another credit card or loan which one!

glitzy

Hi Robflh & all, have just edited my SOA but it is on the 1st page dont know how to move it to this one. fingers crossed x

Robflh

Hi glitzy

Now you have completed your Cash flow, did you get a shock or a surprise? One thing that is for sure is that it is one hell of an eye opener.

Getting the holiday money is not a problem but a short fall of £641 a month is a major problem. However, I think you may have missed something.

Total income is.... ....£2,414.00

Outgoings are:
Original Monthly.........£1131.22
Credit card payments...£310.00
Mobile phones..............£55.00
Additional Monthly.......£569.65
Total.......................£2065.77

Left each month.........£348.23

glitzy

Yeah that was what i was quite pleased about that we could save that much a month, if only we didnt have the £1000 overdraft, as half our earnings go on that first, and thats where the shortfall of £640 comes in.

Robflh

Hi glitzy

So, you have a surplus of £348.23 each month and paying that off the overdraft for the next three months will kill the overdraft.

Pay for the holiday with the IF credit card (£1,200) and as soon as the balance on the M&S card falls below £4,750 transfer £1,200 to it from the IF card.

You will have to pay a transfer fee of about 2.5% (£30) but the holiday money will be at a low, life of the balance rate.

Once you have killed the overdraft, pay as much as you can each month off the M&S credit card. At a guess, I would say you have about ten months left on the two 0% credit cards.

Everyone has their own way to do this, so this is how I would do it.

When the 0% offers are about to end, Apply for a new card with a 0% offer and transfer the outstanding balance from the HSBC to the new card.

Hopefully, this will clear the balance on the HSBC card. Now transfer as much as you can from the Tesco card to the HSBC card and then as soon as you can kill the Tesco card.

Pay the minimum on all the credit cards except the one with the highest interest rate and pay as much as you can off this one each month. When this card has been cleared, kill it.

When the 0% offer on the new card is about to run out apply for a new card and transfer as much as you can to it from the card with the highest interest rate. If you can transfer more to the new card transfer it form the card with the next highest interest rate.

Keep your Cash Flow up to date and on the first day of 2008, save it as Cash Flow 2008. Keep an eye on your budget, so that it does not get out of control. The less you spend the more you can pay off the credit cards and the quicker you will get rid of the debts.

Keep a note of my log on name Robflh and then if some time in the future you cannot post to this thread, you will be able to send me a private message.

dreams_R_free

Robflh wrote: »

Hi glitzy

When the 0% offers are about to end, Apply for a new card with a 0% offer and transfer the outstanding balance .....

When the 0% offer on the new card is about to run out apply for a new card and transfer as much as you can to it from the card with the highest interest rate.

Hi Robflh
Just wanted to say that your superb advice to glitzy has been of help to me as well. I'd like to follow it too but find getting accepted for new credit cards(especially the much-needed 0% offers) impossible at the moment:mad: . I'm sure a lot of DFWers realise the way to go with our cards but it is nigh impossible for a lot of us to do it.

Good luck glitzy

poppy_f1

i dont know if your husband follows any team or if he just likes watching football but is getting freeview and the setanta 9.99 a month deal a option
least then its saving 27 a month over sky and he still gets his footie fix

Robflh

Hi Impomdasp

When it comes to getting a new credit card, I am in the same boat. I am on Incapacity benefit. That means I have to put unemployed for my type of job and this automatically excludes me from getting many credit cards.

They seem to fall in to two types, those you need to be employed to get and those that will base their decision on your income. Mint, Barclaycard and Capital One have all given me a credit while I have been out of work. Therefore, they might be worth trying.

It would seem that credit card companies are getting more ethical with their lending and this is making it more difficult to get a credit card or new ones with the same high credit limit as our old cards.

I believe that they workout how much credit you can have, say £30,000 and if you already have £29,000 of credit, you will be turned down for a new credit card. You can have £5,000 on your credit cards but you will still be turned down. It is not the amount you have out standing but the amount of debt that you could run up on your credit cards.

To help get a new credit card first kill any that you are not currently using but keep two credit cards. You can then transfer balances from one to the other and check which card will give you the best transfer rate and or highest limit, before you get rid of any of them.

In a few years time you will be considered a new customer and can get the 0% offer again. After a few months, your credit report should have SETTLED written by each of the cards you have killed. I think they stay on your report for five years.

Go to www.creditexpert.co.uk and sign up to their 30-day free trial. View your credit report on line and for an extra few quid, pay to see your credit rating. They also have an FAQ that might be worth reading. Only apply for about two credit card/loans in a six month period. Too many searches on your credit report can have a bad effect on your credit rating.

tsharp

Sorry to hijack thread a little, but can someone help me out with this quick question;

I have an RBS credit card at 0% interest for 13 months due to a balance transfer. I have recently made a purchase on this card, which i know will not be interest free, and will be charged accordingly. BUT, how does the bank differentiate between the BT amount and the purchase amount, seeing as they are now all together on the card? They charge you whatever % on the purchase amount, i get that, but once you make some payments to it over and above the cost of the purchase, does the % charge then stop?

Gemmzie

tsharp wrote: »

Sorry to hijack thread a little, but can someone help me out with this quick question;

I have an RBS credit card at 0% interest for 13 months due to a balance transfer. I have recently made a purchase on this card, which i know will not be interest free, and will be charged accordingly. BUT, how does the bank differentiate between the BT amount and the purchase amount, seeing as they are now all together on the card? They charge you whatever % on the purchase amount, i get that, but once you make some payments to it over and above the cost of the purchase, does the % charge then stop?

Eek... not a good move and no.

They will now pay off the 0% first so the purchase amount will be paid off second so you'll have a big chunk of interest at the end because of the purchase. So you've effectively lost the 0% offer. Sorry.

tsharp

So effectively that purchase of £108 will have 13 months worth of interest added to it! Which is doubly annoying cos I will probably be paid that purchase back by the people i bought it for!