Am I better.....?

boo81

leaving some money on a credit card for a couple of months if I know I cant pay it all off in one go or immediately transferring to a 0% card despite the fee involved?

My maths with this kind of thing is awful. basically I have a mastercard with halifax with no offers on which I use for my general spending. I have about £300 on it and it will take me about 3 months to pay off but I do have room on a 0% card which I can transfer over but the fee is 2.5%.

Does it make much difference?

Any help appreciated

taless

Hi Boo81,

This is a way to calculate your interest roughly (assuming an APR of 15.9%)

1.159 ^ (n/12)
1.159 ^ (3/12) = 1.0376

So for 3 months (assuming you do not pay anything, not even minimum repayment - which is of course unlikely, and that's why I say it's just a rough estimate), you will have to pay an interest of 3.76%, so you will indeed be better of transferring it to the 0% card.

If you are intending to pay, say £100 a month to cover the 3 months, do post your plan here so we can calculate for you which is more beneficial.

boo81

Thank you so much, I get lost with the se percentage thingamajigs!!

It would basically be about £100 a month I would pay off. If there is very little in it I may transfer so I dont have to see the interest building up.

Clariman

It is hardly worth the effort. My calculations say that you will save 14p by doing the Balance Transfer, assuming that your interest rate is 15.9% and you pay £100 off each month.

Clariman

boo81

thats what I figured but the maths were so confusing, they dont make the % lark easy!

Thanks for clarifying that, the phonecall to the 0845 number will cost more than that!

Clariman

boo81 wrote: »

thats what I figured but the maths were so confusing, they dont make the % lark easy!

Thanks for clarifying that, the phonecall to the 0845 number will cost more than that!

I'm not sure if you were thanking me or the other poster. Anyway, I have written an online balance transfer calculator that works all this out so you don't have to do the maths yourself. Just plug the numbers in.

Clariman

belfastgirl23

Ulsterbank do a fee free balance transfer and 0% interest for three months if that's any help....