Wife Confesses £10,000 CC debt, help please.

shocked_2

If my wife can't get a 0% transfer for whatever reason, is it feasible for me to apply and trnsfer the debt from *her* CC into my new CC, i.e. is it possible to transfer in someone elses debt?

Just thinking ahead...

Actiongirl_2

shocked wrote: »

I got the following leads from Uswitch. I can't see maximum bal. transfer figures for any of these though, I guess it depends on the credit limit they allow after the application is processed? Anyone have an inkling on how I can pre-estimate what that's likely to be? Are there any of these we would be barred from a 0% bal. transfer because she already took out a Barclaycard? Thanks for any advice on that.

EGG
http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_84106--View_1763,00.html
0% FOR 15 MONTHS
3% Handling fee

VIRGIN
http://uk.virginmoney.com/credit-card-v3/pre-apply.html
0% FOR 15 MONTHS
2.98% Handling fee

MBNA
https://wwwn.applyonlinenow.com/UKCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=8pob18gs01_ost&mc=SME-AP-11111-14857
0% for 12 months
3% Handling fee

BMI Baby CC
http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/cards/bmibaby/features.htm?type=cards&merchant=citi&offer=A082
0% for 12 months
3% Handling

None of these is owned by Barclays/Barclaycard. However I can't be sure about BMI baby, as this sounds like a Joint Venture with an established card co. So you might find that BMI is owned by MBNA etc....

Does anyone else know?

As I understand, Barclays runs/is behind the following CCs (correct me if anyone knows any differently?):

Sky
Thomas Cook
Argos
Littlewoods Personal Finance

Actiongirl_2

shocked wrote: »

If my wife can't get a 0% transfer for whatever reason, is it feasible for me to apply and trnsfer the debt from *her* CC into my new CC, i.e. is it possible to transfer in someone elses debt?

Just thinking ahead...

I don't think that this is possible. When you transfer a debt, it has to be in your own name.

teeni

Barclaycard allowed me to transfer my husbands debt to my credit card so maybe it depends on the card.

BMI baby is a citi card credit card

Afitos

Hi,

Just wanted to say that me and the OH always transfer balances from each others cards when we get offered 0%. Never any Problems.

Good Luck

GavB79

As has been said before, the most important thing here is to establish how this debt has come about. Your monthly surplus being spent plus this extra debt on top suggests a serious underlying problem.
Hate to say it, but perhaps she is lavishing money on a young lover or something. Almost certainly not, but if that's the case you sure as hell don't want to spend your £10k savings!

splishsplash

Hi Shocked,
I would get your wife, grab a cuppa or a glass of wine, and go through your SOA figures again - twice. Even if these are projections rather than based on past receipts, do it anyway...
The first time, have a look at which of these figures don't add up to the way money has been spent in your household over the past couple of years.
One thing that jumps out at me is the clothing budget - this has to account for things like shoes, boots, flipflops/sandals, slippers, nightwear, dressing gowns, coats, swimwear, underwear, uniforms as well as the odd pair of trousers or top. I think you'll find you've spent rather a lot more than you're allowing for this.
The other thing is sports - you all have a modest sports allowance, but what about the associated costs, e.g. membership/subs of clubs, equipment, insurance (eg for kids), sportswear, 'away' events, snacks, social events assoc with the sport etc.
Next, have your children really had no pocket money over the past couple of years? Think about summer outings, treats (over and above the £10pm family day out). Have they gone to things like the circus, funfair, amusements etc during the summer (sorry, I could be completely off here, I don't know what age your children are:o )
Also, does your electric/gas figure take in fluctuations in use over the year?
Health and Hygiene: does £20 (i.e. £5 each) pm cover everything, really? This has to include everything from shampoo, conditioner, moisturisers, body lotions, perfumes, antiperspirants, make-up, toothpast, toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash, cold remedies, medications, any health-related trips to anywhere, hairdressers/barbers etc...
You appear to run one car only - how does everyone else get about? There's no travel allowance that I can see...

An SOA must include everything, otherwise, gaps will be filled by money from somewhere, and that's what you're trying to get a handle on. So even if you don't like what your OH tells you, take it on board and realise that it's mighty expensive to live and raise kids!

The second time you both run through the figures, have a look at areas where savings can be made. Both of you have to be on board for this, or it simply won't work.
One area I would look at is your tv/phone/internet package; have you looked at changing to a lower cost bundle?
Maybe OH (and you?) could decide not to buy any new clothes/shoes for a year, while you're working on the debt.
You appear to have a high figure for car servicing - could it be reduced a little?
The Old-Style board on here has good ideas to reduce the household's monthly food bill - both of you could talk through possible menu plans and costings?

These are just a few suggestions, good luck, you've done lots since last night, I hope you're both beginning to accept that mistakes have been made and adjustments must follow. Best of luck.

Mupeteer

I totally agree with Kevicho. Even if you wipe out the debt you'll still have some savings left but at least you'll not be paying out any interest to the credit cards etc.

Would it be possible to get your wife (or even the whole family) to write down everything they spend for a month so that they all realise where the money is going.

Depending on the age of your kids you might also want to let them know what has happened. Could be a valuable lesson for the future.

GeorgeUK

If it was your debt, i would advise using the savings - makes most sense for saving money doing that. If that is your only goal then that is what you should do. I suggested not using up your "safety net" incase something similar happens again. If you give your wife the tools to see that things are going wrong and knows how to reverse any damage it would be a good thing. Paying part of the debt is possibly still required upfront, but i think controlling her finances by doing this would be better in the long run.

Don't know about BT to other people's cards, but i think MBNA allow "super balance transfer" which even allow you to transfer the balance to your current account - you could then just pay the cash to your wife's account.

You won't know how much they will offer as a limit until you apply, so even if they offer a small amount, remember that you can only have so many credit checks before your credit score is affected so it's worth taking whatever is offerred. The amount they will offer will probably depend on how much debt you have, how much credit is available to you, whether you are a good payer (no defaults or late payment) and how much you earn.

I only had 1 CC before i got myself straightened out and i earn £15k. I managed to get 2 CC's with limits of £4,300 & £2,700. My existing CC was almost maxed out with £8k limit. Hopefully you can judge from this whether you will be able to get the required amount, but again, this was before the current credit crunch and the banks tightening up their lending. (still have the 8k limit on my old card though)

I would get your wife to check how many credit checks have been done on her account in the last 6 months (and yours), then both of you apply for a 0% card if less than 3 checks have been made. If asked how much you want, both of you just put the full amount required - you may end up with less than requested, but it's better to have too much than not enough. You can usually only transfer about 90%-95% of the limit as they will leave space for the BT fee.

Would be interested to hear what your wife thinks of all this. I hope she isn't just leaving it for you to deal with. It must have been hard for her to tell you about it, but she should see that the debt is not unmanagable.

George

splishsplash

Hi Shocked,
I hope you're both getting on ok today. We're still here...