Money / balance transfer

ImNotCalledTrev

Is it possible to use a balance transfer as a money transfer? 

It's been a good ten years or so since I last did any kind of balance transfer and my only credit card is a low limit one that I use for fuel and pay off in full each month.

(context waffle)
I'm looking to upgrade my car but not planning on selling my current one just yet.  I work from home so all travel is local; shops, gym, take the dog to the park etc; so I don't need a new car, but I don't want something dull..  My current car is a 2 door convertible and it's not the right time of year to sell... looking to spend around £4000 to £5000.

I currently owe my mum a bit of money which I'm paying off at £200 a month and will be finished paying later this year.  I have around £8500 in the bank, I could pay her off but she doesn't need the money and happy with the monthly payments.

Out of the £8500, £4500 is money that's available to spend whereas I keep the other £4000 as untouchable emergency money.  
Rather than spend everything in the 'available' pot, I'm looking trying to be a bit smarter about it.

A £3500 loan over 2 years comes back at around £168.25 a month, so a 0% credit card sounds like a better option.  £3000 at 0% over 27 months was around £111 and £4000 works out at £167
The idea is that I pay 50% of what I owe my mum in one sum and reduce her payments by 50% to £100.  That leaves the remaining £100 to pay towards the outstanding total and seeing as they've reduced NI, my extra sala

ImNotCalledTrev

.... I accidentally clicked post..... ! 

my extra salary will cover the remaining amount.  Which means my monthly outgoings don't change.

The issue is that money transfers come back at 12 months and balance transfers at 27 months and I'd prefer the comfort of 27 months where i can make overpayments when needed.

Is there any way to use a balance transfer as a money transfer? can you use a middle card such as cashplus where i can transfer the balance onto that and  then withdraw from there? 

(probably missed somthing after hitting post, early)

thanks 

MorningcoffeeIV

You don't appear to have a balance to transfer, so you don't want a balance transfer. If you're considering putting a card with no balance massively into credit, don't.

With a limited history, you're unlikely to get a money transfer cad, but you could try.

An alternative is to get a 0% purchases card (if you can) and put your spending on that, freeing up cash.

ImNotCalledTrev

I do have history.. my credit score on Experian is 999 or whatever it goes up to and I have an AO store credit of £2500 (zero balance).  
I don't have a balance to transfer, that's why I'm asking if it's possible to use it as a money transfer card (pretty sure you used to be able to).  I'm looking to see if it's possible to get 24 months + 0% credit rather than 12 months, or paying an APR.  Later in the year the £100 I'm paying to my mum and the money from selling the current car, could pay most of it off, or i can leave that in the bank to pay the balance remaining / months remaining, rather than paying the money direct from my current account.

CliveOfIndia

ImNotCalledTrev said:

Is it possible to use a balance transfer as a money transfer?

Not really, they're two different beasts.

ImNotCalledTrev said:

Is there any way to use a balance transfer as a money transfer? can you use a middle card such as cashplus where i can transfer the balance onto that and  then withdraw from there?

This wouldn't work.  Firstly, putting a credit card into credit is against the T&Cs.  Theoretically they could close the account - in practice it's more likely that they'd either refuse the transfer in the first place, or else immediately repay it to the source account.  Even if you did get away with pre-loading a card, you'd be charged fees and interest if you then withdrew cash on it.

A far simpler - and cheaper - option is to buy the car using the cash you've got saved.  You then rebuild your savings by making a monthly payment equivalent to what you would have been paying on a loan - effectively, you're lending yourself the money.  The net result is that you'd actually end up with more savings at the end of it, due the interest you'd saved (assuming you make the same monthly payments to yourself as what you would have had to pay to a loan).

ImNotCalledTrev

thanks Clive.. 
I used to have a cashplus account when I was self employed and that's how it worked.  You pay the money onto it and then spend the money, it was a credit card that more like a cashcard; although that was the business card so you may not be able to get the same facility as a personal card.  I don't  think there were any fees either unless you made more than x transactions a month, and that was 99p a transaction; and I'd only be making one

The simpler and cheaper option is neither simpler or cheaper.  A money transfer is a 0% loan that I pay back without noticing it and spending the money in the bank doesn't give me any extra money to save because that money i was paying on the loan - doesn't exist because i'd spent it on the car.  
I pay £1000 to my mum reducing my £200 to £100.
That £100 I've stopped paying my mum goes to the credit card / loan instead.  
Therefore I've paid £1000 cash and my monthly payments remain £200.

The extra £10 to whatever, is negligable as it's the extra NI money in my pay packet.

If I spend £4000 from the bank, I'm still paying £200 a month to my mum and I'm £4000 worse off in the bank.

MorningcoffeeIV

ImNotCalledTrev said:

I do have history.. my credit score on Experian is 999 or whatever it goes up to and I have an AO store credit of £2500 (zero balance).  

As I said, limited history.  The pretend 999 score doesn't count for anything. It's history that matters and you don't have much of it.

Your cheapest option, as above, is to use your savings and rebuild. Much cheaper than either the money transfer or a loan.

ImNotCalledTrev

I don't have limited history...  I have a mortgage, contracts, this, that, the other.. a loan I took out a couple of years ago and paid off.. I have history, whereas you have a few paragraphs of what I told you.  Only having the one credit card that I currently use, doesn't mean i have no history.

and it's not the cheapest as I won't be able to repay it back as fast. 

But if I can't use a balance transfer as a money transfer, that's the question answered... 

grumbler

ImNotCalledTrev said:

Is there any way to use a balance transfer as a money transfer? can you use a middle card such as cashplus where i can transfer the balance onto that and  then withdraw from there? 

With two CCs, one of which offeres 0% BTs, you can do this, but at a cost. FIRST your withdraw cash from one card (for a cash advance fee), THEN transfer the balance to another card. 
There are very few cards, that don't charge for cash withdrawals, e.g. Halifax Clarity.
That said, CC cash advances can negatively affect your credit history, but with Halifax Clarity it can be a no-fee (yet not interest-free) money transfer to a current account.

ImNotCalledTrev

Thanks Grumbler..
Seems like an option but by the sound of it a 12 month money transfer card with a balance transfer towards the end of it, may be easier if there's anything left over - as by that point I'd have made 12 payments and also sold my current car.  
I'd much rather pay the transfer fee(s) than the interest on a loan and have the flexibility to clear it when I want.. and keep my money in the bank.  

Nasqueron

ImNotCalledTrev said:

I don't have limited history...  I have a mortgage, contracts, this, that, the other.. a loan I took out a couple of years ago and paid off.. I have history, whereas you have a few paragraphs of what I told you.  Only having the one credit card that I currently use, doesn't mean i have no history.

and it's not the cheapest as I won't be able to repay it back as fast. 

But if I can't use a balance transfer as a money transfer, that's the question answered... 

There is a way to use the BT card effectively as a MT card - basically keep doing BT transfers as you spend on the main card, as long as you can (typically first 3 months but some are longer) and that way you have the cash in your account instead of paying off the credit card (pay at least the minimum on the BT card and ensure a plan to clear it before the end). You can then save the money and get interest for longer