Cheapest way to borrow on Credit card?

lucyinthesky

I need to borrow about £5000. I know I'll have trouble finding a loan with a good rate as I think I'm maxed out. Also, I can't afford to make any repayments at the moment anyway. I will have some money coming to me soon so should be able to pay off the loan then. I have a £10,000 limit on my credit card so I was wondering if the best thing to do is use this card to pay the money (possibly cash advance?) and then transfer the balance to a 0% card for a year. The question I have is will I be able to get another credit card and transfer a balance of £5000? This seems like quite a lot as I know that when I got my last credit card they would only give me credit of £1500. I don't want to borrow the money on that card and then find I can't transfer it to anyone else.

Hope someone can help as this doesn't seem straight forward to me. Thanks.

lisyloo

Hello Lucy,

Can you tell us what you need the £5K for?
I'm not being nosey, but you already seem to have a lot of debt that you cannot pay back, so taking on more money has to be questioned as to whether you really NEED it i.e. what will happen if you don't get it, will you really get sick or die, or do you mean it's just something you want as opposed to need.

Where is the money you are expecting coming from?
Again I'm not being nosey but probate can take longer than you think and house sales can fall through.
I'm trying to get a feel for whether the money is guaranteed
and whether the timescale can be relied upon.

It sounds like you may have difficulty getting more credit, so taking out via and expensive method jsut in the hope of getting a cheaper deal, would be a bad move IMO.

Sorry if I've read it wrong, but it sounds like you are living beyond your means and you need to get your spending back under control.
There are some experts on the debt boards here, so you will get soe good advice there.

CannyJock

lucyinthesky wrote: »

I need to borrow about £5000. I know I'll have trouble finding a loan with a good rate as I think I'm maxed out. Also, I can't afford to make any repayments at the moment anyway. I will have some money coming to me soon so should be able to pay off the loan then. I have a £10,000 limit on my credit card so I was wondering if the best thing to do is use this card to pay the money (possibly cash advance?) and then transfer the balance to a 0% card for a year. The question I have is will I be able to get another credit card and transfer a balance of £5000? This seems like quite a lot as I know that when I got my last credit card they would only give me credit of £1500. I don't want to borrow the money on that card and then find I can't transfer it to anyone else.

Hope someone can help as this doesn't seem straight forward to me. Thanks.

Interest rates on a cash advance is punitive in most cases and you get charged interest from day one, so no interest free period. It's an expensive way to get money.

Standard thing to do would be to cancel any unused cards and apply for a new card a month or so later once the unused cards show as clear on your credit report - you've looked at your credit report to check it for any red flags presumably?

If you are able to get the Virgin Money card, you can transfer money from that straight into your bank account for a 2.98% fee, then it's 0% for 15 months. This doesn't count as a cash withdrawal and you still benefit from the 0% on this. That would be your best bet I'd say, if you get a good enough credit limit, use it to clear your other cards and cancel them so you've only got one debt to pay off at an ultra low interest rate.

lucyinthesky

lisyloo wrote: »

Hello Lucy,

Can you tell us what you need the £5K for?
I'm not being nosey, but you already seem to have a lot of debt that you cannot pay back, so taking on more money has to be questioned as to whether you really NEED it i.e. what will happen if you don't get it, will you really get sick or die, or do you mean it's just something you want as opposed to need.

Where is the money you are expecting coming from?
Again I'm not being nosey but probate can take longer than you think and house sales can fall through.
I'm trying to get a feel for whether the money is guaranteed
and whether the timescale can be relied upon.

It sounds like you may have difficulty getting more credit, so taking out via and expensive method jsut in the hope of getting a cheaper deal, would be a bad move IMO.

Sorry if I've read it wrong, but it sounds like you are living beyond your means and you need to get your spending back under control.
There are some experts on the debt boards here, so you will get soe good advice there.

Thanks for the reply. I don't actually owe any money on any of my 2 cards, they all get paid off every month in full. I just use them for the cash back. The only debt I have is my mortgage! So, this is the first loan of any kind I will be taking out. I need the money to pay my lawyer for my divorce as they don't wait till it's finished before they bill you. I expect to get some money from property. Problem is everything is in joint names and I need this loan to be in my name only. That's the situation if it helps.

lisyloo

Sorry I mis-read you "maxed out" comment, but it does help to know the details to be able to comment on the options available.

Doing a balance transfer on a 0% card is a good idea.
There is also something called a super-balance transfer which is a transfer to your bank account.
Egg are usually good at giving good limits on their visa card (NOT egg money).
I got a £15K limit with them.

A good way to do it would be a super balance transfer.
A cash advance is likely to be expense so either look at doing an SBT or try to put it directly onto a credit card.

You could also ask your solicitor for their credit terms.
They must be used to people being in this position so I'm suprised they want it all up front. So I woudl ask and see what they can do.

YorkshireBoy

lucyinthesky wrote: »

I have a £10,000 limit on my credit card...

Who's the provider, and the provider of your second card...and are you the primary cardholder for both?

...when I got my last credit card they would only give me credit of £1500.

They probably thought you had enough 'available' credit already, especially with the £10K limit on the above card.


Like lisyloo though, I'm puzzled as to why they want the money 'up front'. Maybe they're concerned that there won't be enough equity left?

lucyinthesky

10K limit is Natwest and the 1.5k is Morgan Stanley (Goldfish). The lawyer would take installments I think. Will have to check. Also not sure if he's going to accept it on a card. I imagine he will charge me for that too. Yes, I am the primary card holder.

lisyloo

Also not sure if he's going to accept it on a card. I imagine he will charge me for that too.

If you can't get an SBT card, then it still maybe cheaper to get a card with 0% for purchases and pay the 2% (or thereabouts) charge.
If you look at is as a 2% loan then that's pretty good.
Most cards have a 3% balance transfer fee anyway.

There is a good site at
https://www.stoozing.com
which has info on the various cards.

lucyinthesky

Thanks Lisyloo and everyone else. Very helpful advice. I'm a bit clearer on it all now.