Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

Moggles_2

fluffy123 wrote: »

I currently have an outstanding CDL loan of £10,500 with Natwest and am currently £1,000 in my overdraft. These are my debts and whilst my overdraft is 0%, I’d rather clear that as quickly as possible and have just a loan repayment as my only vice.
Would it be an idea to get a Virgin 0% card and use that to pay off my loan and then make a couple of months of minimum repayments to clear off the overdraft. Then, just transfer what I normally pay to my loan repayment with Natwest to the credit card every month for the remainder of the 0% period. I’d probably have £7000 ish left to pay back and then set up another loan to keep on clearing that for another couple of years. Does that sound like a plan?

A few rather special cards, like Virgin, will allow you to transfer an overdraft to them, (in other words, transfer cash from the credit card to your current account), at balance transfer rates. You then have funds in your current account to help pay off the loan as well. A 4% handling fee applies, but there are no other charges for the first 16 months.

Whether this is a good idea is another question. Unless you address the reasons for using the overdraft facility, there's a risk you'll rack up more debt on your credit card.

Also, if this would be your first credit card, you're unlikely to be handed a sufficient credit limit to pay off your £10,500 loan.

Daneyboy

Does anybody know which credit card has the longest deal for spending?
Many thanks guys.

Moggles_2

Daneyboy wrote: »

Does anybody know which credit card has the longest deal for spending?

If you mean which balance transfer credit card has the best deal for spending, the Halifax
All in One card is the market leader.

This deal offers 0% for 9 months on purchases and BTs made in the first 90 days. A 3% handling fee applies.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/allinone_OMG.asp

Daneyboy

Yeh thats what i meant,do you think with xmas just around the corner,they will be better deals to come?
My current deal with capital one was for 12 months 0% and is ending shortly,thanks again for all your help.

Moggles_2

Daneyboy wrote: »

Do you think with Xmas just around the corner,they will be better deals to come?

In the present climate, I'd say the odds are against. This is just my opinion of course.

The best way to get your hands on longer 0% deals is to put your BT(s) and purchases on separate cards.

To help you further, we would need to know which cards - besides CapOne - you have at the mo or have held recently.

Daneyboy

Capital one is the only card i have at the moment and i have had a couple of cards in the past(HSBC,MBNA) but as soon as i have transfered the balance to the new card,i have cancelled the previous card,hope this helps.

fluffy123

Moggles wrote: »

A few rather special cards, like Virgin, will allow you to transfer an overdraft to them, (in other words, transfer cash from the credit card to your current account), at balance transfer rates. You then have funds in your current account to help pay off the loan as well. A 4% handling fee applies, but there are no other charges for the first 16 months.

Whether this is a good idea is another question. Unless you address the reasons for using the overdraft facility, there's a risk you'll rack up more debt on your credit card.

Also, if this would be your first credit card, you're unlikely to be handed a sufficient credit limit to pay off your £10,500 loan.

Thanks for your help. Well, I've had two credit cards in the past one with Capital one last year which I used temporarily and then closed down with a full payment in time and I currently use one with Halifax which I pay off regularly and currently is about £50 in deficit which I plan to pay off in the next week or so before payment is due.

Moggles_2

Daneyboy wrote: »

Capital one is the only card i have at the moment and i have had a couple of cards in the past (HSBC, MBNA), but as soon as i have transferred the balance to the new card, i have cancelled the previous card. Hope this helps.

Yes, it helps.

To maximise the 0% period, 16 months is currently available from Virgin on BTs made within the first 60 days. There's a 2.98% BT fee.
Remember not to spend on this card

http://uk.virginmoney.com/credit-card-v3/

Tesco is offering 0% on purchases for 12 months
To take full advantage, disregard all advertising & marketing promoting BTs

http://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/finance/creditcards/clubcc/index.jsp

Moggles_2

fluffy123 wrote: »

Thanks for your help. Well, I've had two credit cards in the past one with Capital one last year which I used temporarily and then closed down with a full payment in time and I currently use one with Halifax which I pay off regularly and currently is about £50 in deficit, which I plan to pay off in the next week or so before payment is due.

Clearly, if you apply to Virgin and you're handed a sufficient credit limit, this would save money in the short-term.

What happens if another low-rate loan fails to materialise in 14-15 months time? For all we know, in the current economic climate, those deals could be a thing of the past by December 2010.

If you will have savings to fall back on by the time the 0% period expires, that's great, but please bear in mind that the reason Virgin can afford to lend you money at 0% for 16 months is because, more often than not, customers do not clear the debt and end up paying crippling interest when the promotion period ends :eek:

If 16 months isn't long enough to pay off your borrowings, it may be safer to stick with the fixed rate that you are currently paying

MattCardiff

Hi, first post and in need of some advice....

I am being made redundant and working my notice period. Now I'm in the position where I will get around £16,000 in redundancy due to length of service which is equal to a years taxed salary.

However I really need to get to grips with my debts and was hoping for some advice.

I have two credit cards a joint loan and an overdraft as follows

OD - £4,000 in debt at it's monthly peak at around £15-£20 in int per month.
CC1 - £1,800, paying £100pm at 6.9%apr for life of balance
CC2 - £7200, paying £60pm at 0% intro offer that runs out after Nov statement then up to 15.9% !
Loan - unsecured paying £196pm from my current account, approx £8,000 left to pay off at 6%apr.

I also have a mortgage but haven't included this as I have mortgage protection insurance that will pay out for up to two years at 125% of the monthly payment. I don't have PPI on the cards or loans.

If I get my redundancy payment (as the firm I work for would prefer to save the cash and redeploy me if they can find a role for me) I was going to try and pay off the joint loan as this makes the biggest monthly dent and either my OD or part of the larger CC2 debt and leave a few thousand (maybe £4K) to live off until I find a new job.

However my biggest fear is if they redeploy me how to manage my debts going forward.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how I can reduce my outgoings and get to grips with what feels like spiralling debt