Jelly Babies' Squidgy Easter Diary

pania

it would be so much easier if i was still dahn saaf as it were as it would be straight up a motorway for me, straight down one for you!!! Looking forward to it and let me know, pref something august time after i'm back fit again would be great.

(hypno, just leaving!!)

taxi73

Morning JB nice to hear you are feeling better today and the fruit will be good for you no doubt.Good news about the knee feeling better also.Hope you have a great day and enjoy your run tonight..

Jelly_Babies

Morning all :hello: Oops not updated for 4 days :eek:

Well, no spend day on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Spent Tescos money on Saturday £50 on clothes for kids for summer as they had a 20% sale but all kitted out now!

I now need someone to shout at me - I have this very morning sat with my hand hovering over the egg loan apply button I know it is so naughty, but one loan would cover the CC's and I could overpay every month. BUT it is 9.9% interest and everything I currently have is 0% so it is completely and entirely non sensical.

I know it is the wrong thing to do and the easy way out, I just get so stressed seeing so many CC balances flying around and the worry about having to BT in the next few months with the current credit crunch.

Please all virtually slap me and I will step away from the screen!

hypno06

How long are the 0% balances for? If they are due to end soon, how easy is it going to be to get new balance transfer thingies for less than 9.9%. Also, do you still use the cards - ie do you pay some off, then go spend on it again?

Although a loan is not the best idea, the Egg one is one of the better ones -

you can over pay without penalty, easily online
once the payment has been made you cannot be tempted to "re-spend" it so that the balance of the debt is coming down rather than only coming down until you have a spending spree!

the main thing to consider (apart from the availability of 0% balance transfers) is that you MUST close the cards down completely, otherwise you will be up that particular creek without the use of a paddle......

sorry, not what you prob wanted to hear, but I would be thinking on the same lines as you as regards that button........in fact we were offered a loan that would clear OH cards (at a higher rate than Egg, sadly) and I had to give it a great deal of consideration. At the end of the day, the only reason I didn't do it is because it would be in my name, whereas OH cards are in his name, and for my new job I will be credit checked and I want to look as good as possible!!!

Jelly_Babies

Thanks Hypno, you have actually helped.

We have one card with MBNA with about £5k on that is due to finish 0% this month hence my train of thought.

We have another 4 cards with debt on them and the grand total for all cards is £28,735.41 which means that we would have to keep just under £3k on one of the cards and would probably leave it on the Virgin one as it is 0% until November. All the other card deals are due to end Oct/Nov time as well.

I have a NR loan in my name for £28k and we are paying £310 a month for this which leaves £610 for us to pay off debts. A 5 year loan with Egg for £25k is £525.22, so I would still have to have a little extra for the other CC debt, but I would have some peace of mind but I would also be paying £800+ on two loans :eek: At the moment I overpay the min payments on the CC so it doesn't feel quite so bad - aarrgghhh really don't know what to do??

We are waiting for payday on Friday to see if OH gets a payrise (fingers crossed) which may influence my decision. Only reason I am even considering Egg is because of the flexibility of the loan and the hope to pay it off earlier.

Quandry, help!!!!

Jelly_Babies

The other option would be to take egg over a longer period and then pay a smaller min payment but over pay it every month. This would give me a "buffer" zone if I had a bad month - or is that just being stupid -

Why did I look at the loan section

hypno06

I have to say, very honestly, and I will prob get shot down for saying it......

But I would be going for the loan, and cancelling as many credit cards as I could.....

I would do the loan over 5 years - get it over and done with asap! Also, get overpaying as much as you can - you can do it online, so even £10 here and there will make a difference.

As said before, you MUST get shot of the cards though......this is the thing that is the danger, as everyone knows!

I know it will leave one card, but one is acceptable!

Jelly_Babies

I think you may be right Hypno.

It's stupid as I have the debt spread over 6 cards and so I don't know why I am so worried about having a loan for the same amount
The cards would without a doubt be cancelled all for the last one. I don't spend on any of them anyway, they are all cut up.

Don't even know if we'd get it though yet, would have to be in DH's name as mine already has the NR loans. I suppose it means at the beginning of the month I get into the habit of overpaying as I do the cards and I cannot get it back.

The thought of the loan is inspired really by the concern re the credit crunch and having CC debt I can't move around to various deals.

Thanks for the advice, glad to know I'm not completely looney!

Keeping_Positive

I have gone down the loan route before this crisis hit and Im glad although I did increase my debt by spending my buffer so be careful not to take out too much. I now have one payment (less than before so manageable) to worry about and can overpay if needed at anytime. I dont have to worry about card tarting anymore which is good because I think my OH poor rating is affecting mine.

Down side to NW loan is that online the interest shows as though loan paid to terms so overall debt looks higher than cc balance which have interest added on in stages. 12k cc and loan debt turned in almost 19k (15k loan + interest) in one day with 3k buffer spent in three months. Also they dont show any interest gain for early repayments although I have been assured there is a gain by paying early.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Jelly_Babies

Thanks Wendy

I am very confused, I think had things not become difficult on the financial market I would continue card tarting but it is really stressful knowing time limits are drawing in. I like the fact that I could overpay as well, but would leave myself enough to overpay the Virgin card I would have to keep.

All in all, I don't even know if we would get a card though, need to apply first and it would be in DH's name so need to speak to him and get his views.