(Stupid question?) Is a 6.5% Credit Card better than a 19.94% EAR Lloyds OD?

GeorgeRob

[QUOTE=YorkshireBoy;65756869

What's more worrying is that because she's maxed out again EVERY month, that says she only has "£25-30" a month spare IN THIS WORLD! She spends everything else she gets!

If she is successful in transferring the debt to MBNA her minimum payments will be £25 a month...roughly what she's paying now. Granted, her debt will fall, but only very slowly. So what's more important is that she addresses the reasons for the overdraft existing in the first place...and that will mean earning more and/or spending less.[/QUOTE]


- The trouble is, she is a junior photographer and is only on £12k a year at the moment. She was in a boring office job on £19k, but she jacked it in to follow her dream career. So now she's finding it much harder financially.

She used to be very bad and irresponsible with money, mainly cos she was paid well up till now. My inherent frugal nature is rubbing off on her now though!

GeorgeRob

Voyager2002 wrote: »

In which connection, it is slightly disturbing that she is not here asking the question herself and taking some responsibility for her situation.

She just doesn't understand much about it all and she doesn't have the inclination to go on forums online etc. I don't know much, but I've got a headstart on her so I'm trying to add to my knowledge and then relay it to her!

She's much better now, and budgets every month very strictly.

It's just hard now because she's gone from £19k to £12k. And we're saving for a cheap holiday to Poland in August, so she just doesn't have anything spare to pay off her OD with. Thats why at the very least she just wants to shift it onto something with a lower rate, so at least there's progress.

Foxy-Stoat_3

GeorgeRob wrote: »

And we're saving for a cheap holiday to Poland in August, so she just doesn't have anything spare to pay off her OD with. Thats why at the very least she just wants to shift it onto something with a lower rate, so at least there's progress.

You mean pay over a longer period....if she puts saving for a holiday over clearing expensive debt then keep paying the £30 a month fee and address the debt when she is ready to.

YorkshireBoy

GeorgeRob wrote: »

- The trouble is, she is a junior photographer and is only on £12k a year at the moment.

I thought I recognised the problem...


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4919816


Loads of advice given 3 months ago when you posted the same question. It seems you had an option to transfer the debt to a card in your own name.


Have you/she really done nothing about it since?

And we're saving for a cheap holiday to Poland in August, so she just doesn't have anything spare to pay off her OD with.

It's not a "cheap holiday" when it's costing her 19.94% more than it should do!


You're not exactly helping her are you? Maybe you should both forego the holiday and let her focus on her debt?

CLAPTON

GeorgeRob wrote: »

She just doesn't understand much about it all and she doesn't have the inclination to go on forums online etc. I don't know much, but I've got a headstart on her so I'm trying to add to my knowledge and then relay it to her!

She's much better now, and budgets every month very strictly.

It's just hard now because she's gone from £19k to £12k. And we're saving for a cheap holiday to Poland in August, so she just doesn't have anything spare to pay off her OD with. Thats why at the very least she just wants to shift it onto something with a lower rate, so at least there's progress.

scrap the holiday
budget properly

once clear of debts then start to save

save before spending

try to persuade her to post on the debt free wannabe board and discover ways of reducing spending etc.

GeorgeRob

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The CRA will only store/report data the lenders submit. Experian et al cannot 'make', say, Vodafone report her mobile phone contract.


Which "things" on your file did you raise issues on?

My phone contract, which is now present. I'll try and find the customer service email from Experian/Equifax which talks about it.

Foxy-Stoat_3

So nothing has happened since your last post on the 14th March and she is still in £1500 of expensive debt AND your booking a holiday to Poland.

See you back here in September and have a good trip!

GeorgeRob

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Yes: the law has changed so that people are in effect forced to pay off credit card debt at a reasonable rate, reducing the total amount of interest that they end up paying.

But then other people on this thread are saying the minimum payment will be about £25?

Anyone know which is definitely right?

Foxy-Stoat_3

GeorgeRob wrote: »

But then other people on this thread are saying the minimum payment will be about £25?

Anyone know which is definitely right?

Check the card companies terms and conditions or ask them.

I have a Santander interest free card with around £2500 left balance transferred from another card. My minimum payment is £24/pm but I pay £90 so its cleared within the interest free period.

YorkshireBoy

GeorgeRob wrote: »

But then other people on this thread are saying the minimum payment will be about £25?

Anyone know which is definitely right?

The MBNA website is "definitely right" (where you'll see it's £25 on her £1,500 balance). I refer you again to post #10 (I don't do guesswork!)