Friendly advice needed..

funkyfairy_3

Hi everyone,

Im fairly new to this money saving site, so please stick with me. I don't have any major worries but i would be grateful for some advice?

I graduated last year and have now paid off any debt owed including credit cards. After being somewhat careless while at uni, i missed a few payments on 2 of my accounts which had a detrimental effect on my credit scoring. I took the advice from this site and got myself a cap1 card to improve my chances of moving into the main stream after being rejected for credit. 6 months on and all is going good - i have nearly 18 months now with no missed payments. I have an egg card at the moment with a 3000 limit and i am happy with them - had no hassle in the time ive been with them and missed no payments.

Here is the silly part - i recently applied for a virgin credit card. I was accepted and given a limit of 5400. Then i realised that it is a balance transfer card and judging by the comments on the forum is was a very bad move. I don't owe any money and have nothing to transfer..So can i make this card work to my advantage or is it a waste of time? I feel rather daft to be honest, i should have looked in more detail.

I am assuming that because i was accepted i have improved my score - is that likely?

Can anyone offer some advice? Much appreciated..

bethanyrayne

funkyfairy wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Im fairly new to this money saving site, so please stick with me. I don't have any major worries but i would be grateful for some advice?

I graduated last year and have now paid off any debt owed including credit cards. After being somewhat careless while at uni, i missed a few payments on 2 of my accounts which had a detrimental effect on my credit scoring. I took the advice from this site and got myself a cap1 card to improve my chances of moving into the main stream after being rejected for credit. 6 months on and all is going good - i have nearly 18 months now with no missed payments. I have an egg card at the moment with a 3000 limit and i am happy with them - had no hassle in the time ive been with them and missed no payments.

Here is the silly part - i recently applied for a virgin credit card. I was accepted and given a limit of 5400. Then i realised that it is a balance transfer card and judging by the comments on the forum is was a very bad move. I don't owe any money and have nothing to transfer..So can i make this card work to my advantage or is it a waste of time? I feel rather daft to be honest, i should have looked in more detail.

I am assuming that because i was accepted i have improved my score - is that likely?

Can anyone offer some advice? Much appreciated..

You can transfer 95% of your limit straight into your current account and then stooze the cash into a high interest savings account. Don't forget to set up DD for min payments.

dhassen

sorry, but if you didn't need the card why did you apply for it?

You could use it to your advantage for stoozing though, but you do have to be careful. The virgin card allows you to BT to a current account, so you could get the money at 0% and put it in high interest earning account, and make some money for nothing! Have a look at the stoozing board and the articles on stoozing on the main site for more info. You need to take into account the 2.9% fee though.

NickX

Yep, as the others have said Virgin will allow you to BT up to 95% of your Credit Limit to your current account.

So, if you haven't got any other debts to settle, put the funds into an ISA or high interest account, hopefully getting something like 6.5% which will outweigh the BT fee, and as long as you settle it completely before the promotional rate expires, then you will be in profit. You will also have become a stoozer :beer:

YorkshireBoy

Don't forget to ask for a credit limit increase during the activation call (or anytime before doing the SBT).

Calculate your profit here:
http://www.stoozing.com/calc.htm

...and most importantly, DO NOT use the card for any purchases after you've done the (S)BT.

funkyfairy_3

Thanks for the advice everyone, i will have a look at this stoozing board and see what it says. I am not sure why i applied for the card to be honest!

I hear so many bad reports about virgin from people, im not sure what to think! Just out of interest - this hight interest cap1 card i have, should i keep it or close it?

Thanks again

dhassen

close it

jimbo26

funkyfairy wrote: »

this hight interest cap1 card i have, should i keep it or close it?

Keep it for the Equifax Credit watch. Reduce the limit to say £500.00 set up a DD to pay in full each month and keep it going.