Help me with my maths ! Bal Xfer worth it ?

Kev64

Hi,

After being told by Lloyds (my own bank !) that they *could* not lower the interest rate of 2.210% per month on my Lloyds Advance card, I decided to balance transfer the lot onto my Egg card and close the account. However, when I rang them to close the account after clearing the balance, they suddenly wanted to keep my business and offered me 6 mths at 0% with a 3% fee - then back up to the 2.210% per month.

I'm trying to work out if it's worth me doing this or not. I have a £9,000 limit on the Lloyds card, so could in theory balance transfer about £8,700 from other cards for 6 months. Given that I would be shifting £3,400 to clear my Capital One card (currently 23.93% APR), £2,500 to clear my overdraft (at 19.3% APR), and £5,200 off my Egg card (at 17.95%), would I be better off going for it, then moving it all back again after six months, given that it would cost me a 3% fee to do so ?

Anyone good with maths here ! ?

Many thanks !

Kev64

...I've just read the "Egg Anniversary Loophole" article, and it seems to be dated 2004 ??!! Is that right ? Either way, I'm not sure if it still applies anymore - can someone help please ? If it does, then I could Balance Xfer the whole of the Egg card debt onto the Lloyds card for a 3% fee, then at the end of the six months at 0% from Lloyds, move it back to the Egg card for another 5 months at 0%, plus a 2.5% fee.

Have I got that right ? ...and can I only do that in my 'Anniversary month' ? I'm not sure I've understood this right - it seems to be only a two year offer from the date you opened the account.. See here:- http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_66550--View_1389,00.html

I've had my Egg card since the 90's - does that mean I don't qualify for the 0% balance transfer ?

I'd be very grateful if someone could reply tonight, as I'm getting a call from Lloyds Saturday morning (tomorrow) when I'm supposed to be telling them if I want to keep the card or close it.

GeorgeUK

Go over to the calculators at http://www.whatsthecost.com/
I think the stoozing one will tell you what you want to know, but from reading what you have??

x transferred to egg @ 2.5% ?
x transferred back @ 3% ?

so you are paying for 5.5% interest instead of 6.5%

Not much of a saving to be had there. Personally i would ask if they would do a LOB card instead of the 0% interest.

I probably have the math wrong, so hope the calculators will help, but i can't see any real saving to be had as you have just transferred and already paid 2.5% to do that.

Clariman

Hi Kev64.

By transferring those 3 debts onto the 0% Lloyds deal, you will save about £650 in interest over the 6 months, even taking into account the 3% BT fee. You can work it out accurately one card at a time using this Balance Transfer calculator. The precise figure will depend on how much you are paying each month. For my calculations, I assumed that you are paying off £100 of each debt per month. The breakdown is as follows:

Cap One card - save £255 by BT-ing it
Overdraft - save £133 by BT-ing it
Egg - save £270 by BT-ing it

Clariman

Kev64

Thanks both ! As you may have noticed, my maths are crap - the figures I quoted above add up to £11,100 - a bit more than the £8,700 BT limit I have :rotfl: Courtesy of the calculators you mentioned, I've now worked out that I stand to save £746 -£261 fee = £485 over the next six months by transferring £8,700 onto the Lloyds card. I could then BT it back to other cards in 6 months time. If none of my other cards offer any BT deals at that time, I could just dump it all back onto my Egg card at 17.95% with no fee, and still save on interest compared to what I'm paying now.

It's funny, for years and years I've had a "too frightened to look" approach to my debt, not managing it at all but knowing it's there like a black cloud over me. In the last few weeks I've 'bitten the bullet' and taken stock of where I really am and, after the inital "AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH !!!" followed by a few days of depression, I'm actually now finding it fun sorting it all out. I'm correcting errors on my credit reference files, juggling balance transfers, looking at the best deals etc. - and the biggest reward is not really the money I'm saving (though that is most definitely foremost in my mind !), it's the sudden feeling of control I have - it's really quite empowering.