Credit card advice sought

garion1987

Hi everyone, I hope you can help with my query. I have already looked at all of the credit card guides on MSE, but hoped someone could advise me in relation to my specific situation.

I currently have two credit cards and the balances are as follows:

Tesco Mastercard - £800
Natwest card - £4900

The interest free period on my Tesco card has now expired, and I have been charged £18 worth of interest (when the balance was £1000 - I have just paid another £200 off to bring the outstanding balance down to £800).

My plan was to apply for one new credit card 6 weeks in advance of the interest free period on purchases expiring on my Tesco card, which would be around mid-late February (I have already signed up for a 'Tart' email alert).

I was thinking that I would consolidate both balances onto one card, and then cancelling those 2 cards, so I only have one card that I am paying off.

Now that I am being charged interest on my Tesco card, I wondered if I should apply for a new card sooner? It will take me another 2/3/4 months on (my chosen) repayments to pay it off, and in that time I would probably charged about £50 in interest.

When I applied for the Natwest card (for a one-off expensive purchase), I was given a credit limit of £5250, and I am not sure if I would be offered the same credit limit again with another card provider? I am in regular employment and when I applied for my current Natwest card, I was being paid the same salary and my financial position was similar. Also, obviously at the moment my combined balance on the two cards is £5700, so I am a little over the probably credit limit I will receive.

I am concerned about the kind of credit limit I will receive. I know it is bad to apply for lots of credit cards because of credit ratings, etc, but if I can successfully do a balance transfer to a new credit card, I would have another 18 months or so (depending on the card) before I would need to apply for a card again, as I would be applying for a card with as long a 0% period as possible.

I think that the above is the most sensible thing to do, but just wanted to see if any MSE-rs had any specific / better advice for me?

If anyone could help, I would be very grateful!

CherlokHomes

Apply for a Barclaycard platinum as you're more then likely to get a decent limit, also it's 28 months interest free.

garion1987

Thanks very much for the tip.

In terms of the likely credit limit I can expect to receive, is there any way of knowing what I am likely to get? On my previous application I was granted a limit of £5250, and this would be fine to have again, but does anyone know if I am now less likely to get the same limit again because this is what I got last time?

More broadly, does anyone know / is there a particular card I should go for which will maximise my chances of being granted a credit limit of £5000, as this is what my balance transfer is likely to be.

Many thanks

Tixy

Broadly speaking MBNA and Barclaycard are reported to give generous limits.

But any potential lender will consider your existing levels of debts and existing levels of credit (along with the rest of your financial circumstances) when deciding whether to accept your application and what limit to offer you.

longtermplanner

garion1987 wrote: »

I currently have two credit cards and the balances are as follows:

Tesco Mastercard - £800
Natwest card - £4900

The interest free period on my Tesco card has now expired, and I have been charged £18 worth of interest (when the balance was £1000 - I have just paid another £200 off to bring the outstanding balance down to £800).

My plan was to apply for one new credit card 6 weeks in advance of the interest free period on purchases expiring on my Tesco card, which would be around mid-late February (I have already signed up for a 'Tart' email alert).

Do you mean the interest free period on the NATWEST card is expiring in a few months?

You don't seem to have paid off very much of the Natwest card. It's good to pay 0%, but it's better to take advantage of this to clear the debt fast... Your plan to get another 0% interest card may come unstuck, it's dangerous to rely on always being able to refinance at 0%

The longest 0% period at the moment is Barclaycard Platinum - 30 month. You may as well apply for this now (assuming that you havent made any other credit applications recently?) and use whatever limit you are given to clear the Tesco card and reduce the Natwest card if the credit limit isn't enough to clear it completely.

Cash_Flow

garion1987 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I hope you can help with my query. I have already looked at all of the credit card guides on MSE, but hoped someone could advise me in relation to my specific situation.

I currently have two credit cards and the balances are as follows:

Tesco Mastercard - £800
Natwest card - £4900

The interest free period on my Tesco card has now expired, and I have been charged £18 worth of interest (when the balance was £1000 - I have just paid another £200 off to bring the outstanding balance down to £800).

My plan was to apply for one new credit card 6 weeks in advance of the interest free period on purchases expiring on my Tesco card, which would be around mid-late February (I have already signed up for a 'Tart' email alert).

I was thinking that I would consolidate both balances onto one card, and then cancelling those 2 cards, so I only have one card that I am paying off.

Now that I am being charged interest on my Tesco card, I wondered if I should apply for a new card sooner? It will take me another 2/3/4 months on (my chosen) repayments to pay it off, and in that time I would probably charged about £50 in interest.

When I applied for the Natwest card (for a one-off expensive purchase), I was given a credit limit of £5250, and I am not sure if I would be offered the same credit limit again with another card provider? I am in regular employment and when I applied for my current Natwest card, I was being paid the same salary and my financial position was similar. Also, obviously at the moment my combined balance on the two cards is £5700, so I am a little over the probably credit limit I will receive.

I am concerned about the kind of credit limit I will receive. I know it is bad to apply for lots of credit cards because of credit ratings, etc, but if I can successfully do a balance transfer to a new credit card, I would have another 18 months or so (depending on the card) before I would need to apply for a card again, as I would be applying for a card with as long a 0% period as possible.

I think that the above is the most sensible thing to do, but just wanted to see if any MSE-rs had any specific / better advice for me?

If anyone could help, I would be very grateful!

What is the Credit limit on the Tesco? if it's small your credit card utilisation is not going to look very good to a prospective new lender.

garion1987

Cash Flow - the credit limit on my Tesco card is £1500. Do you think I should pay off the outstanding balance of £800 and then cancel this card before applying for a new card to transfer the balance from my Natwest card?

Many thanks!

garion1987

Longtermplanner:

Yes, it is the interest free period on the Natwest card that is expiring in late April 2014. The reason I have not paid off much is because I only applied for the card in October 2013 and made an expensive one-off purchase - other than that I haven't spent on the card at all.

I haven't made any other credit applications since my Natwest card application in October, and I have a permanent job paying 60k per annum, so I should be able to start re-paying a lot relatively quickly.

Is it better to apply for a card such as the Barclaycard platinum now, or wait until the nearer the end of April when my 0% period ends on my Natwest card? Also, I have now started paying interest on my Tesco card (not sure of exact rate, but I was charged £18 when the balance was £1000), and as mentioned above my balance is now £800.

If you have any further insight/advice, that would be really helpful, thank-you.

hpsaucey

confusedaboutstamps wrote: »

no you should go to the bank and tell them how big your penis is.

you sound like a right pr--- yourself with this reply .confusedaboutstamps;