Best Balance Transfers Discussion Area

NickX

gh123 wrote: »

Why do I need an egg money 'mule' card to get debt from a loan to a credit card?

Why can't I use a credit card to pay £2000 off my loan then balance transfer that £2000 to a 0% card? Can I do this or is this the whole problem - I can't transfer money from a credit card to a loan?

Well do the loan company accept Credit Cards ? Most reports suggest not. If they do then you could pay by credit card either on a 0% purchases deal or do as you suggest and balance transfer to a 0% balance transfer card.

With the Egg Money trick you get the funds into your Bank Account and you are fine to pay off whoever you see fit. It is a very flexible way of getting the funds from the card.

Moggles_2

PATCH wrote: »

I am earning some money. Anyone have any suggestions to get a 0% balance transfer in my name? I cleared all my cc's before leaving uk.
I know what you are saying re electoral roll and permanent address, but most rental agencies have to do credit score before you get a home, catch 22 again.

Unfortunately, the fact that you're not registered on the electoral roll at a fixed address is a major obstacle. I think you'll struggle to get credit unless you tackle this first.

I would post again on the *House Buying, Renting & Selling* board

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=16

DB10

Moggles wrote: »

Well, a card in the hand, IMO, is worth two on a website.

A card a/c with a zero balance will not harm your credit rating. If I were you, I'd transfer the maximum allowed to this card and take advantage of the 0% rate until March

I've managed to increase the credit limit to 11k on my card that has 0% until 1st march. So I could transfer everything over to this (3% handling fee) then review the situation in the new year. The problem with this is if the 'credit crunch' gets worse I expect I'll be unlikely to get such a high credit limit and could then end up splitting this across two cards next year.

I've also been offered 6.9% life of balance transfer deal (3% handling fee). 11k is a considerable sum and will take some time to clear so this is perhaps the sensible option. This is the way I'm leaning...

Anyone have any thoughts?

DB10

Does anyone know of a tool to work out credit card repayments?

I'm planning to pay off £500 a month, my rough calculations tell me that this will take 24 months to pay off at 6.9%.

Can anyone confirm this please.

Moggles_2

DB10 wrote: »

I've managed to increase the credit limit to 11k on my card that has 0% until 1st March, so I could transfer everything over to this (3% handling fee) then review the situation in the new year. The problem with this is, if the 'credit crunch' gets worse, I expect I'll be unlikely to get such a high credit limit and could then end up splitting this across two cards next year. I've also been offered 6.9% life of balance transfer deal (3% handling fee). 11k is a considerable sum and will take some time to clear so this is perhaps the sensible option. This is the way I'm leaning. Anyone have any thoughts?

Congratulations on getting a credit limit increase.
:beer:

Which card is it? Remember most lenders restrict balance transfers to 95% of your limit. With Barclaycard, it's 90%, maximum £5000.

Moggles_2

DB10 wrote: »

Does anyone know of a tool to work out credit card repayments? I'm planning to pay off £500 a month. My rough calculations tell me that this will take 24 months to pay off at 6.9%.

Why not plug some numbers into Martin's Credit Card Calculator?

You can then estimate the time it would take to clear the debt at 6.9% APR and see the effect of reducing the interest rate to 0% for X months/repaying say an extra £50 per month and so on

http://www.whatsthecost.com/creditcard.aspx

DB10

Moggles wrote: »

Congratulations on getting a credit limit increase.
:beer:

Which card is it? Remember most lenders restrict balance transfers to 95% of your limit. With Barclaycard, it's 90%, maximum £5000.

Thanks Moggles. I wasn't aware of the restriction but I wouldn't be able to transfer the full 11k because of the 3% charge so I was expecting to have a small amount left on the old card.

Still undecided between the life of balance at 6.9% or take a chance with the 0% till March and then see what's available to transfer over to, hopefully at 0% but there's not guarantee is there?

I've played around with the figures and it all boils down to how strict I can be with the repayments. I'm 60/40 in favour of the life of balance transfer at 6.9% I think...

Moggles_2

DB10 wrote: »

Still undecided between the life of balance at 6.9% or take a chance with the 0% till March and then see what's available to transfer over to, hopefully at 0%, but there's no guarantee is there?

There's no guarantee certainly. That said, people have been predicting the end of 0% BT deals ever since they first appeared and there's still no shortage of offers available. There is a dearth of decent LOB deals at the mo, though. It's your choice really.

Promsan

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I would have thought it would depend on your income.

The question is "is there a student credit card that the average student can do a balance transfer on"?

If you go to, for example, Barclays: with a card listed as a good balance transfer card; they, like most banks, seem to not accept students onto that card, but redirect them to their "student card".

Income is not the issue; it's whether (full-time, average) students (rather than complex exceptions) have any options at all to sign up for a card other than the "student credit card" you usually get bundled with your "student account".

Is that any clearer? :huh:

lcgoodac

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Agree with Moggles that Martin's article is a good place to start.
My gut reaction is that you should take out a loan from the Student Loan Company. The interest rate on that should be lower than the interest rate you would pay on a life of balance credit card, and will stay low for the life of it's balance.
Take a loan for the full amount. Use £480 to pay off your credit card. Put the rest of it in a high interest savings account.

Again, as Moggles said, try to reduce your spending and do a budget so you don't slip back into the trap that left you £480 in debt.

Your situation goes quite a way outside the scope of balance transfers (though I can see why you started here) so I'd be tempted to say start a new thread if you've got further questions.

Due to the nature of my course i am unable to get a student loan. I instead get a bursary of £520 a month. I roughly pay out £320 a month on rent and bills (not including credit card). I always pay off more than my minimum payment but can't afford to pay the whole balance off at once. I was wondering if there was a better card for me to transfer my balance