Mastercard Query

ACID

hi

im on student mastercard with natwest

and as i was short of funds, i paid for my hol on this card
however

the frist months bill was £819
fair enough as this was the cost of the hol

i can mange a minmum payment of £50 a month easily but sometimes much more

however

the ineterest was £20
in the long run this will set me back big time unless i pay huge amount a month?

is there a cheaper alternative

if so please explain how it can be doen
and will it be completed by 18th june as this is when im on hol?

jimclark1967

Sadly the only way of doing it cheaper is to pay more off the card or not buy the holiday in the first place.

You could apply for another card with 0% on balance transfers for 6 months or so but watch out for transfer fees. If you can get one, this is probably your best option - but make sure you pay the balance off by the time the 0% period ends!!

:j

grumbler

Natwest student mastercard with 18.9% APR is very expensive way of long-term borrowing :eek: . If you don't use the card more and make £50 monthly payments it will take you about 1.5 year to repay the debt and will cost you about £125 in interest on the top of your holiday price.

You are right trying to pay more than minimum payment:

'Danger! Avoid Minimum Repayments' article.

P.S. And all this have nothing to do with Mastercard, but only with Natwest. Mastercard is only electronic payments network provider.

ACID

hi thansk for the replies
at grumbler i read the article but a a student im unable to pay too much

i was stumped myself when i foudn iut was a high % rate

btu feel i left it too late before my hol to find a new cc


ifs it easy to transfer
as i will otherwise a big huge debt to pay off

Clariman

Hi ACID - you have probably learnt a valuable lesson early on (don't mean that to sound as patronising as it probably come across). Credit cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow money, which is a dangerous thing because they are so damned convenient. Couple that with the fact that the retailers (including holiday companies) want to flog us their products and the banks want to lend us money at high rates via credit cards, then it is little wonder that people get into difficulty.

The other lessons that we can all take from this is that it is crucial to understand the terms and conditions (& interest rates) of any financial product we use and that it is ultimately down to us to look after our own financial interests - the banks certainly wont do it.

So you are where you are . What next ? Probably best to knuckle down to it and pay it off and resolve not to use the credit card so easily next time. If you are a student, do you have a student bank account with a free overdraft ? Do you have any space on that left ? If so, it would be better to pay off the credit card and go overdrawn at 0% as long as you still focus on paying that debt off. With the holidays upon us, can you get a job to pay off the £800 ?

Finally - as has been suggested - you could apply for a card that has an introductory rate of 0% on Balance Transfers (e.g. for 6 months) and do your best to pay it off before the end of the intro period.

Clariman

simonleblank

Must be one heck of a holiday for £819, especially if you are struggling to pay for it. I suppose you will need spend as well?

ACID

well its abut 6 of us
and an all inclsuive to mexico
but i couldnt pay it on my normal debit card as i wulnt have uch expenses then
thats why

any other ideas and where can i aply for 0% balanace transfers and where can i not apply?

ACID

thanks CLARIMAN

i increased my o.d meaning ill pay this of in no time
after that no more credi cards are needed.....

realaledrinker

Eeee, when I was a student all I could afford was 2 weeks camping next to Jersey Airport.

But seriously, when you ain't got any money you shouldn't be contemplating that sort of expense. Use this as an object lesson on how easy it is to get into debt & reassess your lifestyle while the damage is manageable.