Advice on consolidating debt?

samclarke669

Hi all.

I'm a future debt-free wannabe and dead set on making a go of this.

A little bit about my situation..

I have 2 credit cards, equaling just under £10k. I also have about £1.5ks worth of debt on store cards/credit.

My credit cards are interest free (at the moment!) and i need to phone up to see when the interest free period runs out.

Ideally i'd like to consolidate all debt onto one LONG interest free card. I've seen an M&S card that has 28 months on balance transfers....But, what do i do about store credit? I want to avoid any "purchases" on a new card.

Any advice would be great! Thanks!

Willing2Learn

For the store cards/line of credit, you will need to use a Money Transfer option using your card. (Hopefully the new card also has a 0% APR money transfer option).

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/money-transfers/

By the way, the date your current 0% APR promotional window on your current cards end, will be written on your statements.

[Deleted User]

For the store card, you will probably need a money transfer option.

To avoid making purchases on the new card, use one of your existing cards and clear them in full each month.

samclarke669

Thanks both. I'll look into money transfers.

I was also thinking, as my cards aren't maxed out, maybe i "max them out" by clearing store card/credit, then getting a new card and putting everything on it.

I guess the only worry is if i don't get accepted.

When you get the option to balance transfer/money transfer...Do you have to agree to it then and there? or do they give you a grace period before transferring?

Thanks!

[Deleted User]

The more you max out your cards, the less likely it will be that you will get new credit.

Once you get your new cards, you can decide what you want to transfer.

Willing2Learn

samclarke669 wrote: »

When you get the option to balance transfer/money transfer...Do you have to agree to it then and there? or do they give you a grace period before transferring?

Many cards have a 90-day window in which you must make the transfer. Make sure you read the terms of your product before your application...

samclarke669

Ok great! I'll have a look. First thing's first, I need to find out when my interest free period runs out on my current cards.

Thanks all for the advice so far

EssexHebridean

Bear in mind that you can only use a certain proportion of whatever credit limit you get given for the balance transfer - when I opened a BT card with a 5k limit earlier this year I was able to actually transfer to it a maximum of £4500 IIRC. I suspect you are fairly unlikely to get the sort of limit you'd be needing to clear all this debt on a single BT card, if I'm honest.

What plan have you put in place to ensure that the full sum can be cleared in the 28 months (assuming you get that card)? Also what are your reasons for wanting to conslidate allowing that the CC debt is currently at 0% anyway?

sourcrates

Hi,

Some good advice above for you, having said that, and i don`t wish to throw a spanner in the works, but 10k of debt accrued itself somehow, have you addressed the issues that caused you to run up such a large amount of debt ?

Was it specific spending, bad budgeting, some emergency that cropped up ?
The reason I ask, is, well, we see it all the time on these forums, balance tranfers are the bottom end of the debt problem scale, but can indicate you are unable to met your financial commitments, if you don`t live within your means, the problem can only get worse.

Just don`t be tempted to open new lines of credit, just because you can.

samclarke669

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

Some good advice above for you, having said that, and i don`t wish to throw a spanner in the works, but 10k of debt accrued itself somehow, have you addressed the issues that caused you to run up such a large amount of debt ?

Was it specific spending, bad budgeting, some emergency that cropped up ?
The reason I ask, is, well, we see it all the time on these forums, balance tranfers are the bottom end of the debt problem scale, but can indicate you are unable to met your financial commitments, if you don`t live within your means, the problem can only get worse.

Just don`t be tempted to open new lines of credit, just because you can.

Thanks for the reply. I totally understand what you're saying. To be honest, it was just reckless spending. That's it. As it stands right now, i could keep paying all my debts off, and, it would take years, but i'd still be able to live, albeit on a "slimmed down" lifestyle.

I've actually checked my interest free period on my 2 cards. One has a year left and one has 6 months. I honestly thought it was a lot less. So I won't have to open up any more lines of credit, i can keep chipping away at these until next year, and see where I am when my interest free period runs out

EssexHebridean

Sign yourself up to the MSE Credit Club - that will enable you to see what deals you might be eligible for as the end of the 0% deals approaches.