White goods shock -Limited 0% 4 mths

Dandytf

!!! wrote: »

Will you be able to pay back and clear the Cap1 card at the end of the 4 months?

Almost impossible from reduced hours earnings.
As mentioned recently I intend to continue with help2save@50 pounds per month, at least until year 2.
To clear new cap 1 if used then No I don't. Have 100 pounds per month.

[Deleted User]

Stop the savings and clear the debt - it's far more critical

Dandytf

!!! wrote: »

Stop the savings and clear the debt - it's far more critical

Not when Aqua recently advised that I could opt out of the new 27/36 months rules.
Not that I disagree only that I'm a few months away from additional 600 pounds from h2save.

[Deleted User]

You should be clearing down your debts before you even think about saving.

Terry_Towelling

We've been trying to convince Dandytf to do this for months - even to clear the cards with the highest APRs first too, but Dandytf wants to clear the cards with the lowest balances first to feel like they are 'getting somewhere'.

Dandytf, are you keeping track of the amount of extra interest you are paying on your cards as a result of saving money in the Help2save account and, are you certain this is going to be less than £600?

Don't forget, if you cleared the cards first you could then start saving again at a rate of £50 per month plus the extra money that would then no longer be going towards paying your cards off. If you did that, how much would your Help2save interest bonus be affected?

I come from a position of ignorance because I know nothing of Help2save and don't really want to read up about it either.

Dandytf

It's possible H2s bonus will be retained at least year 2 as mentioned via these threads by another mse'r
I haven't yet reviewed payable interest though new statements are arriving past few days.
Personally I like the idea of saving enough to pay off one of two highest balances/apr's and can't think why I would walk away from no brainer 600 pounds April 2020.
Though not taking into consideration payable interest.

[Deleted User]

If you know your balances and APR then use an interest calculator to figure it out

Dandytf

!!! wrote: »

If you know your balances and APR then use an interest calculator to figure it out

One of those 2 cards did have home improvements cash withdrawals -during 2017 or 2018 -the calculation isn't as simple as 35%apr with balance as such.
Statements are required for my review, though I have never disagreed that payable interest. Is almost guaranteed to be above 600 pounds.

[Deleted User]

Dandytf wrote: »

One of those 2 cards did have home improvements cash withdrawals -during 2017 or 2018 -the calculation isn't as simple as 35%apr with balance as such.
Statements are required for my review, though I have never disagreed that payable interest. Is almost guaranteed to be above 600 pounds.

Regardless, stop putting money into savings and get your debts settled.

Terry_Towelling

Dandytf wrote: »

I have never disagreed that payable interest. Is almost guaranteed to be above 600 pounds.

To make a comparison between the H2S bonus and the interest you'd save by overpaying your credit card debts you need to imagine your £50 overpayments to your credit card debts as if they were going into a regular saver with the same interest rate as the credit card APR.

For example, imagine a RS account paying 35% APR (fat chance) and paying in £50 per month for 2 years, you'd end up gaining approx. £550 in interest. If I've got my rough maths right (please shout if you think I haven't) that means you will be £50 better off using H2S for 2 years instead of overpaying your card debts.

If the APR on your card debts is less than 35% on average, the benefit of using H2S gets slightly larger. The question is, do you think it is worth slogging away for 2 years for such a small advantage? If you do, that is fine.

There are other ways to do things, such as share the £50 per month between H2S and card debt overpayments. This can get you quite close to a £600 overall 'advantage' (depending how you split it) and has the added psychological benefit of reducing your card debts a little as you go along.