Using 0% credit cards to move debt

mattmc

Hey all,

I have £11,000 car loan debt at 8.4%. I currently have no 0% credit cards but I was wondering if it would be a good idea to get some to pay for my essentials on which I can then use the money I paid for essentials to over pay the loan to get it down faster then just pay off the credit cards before the no interest periods are up. Moving my 8.4% interest debt to 0%.

I'm not sure if this would have a negative impact on my credit score but I'm not too worried about credit score as I just gotten a mortgage in the last 3 months as well my credit rating is pretty high right now and I don't see me needing it to be as high as it is for the next couple of years.

[Deleted User]

Essentially yes.

Ignore your scores and ratings as they’re not real.

mattmc

!!! wrote: »

Essentially yes.

Ignore your scores and ratings as they’re not real.

Great, I'm going to apply for a Sainsbury's card now. Is it okay to leave the balance high for a long period then?

Yeah, myself and my partner spent a lot of time worrying about credit score before getting our mortgage and speaking to people no one understood why and thought we would be fine... and we were haha.

Also, this might seem a silly question but when it says 26 months 0% is that 26 months from getting the card or 26 months from the individual purchase if that makes sense.

ndf9876

mattmc wrote: »

Great, I'm going to apply for a Sainsbury's card now. Is it okay to leave the balance high for a long period then?

Depends what you mean by OK...if you are planning on applying for more credit it's not ideal - otherwise, who cares?

mattmc wrote: »

Also, this might seem a silly question but when it says 26 months 0% is that 26 months from getting the card or 26 months from the individual purchase if that makes sense.

26 months from when you open the card. Once the 0% purchase offer expires, if possible, get a 0% balance transfer going for any remaining balance - although ideally you should treat the 0% card like a loan, and get it paid down within the 26 months (appreciate this may not be possible for you!).

If I were you, I would be looking for 0% money transfer cards to get that loan seen off, then pay the 0% cards off - rather than using 0% purchase cards and paying minimums on those and over-paying the loan.

[Deleted User]

mattmc wrote: »

Great, I'm going to apply for a Sainsbury's card now. Is it okay to leave the balance high for a long period then?

Yeah, myself and my partner spent a lot of time worrying about credit score before getting our mortgage and speaking to people no one understood why and thought we would be fine... and we were haha.

Also, this might seem a silly question but when it says 26 months 0% is that 26 months from getting the card or 26 months from the individual purchase if that makes sense.

Use an eligibility checker first.

26 months will be from when the card is issued, however, read the T's and C's as with some cards the purchases need to usually be made in the first XX days of receiving the card to qualify for the 0% offer.

For example, if purchases have to be made within 90 days to qualify, then anything purchased within those first 90 days will be 0%.
Anything purchased from day 91 onwards will not be and you will be charged interest.

Your other option would be to look at a 0% money transfer card and use this to pay your loan off early - but this will come with a transfer fee and shorter 0% period than a purchase card - again use an eligibility checker.

ndf9876

!!! wrote: »

26 months will be from when the card is issued, however, read the T's and C's as with some cards the purchases need to usually be made in the first XX days of receiving the card to qualify for the 0% offer.

For example, if purchases have to be made within 90 days to qualify, then anything purchased within those first 90 days will be 0%.
Anything purchased from day 91 onwards will not be and you will be charged interest.

Just FYI the Sainsbury's one (I don't know about others but since the OP mentioned it) is 0% on all purchases made in a 26 month period - there isn't a time limit (e.g. as you suggest, all purchases made in the first xx days of opening).

Only know that because the wife got a Sainsbury's card a couple of years ago; the 0% has been fantastic.

mattmc

!!! wrote: »

Use an eligibility checker first.
Your other option would be to look at a 0% money transfer card and use this to pay your loan off early - but this will come with a transfer fee and shorter 0% period than a purchase card - again use an eligibility checker.

ndf9876 wrote: »

If I were you, I would be looking for 0% money transfer cards to get that loan seen off, then pay the 0% cards off - rather than using 0% purchase cards and paying minimums on those and over-paying the loan.

I think I'd rather go with the 0% purchases card because I we budget around £650 a month for essentials so in 2 months we should easily have over £1200 on the 0% card that can be used towards loan instead of taking the 3/4% fee hit on taking £1200 off via a normal 0% purchases card.

ndf9876 wrote: »

Just FYI the Sainsbury's one (I don't know about others but since the OP mentioned it) is 0% on all purchases made in a 26 month period - there isn't a time limit (e.g. as you suggest, all purchases made in the first xx days of opening).

Only know that because the wife got a Sainsbury's card a couple of years ago; the 0% has been fantastic.

Great thanks for info. I'm gonna get the purchase offer credit card from Sainsburys.

Potentially, I may get a money transfer one if I am able to after getting the Sainsburys, so that I can pay more off now and have more 0%. I likely only need to have my loan at about £8000~ then. The next few months I can pay around £700-800 a month and probably be done with it in 10-12 months but the loan will just be on 0% cards instead. Then pay off credit cards.

[Deleted User]

I'd still advice using an eligibility checker.

Some even give you an idea of what limit you "may" be offered upon application.

mattmc

!!! wrote: »

I'd still advice using an eligibility checker.

Some even give you an idea of what limit you "may" be offered upon application.

Have done showing 100% likelyhood of acceptance for a MBNA - up to 24 months 0%, 2.99% fee and 90% for Sainsbury's.

kzcomp1

Also be cautious that you know what the credit limit will be before signing up. Some only grant a small limit which may impact on you transferring another credit card debt.
I checked Barclays Platinum for example and it said it would grant me a credit limit of £1200. Based on my earnings and outgoings Halifax granted me £5000.

[Deleted User]

kzcomp1 wrote: »

Also be cautious that you know what the credit limit will be before signing up. Some only grant a small limit which may impact on you transferring another credit card debt.
I checked Barclays Platinum for example and it said it would grant me a credit limit of £1200. Based on my earnings and outgoings Halifax granted me £5000.

Barclaycard don't provide limits pre-application - they all state £1200 as a representative example.