In the black for once in a long time, what to do??

AdamPaton

By chance and with some overtime adding to my pay i am projected to be in the black for a whole month from now until next pay day.

I need help on deciding whether to jump at the chance of applying for one of the suggest 0% credit cards MSE credit club suggested me last month and see if i can shift all or some of my £3,400 debt on my other credit card or try to keep in the black for the next few months and then apply.

I have had very bad habits and luck with my last credit over the last last year or more and my agreed £450 building society overdraft.

I usually miss my credit card payment by a day or a few as pay day doesnt line up with it. I also max out my overdraft most months due to catching up with bills, birthdays, going out ( which i knocked on the head but am still catching up ), the usual things that need replacing like yearly shoes, trainers, things around the house etc etc.

My credit card is a virgin credit card it was a 0% for the first year i got it, that was years ago. Its currently at 23.21% apr but set to rise this month with all the rates said to be going up.

So with all that known what do you suggest i do?

Kind regards

Adam

[Deleted User]

Shift your due date to align with your pay day.

shortcrust

I'm not sure how you can 'be in the black' if you've got £3,400 credit card debt. There's little point getting a 0% card if you're often late paying. You'll lose the offer and end up paying interest, and from the sounds of it you'll just add more debt with the increased available credit.

What do I suggest you do? Get serious with your budgeting. Really serious. Make sure you're paying off some of that credit card debt every single month.

Nasqueron

I'm assuming by "in the black" you mean you are over £0 in your current account - this is largely irrelevant for applications for credit cards, they look at credit history (such as your late payments and OD use).

I'd suggest applying for 1, maximum 2 (if first is rejected) for one of the sub prime cards offering BT as you are more likely to get it than a prime one. Shift as much of the £3400 onto that as possible, pay the minimum and clear your other card. I'd suggest Barclaycard first and then the Cap One card if first is rejected - the latter is only 6 months but should give you a couple of months to clear what is left on the Virgin card and then start hitting the new BT card

Speak to the CC company and ask them to move the debit date to after pay day, explain the cycle of charges causing you problems, push the hardship angle, don't talk about unfair charges (you want them on your side).

Candyapple

Chances are if you have lots of missed payments on your credit history that you probably wouldn't even be eligible for any 0% cards.

Check anyway:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/

There is no luck regarding your credit history, you either pay your bills on time or you don't. If as you said you don't and have bad financial habits this is what you need to tackle straightaway. You need a budget so that you aren't left living in your overdraft when an emergency happens and also planned purchases such as birthdays or Christmas and budgeted for so nothing is unexpected.

Pay 1 day late or 30 days late - the result is still the same, a late payment marker. Make sure you contact your providers and align the dates of your payday so that you always have enough money to meet repayments.

AdamPaton

Deleted_User wrote: »

Shift your due date to align with your pay day.

I have done this before but as the payment days shift through out the years with 28-31 days in a month it slides forwards and back.
I'm not sure if they will be happy about that but i will call and ask anyway. Thank you for the suggestion.

AdamPaton

shortcrust wrote: »

I'm not sure how you can 'be in the black' if you've got £3,400 credit card debt. There's little point getting a 0% card if you're often late paying. You'll lose the offer and end up paying interest, and from the sounds of it you'll just add more debt with the increased available credit.

What do I suggest you do? Get serious with your budgeting. Really serious. Make sure you're paying off some of that credit card debt every single month.

I mean i am in the black in my debit account as in i will not be going into my agreed overdraft this month.

With the increased available credit?

I think you miss understand me. I aim to get a 0% credit card with as many months of 0% to straight transfer all or some of the money i owe on the virgin card to help with payments.

'What do I suggest you do? Get serious with your budgeting. Really serious. Make sure you're paying off some of that credit card debt every single month' I like that and I totally agree with that which i do try to adhere to. Its the over draft that really screws me over paying that back every month. A rock and a hard place.

I do pay over the minimum every month on my credit card.

Thank you for the reply.

AdamPaton

Nasqueron wrote: »

I'm assuming by "in the black" you mean you are over £0 in your current account - this is largely irrelevant for applications for credit cards, they look at credit history (such as your late payments and OD use).

I'd suggest applying for 1, maximum 2 (if first is rejected) for one of the sub prime cards offering BT as you are more likely to get it than a prime one. Shift as much of the £3400 onto that as possible, pay the minimum and clear your other card. I'd suggest Barclaycard first and then the Cap One card if first is rejected - the latter is only 6 months but should give you a couple of months to clear what is left on the Virgin card and then start hitting the new BT card

Speak to the CC company and ask them to move the debit date to after pay day, explain the cycle of charges causing you problems, push the hardship angle, don't talk about unfair charges (you want them on your side).

'I'm assuming by "in the black" you mean you are over £0 in your current account - this is largely irrelevant for applications for credit cards, they look at credit history (such as your late payments and OD use).'

Yes you are right that is what i ment, after all bills i will still have a hundred or so in there, not touching my agreed overdraft.
Ah i thought by keeping a clean sheet not going into my overdraft for a few months and paying my credit card on time would help me with my credit score.

'sub prime cards offering BT' ?

Nasqueron

AdamPaton wrote: »

'I'm assuming by "in the black" you mean you are over £0 in your current account - this is largely irrelevant for applications for credit cards, they look at credit history (such as your late payments and OD use).'

Yes you are right that is what i ment, after all bills i will still have a hundred or so in there, not touching my agreed overdraft.
Ah i thought by keeping a clean sheet not going into my overdraft for a few months and paying my credit card on time would help me with my credit score.

'sub prime cards offering BT' ?

Not going into the overdraft for one month is not going to do much for your credit record in the long run, avoiding it every month is a bit different.

Cards like Cap One are "sub-prime" so are aimed at people like you - a balance transfer card from them, even giving 6 months 0% gives you a bit of breathing space to hammer any debt left on the other card and then work on that one. The Barclaycard one is sort of sub-prime though a bit higher up - they offer a longer period so I'd start with them, if they say no, try Cap One.

If you get a card, transfer as much as you can to the new card, pay off the rest as fast as you can (and then close it so you have less credit available which will help a future application) and then tackle the new card

CakeCrusader

It might be wise to write a list of your income and outgoings before you do anything else, and then look at where you can make savings. Paying the minimum balance on a credit card is never a good idea as it will take longer to clear it (and all you're paying off is mostly the interest).

Are you able to save up a month's worth of credit card payment? This way if the date is before your payday, you have the payment and you can just save the next one (if this makes sense). If you're constantly paying late your credit file may show this, so you could have problems doing a balance transfer to a cheaper card, but I'd avoid a sub prime card as these have a whopping interest rate (and it won't help if you're paying off the minimum balance as you'll have problems clearing your outstanding balance). Most credit card companies do allow you to change your payment date by the way, but they will add additional interest onto the first one to account for the extra days. Just ask them.

I wouldn't apply for a new card until you've got into a routine of paying your bills on time as being stuck with a credit card which is charging you 40/50% interest isn't an easy ideal.

Fireflyaway

I'd keep the existing card and make better attempts to pay it off. Swapping to a 0% isn't much use if you miss payments / make them late, its just moving the debt about and having more accounts on your file. Swapping cards could make you more complacent and more inclined to relax instead of identifying some savings and attacking the debt with more intensity.