A big thank you to Martin

youth_leader

Just popping in to say thank you to Martin.

I've been worrying myself silly about my HSBC credit card which has been £4,500 for the past year because I've only been able to make the minimum payment of £100 each month, and the interest has been about the same so only a few quid off the actual debt.

I took the bull by the horns and applied to Barclays for the 0% 34 months yesterday and was accepted. I can now pay slightly more at £120 a month as another debt has finished and should have paid it off by the time the offer ends.

What a relief to feel some control over this situation, which was mainly due to overspending on Christmas - in 2007!

Cheers and Merry Christmas to everyone.

grumbler

youth_leader wrote: »

...credit card which has been £4,500... mainly due to overspending on Christmas - in 2007!

You call this 'overspending'?!

HatAndScarf

youth_leader wrote: »

Just popping in to say thank you to Martin.

I've been worrying myself silly about my HSBC credit card which has been £4,500 for the past year because I've only been able to make the minimum payment of £100 each month, and the interest has been about the same so only a few quid off the actual debt.

I took the bull by the horns and applied to Barclays for the 0% 34 months yesterday and was accepted. I can now pay slightly more at £120 a month as another debt has finished and should have paid it off by the time the offer ends.

What a relief to feel some control over this situation, which was mainly due to overspending on Christmas - in 2007!

Cheers and Merry Christmas to everyone.

Well done

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you may want to double check a few details

According to the HSBC website, the minimum payment on your credit card with a £4500 balance should have been at least £112.50 per month, and unless you were already on a preferential low interest rate, then probably more because at least £45 would have to paid off the capital (after interest, fees, etc)

Don't forget, a balance transfer of £4500 to Barclaycard will now add a further £134.55 to the debt.
Actually, they'll initially add £157.87 to the balance, but a credit duce the amount charged to £134.55
(Remember, such credit cannot be used as part of the minimum payment)

So this means your next months planned payment in it's entirety will more than be wiped out meaning the capital owed will actually increase compared to that which was BT'd

Remember also that the BT must not exceed 90% of the credit limit, so you would need a credit limit of at least £5k, which is quite high for a person that seems to have struggled with managing their debt for the past 7 years.

But having said all this, of course it is better to pay as little interest as possible.
Sadly, even in almost 3 years time when the 0% ends, assuming you have maintained the increased monthly payments you are now making (and nothing else changes) you will still owe well over £500

So put a reminder in your diary now to apply to ditch & switch to a better deal at the appropriate time

youth_leader

Thanks very much for the info - I've been throwing the statements away as they were so depressing, the capital figure hasn't gone down for a year - or more - and I've not had any spare cash to increase my payment.

I was paying over £100 a month, can't remember the exact figure without logging on to internet banking - and the interest was about £100.

I'm a complete thicko as far as numbers/money go but thought the capital would now reduce by whatever payment I make each month?

They have given me £7,300 as a credit limit, but I'm not going to touch it, the card will be in the household folder for safe keeping.

grumbler

youth_leader wrote: »

I...thought the capital would now reduce by whatever payment I make each month?

Yes, it will - as long as 0% lasts and you don't fail to make minimum payments on time. Set up a DD.

They have given me £7,300 as a credit limit, but I'm not going to touch it, the card will be in the household folder for safe keeping.

Don't be tempted to touch it: The 5 golden rules

JKSandy

I don't get the "thanks Martin" what did he do?