Credit Card Shuffle

darakde

Hi this is my first time posting so please be kind..

I have recently switched current accounts from Barclays to Alliance & Leicester so I am now in a
position where I have an overdraft facility which is not being used.
My plan is to use this overdraft to shuffle round my finances so that I'm paying less interest and can
hopefully pay off my debts more quickly. I do not plan to have any spending against any of these accounts

Current situation:
Account Current(APR) Current Debt Credit Limit Balance Transfer(APR)
Barclaycard 24.9 707 850 24.9
Egg 21.9 3488 3550 0
Marbles 16.9 1725 1800 16.9
Barclays(Ovrdrf)9.8 200 2000 9.8

My Plan is
1. Use my overdraft to pay 1800 off my Egg card
2. Transfer 707 from my Barclaycard to my Egg Card, Close Barclaycard
3. Transfer 1155 from my Marbles card to Egg Card
This should leave me with the following

Post Shuffle:
Account Current(APR) Current Debt Credit Limit Balance Transfer(APR)
Barclaycard Closed 0 850 N/A
Egg 21.9 3550 3550 0
Marbles 16.9 570 1800 16.9
Barclays(Ovrdrf)9.8 2000 2000 9.8

Therefore I have paid of my Barclaycard (Highest APR Credit Card).
I have £3550 on my Egg card 1688 @ 21.9% and the remaining 1862 @ 0% for a year.
570 left on my Marbles card interest being charges at 16.9%.
I have tried applying for other balance transfer cards but have been declined therefore this seems like a sensible option.
Can anyone suggest any flaws with this strategy or whether it seems like a good idea to reduce my interest payments and hopefully speed up getting myself out of debt.
The only issue I could forsee is if Barclays were to withdraw my overdraft facility since there will be no income to the account.
Potentially I could set up a standing order from my other current account to pay a portion of my salary into the Barclays account and shift a direct debit or two back to Barclays so they are being paid there and Barclays can see regular income and spending on the account.

I'm keen to hear any advice or suggestions anyone might have.
Many Thanks,
Ade

RAS

Hi

i would be tempted to demonstrate some activity on the Barclays account and to hammer the marbles debt as fast as you can. keep thatopen and at least you can use it in an emergency.

Do Egg let you balance transfer the whole sum or just 95%?

And have you checked your credit ratign to see if there is something basic that is wrecking your rating?

angelavdavis

darakde wrote: »

The only issue I could forsee is if Barclays were to withdraw my overdraft facility since there will be no income to the account.

I actually have my mortgage which travels via three accounts in order for them to register "income" coming through to get the overdraft facilities, then the funds move out again the next day - eventually making it to my mortgage account!

Gemmzie

Egg will only let you transfer 95%

If you have a previous balance on Egg and then do the 0% transfer then they'll pay the 0% part first so it will actually end up costing you quite a bit in interest. Only ever 0% transfer onto an empty card.

SunderlandBlackCat

Rather than close the Barclaycard once its paid off, wait until you get the next statement & call them up & ask if they can offer you any existing customer deals.

They will usually offer you a 5.9% life of balance deal with no transfer fee.

RAS

Now that would be worth having in this situation!

darakde

Thanks for the advice Guys and thanks for the reminder on the 95% Egg transfer I had forgotten about that.
My main concern was keeping the Barclays overdraft so I'll make sure that I maintain some comings and goings on that account.
The plan is to pay off the remainder of the marbles first once I 've rejigged things a little
Presumably even if Egg force me to pay off the 0% part first It'll still cost me less in interest than paying off the same amount split across 24.9% and 16.9% cards? Or is that not the way it works
I may keep the Barclaycard open especially if they can offer me a good life of balance rate although they are currently trying to reduce my credit limit to £500 I think, it recently dropped from £1000 to £850 after I paid off a chunk.
I'm still trying to understand my credit rating, I can only think it's poor because of the overall debt I have about £23,000