.99£131.12£4,794.68£95.89£12,530.28£188.01February 2014£12,718.28£1,406.62£273.77£6,533.46£130.67£4,778.20£95.56£12,218.28£169.23March 2014£12,387.51£1,132.85£274.91£6,500.54£130.01£4,754.12£95.08£11,887.51£186.41April 2014£12,073.93£857.94£275.68£6,478.20£129.56£4,737.78£94.76£11,573.93£179.78May 2014£11,753.71£582.26£276.57£6,452.47£129.05£4,718.97£94.38£11,253.71£185.04June 2014£11,438.74£305.69£277.34£6,430.30£128.61£4,702.75£94.06£10,938.74£178.45July 2014£11,117.20£28.35£28.35£6,404.76£377.96£4,684.08£93.68£10,617.20£179.45August 2014£10,796.64£6,128.66£406.64£4,667.98£93.36£10,296.64£174.03September 2014£10,470.67£5,818.73£406.96£4,651.94£93.04£9,970.67£163.08October 2014£10,133.75£5,500.28£407.33£4,633.47£92.67£9,633.75£162.82November 2014£9,796.57£5,179.03£407.65£4,617.54£92.35£9,296.57£152.06December 2014£9,448.63£4,849.42£408.02£4,599.21£91.98£8,948.63£151.24January 2015£9,099.87£4,516.47£408.33£4,583.40£91.67£8,599.87£145.35February 2015£8,745.22£4,177.57£408.65£4,567.65£91.35£8,245.22£125.87March 2015£8,371.09£3,826.46£409.11£4,544.63£90.89£7,871.09£133.03April 2015£8,004.13£3,475.11£409.42£4,529.01£90.58£7,504.13£122.74May 2015£7,626.86£3,115.84£409.78£4,511.03£90.22£7,126.86£120.45June 2015£7,247.32£2,751.79£410.09£4,495.53£89.91£6,747.32£110.36July 2015£6,857.68£2,380.00£410.45£4,477.67£89.55£6,357.68£107.45August 2015£6,465.13£2,002.85£410.75£4,462.29£89.25£5,965.13£100.82September 2015£6,065.95£1,619.00£411.06£4,446.95£88.94£5,565.95£91.04October 2015£5,656.99£1,227.70£411.41£4,429.29£88.59£5,156.99£87.16November 2015£5,244.15£830.08£411.72£4,414.07£88.28£4,744.15£77.60December 2015£4,821.74£425.20£412.07£4,396.54£87.93£4,321.74£73.04January 2016£4,394.79£13.36£13.36£4,381.43£486.64£3,894.79£65.83February 2016£3,960.61£3,960.61£500.00£3,460.61£54.72March 2016£3,515.33£3,515.33£500.00£3,015.33£50.96April 2016£3,066.29£3,066.29£500.00£2,566.29£41.97May 2016£2,608.27£2,608.27£500.00£2,108.27£35.63June 2016£2,143.90£2,143.90£500.00£1,643.90£26.89July 2016£1,670.79£1,670.79£500.00£1,170.79£19.79August 2016£1,190.58£1,190.58£500.00£690.58£11.67September 2016£702.25£702.25£500.00£202.25£3.31October 2016£205.56£205.56£205.56£0.00£0.00

The_Boss

Doesn't really work on here. Oh well.
May try to replicate your snowball later. What are you entering as your required payments per month for each card individually (the figure or percentage will do).

Skinnylatte

The_Boss wrote: »

Doesn't really work on here. Oh well.
May try to replicate your snowball later. What are you entering as your required payments per month for each card individually (the figure or percentage will do).

I put in 2% for each as the minimum payment

chattychappy

What is the limit on Card1? If, say, it's £5000 or so then I probably would pay down Card1 in the hope of a further BT offer so that I could shift £5K from Card3 or Card4 onto it.

Rather depends what Card1 is - some cards are better than others for repeat deals.

The_Boss

sophie.christie wrote: »

I put in 2% for each as the minimum payment

I'm totally stumped then...

Can you let me know what your minimum required payments are please (some are 1% with an absolute minimum and some are greater), your credit limits and the names of the lenders as suggested above.

scott_lithgows

3.4.1.2 is the order i would attack them,however have a go at getting a 0% bt deal first.

Skinnylatte

The_Boss wrote: »

I'm totally stumped then...

Can you let me know what your minimum required payments are please (some are 1% with an absolute minimum and some are greater), your credit limits and the names of the lenders as suggested above.

I'm away at the moment, but when I get home as the weekend I'll detail each oneincluding the minimum payments. Thank you for persevering!