Some advice please

Sarahx

Hi there,

Please go easy with me. :A And direct me if I am asking already answered questions. I am single, 3 children, reasonable income from working full-time.

I am in the process of changing my mortgage as the 4.69% fixed rate ends in March (have managed get 4.88%) :T

I have decided this is a good time to review my finances and put money into my pocket rather than the fat-cat's! :eek:

I have an Argos card and Wallis Card which total £450.00 they are the only cards I have. I want to shift them to a 0% and have them paid off by the end of the year. I know this probably sounds very daft to some of you, but I've never had a credit card. Do I just get the card, phone argos and Wallis and pay them off using that card and then set up a DD to pay off the 0% card? :j

Also I am subject to £200.00 exit fee on my mortgage under what circumstances is this acceptable because I've heard of people claiming back, but don't know why. :huh:

Sorry but I don't have anyone to chat all this out with.

Kind regards :beer:

Sarah x

Keeping_Motivated

Hi Sarah

Might help you if you put your SOA on here so people can help you do a review of all your finances.

As for the credit card yes you apply (go through a cashback site such as Quidco to earn money just for opeing it) and the cc credit you go with will either ask on the form which money you want to transfer then they do it for you or you can ring the cc company and do it over the phone. Then yes set up a DD to pay the monthly amount you can afford. Keep track of the date the 0% runs out obviously so you can arrange to open another 0% card in plenty of time. Be aware there will be a transfer fee to transfer the balances of your other cards.

As for the mortgage exit fee I'm not sure but someone who does know will be along.

Sarahx

Hi there,

I only have one other loan which I pay £289 per month and that ends 01/2010. I can afford all my repayments, but begrudge paying the high interest and barely see the amount owed going down. I want them cleared by the end of the year. Will cancel mine and daughters gym (£65.00 p/m) as soon as contract ends in April. So by end of the year will only have the £289 to pay which I should be able to clear sooner. My aim is to cut out unnecessaries and use my money to enhance my life not line the pockets of fat-cats! I'm a midwife and work too hard for it!

Thank you for your help - I'm so naieve with Credit Cards (only have a debit card!)

Sarah

Keeping_Motivated

Have you joined Quidco?

Sarahx

I belong to Pigsback, just looking on there. will also look at the best cards available on quidco. I think I may have joined them a long time ago, but don't use them!! bad me!!)

Sarah x

CLAPTON

It might be difficult to do a balance transfer (BT) as I don't think Argos or Wallis cards will count as credit cards fo the purpose of BTs (e.g. do they have a 16 digit card number).

Also, if you don't already have a credit card you may struggle to get a 0% BT or purchase card as they often ask if you already have a CC.

So if the two store cards can't be BTed then you have the following options

a. try to get a MBNA card with 0% BT as these will allow you to BT from your current a/c so you can then simply use the money in your a/c to pay off the store cards.

or
b. get a 0% purchase card... although not so good you can use the card for 'normal' spending and use the equivalent to pay more on the store cards.

And of course, pay the minimum on the store card with the lower APR and as much as you can on the card with the higher APR.

vickisocks

Other option would be Egg and do an 'overdraft' transfer. Basically they pay the money into your bank which you then use to pay off the other cards.

claireabelle_2

MBNA do, too... I have done this with my 0% virgin card this week, but virgin aren't popular on here at the moment as they are whacking their non-promo rates up.
As for the mortgage fee, I expect there will be info from Mr Lewis in the mortgages tab on the main site!
Do you know if you can make overpayments on the loan?