Help please.

PocoLocoCoco

Afternoon all,

I have been browsing here for a little while and now thought I should sign up. Been reading some of the articles but I am finding them a bit difficult to follow so thought I should post and ask for help.

Basically I bought something in July and entered into some payment plan thing which gave me 6 months interest free credit, so I thought thats fine I will be able to pay it off no bother. I walked out of my job in November and now I am signed off sick. I have managed to pay a good bit of my balance but I still have some left.

I received a letter today tell me my 6 month interest free credit plan will be up on January 20th, I have £606 left on my account balance and to be honest I could scrape together about £200 but obviously that is not enough. If I can't afford to pay it I am going to be hit with interest and it's sky high something like 30% so I would rather pay it off and owe someone else the money at a lower rate.

My bank offer me a credit card with a thousand pound limit every time I am on the phone with them, I don't know the interest rates or anything more about it as I always just say no thank you, but now as I am feeling desperate I am considering it.

As I know nothing about credit cards I have came on here to ask the basics and any advice you could suggest.

I will give you some more information about myself, I am 20 years old, never had a credit card, never been in trouble with money, I am unemployed at the moment (signed off sick) and I am living at home with my parents.

Sorry about the essay but I don't know where else to ask.
Thanks for reading.

PocoLocoCoco

Anyone at all??

redsquarelady

all i know is that i have an argos card and when the interest free period ends the hit me for all the interest on all the remaing balance for the whole of the interest free period is up on the amount owed. not sure what your best plan of action is but i'm sure a...you don't want to pay all of that interest b... wait until a better time of the day when more knowledgable people are on here;)

nelson182

Just apply for a credit vard like Mint or Virgin. They are the best on the market at the moment. Avoid Capital one as they seem to be strict on accepting in my opinion. Or look to get an overdraft until you get sorted?

Good luck, the worst case it getting declined! Let us know how it goes!

belfastgirl23

Virgin will actually balance transfer money into your current account no questions asked and they are on a 0% deal for 15 months so that seems like a good option to me. You do pay 2.98% for the balance transfer but again the interest is bound to be crippling after a 6 month 0% deal so Virgin will almost certainly be better. But be careful cos Virgin seem to be giving out £10k fairly easily and unless you are really good at resisting temptation you should probably only take what you need...

cmrule

egg cards have 0% interest on balance transfers for 15 months - go through quidco and get £20 cashback.

flutterbyuk25

as long as you have the means to make the repayment then do as mentioned above and try to get a 0% credit card to transfer the balence to. And set up a monthly direct debit to pay it off in full by the end of the 0%

However if you are currently unemployed then you may have difficulty in obtaining credit as you cannot prove that you have means to repay.

You'll need to apply asap to ensure your accepted and that the balence is transferred before the 20th.

good luck

CLAPTON

I think you will struggle to get a decent credit card if you have no income... how will you make the repayments.

Perhaps you could approach your parents and see whether they can help.

Although too late now, maybe in the future you will resolve to save up for things and dont use credit atall (except for mortgage of course).

PocoLocoCoco

Thanks for the replies.

With me being unemployed I think it would be hard for me to get accepted and I don't want to go applying willy nilly.

So, I have been on the phone with my bank today and they say a loan would be the best option for me in their opinion. I told them I know nothing about loans or credit cards so I have probably made myself quite vulnerable cause they could offer me anything and I'd sign up.

Basically I have made an appointment to see someone on Monday at my local branch but I am going to talk to my parents at the weekend though to see if they could help bail me out and I would pay them back when I could.


Thanks again folks.

CLAPTON

If you do go to see the bank people be sure not to agree to anything at the time and say you want to read the loan agreement and think about it.
Make sure they give you all the paperwork so you can take it away and read.

Usually the APR is very high and they try to sell you PPI so be very careful.

PocoLocoCoco

Well the meeting is for today, I don't plan to sign anything there but after reading the letter from the credit people I have to send a cheque by the 13th so it has time to clear I can pay by internet banking or by telephone Oh this is a big mess. I may have to ask my father to write me a cheque for me, get it sent off and then pay him back when the loan comes through. if I get accepted.

Oh I am never buying anything on credit again.