Credit card help!!!!

Toonsy · 29 January 2019 at 8:58PM

But at least in that time all of your money is paying off balance, even if you pay minimums at the current level which is about £260 monthly, on a 0% after 30 months you'd owe around £4800. A few months prior, so say at 27 months look for another 0% to transfer the remaining balance onto. Keep on paying the £260 monthly and in about 19 months it will be clear - nearly one year before the five year loan you're looking at and without paying any interest.

skintdaddy79 · 29 January 2019 at 9:56PM

Thanks again everyone. Can i just ask; if i transferred one of my cards to 0% card and the other card to a separate 0% card can i do that, having 2 new 0% cards? Also how would i know what the minimum payments would be on the new cards, could i find out before i applied for them?
i think what i'm trying to say is could i have potentially lower monthly payments but still be paying off the balances albeit slowly ?!

enthusiasticsaver · 29 January 2019 at 11:18PM

I think if you are struggling with minimums then getting a 0% card approved might be difficult certainly on that amount.

A debt consolidation loan is the worst thing you could do.

Posting an soa on here might be a good idea.

BabyStepper · 30 January 2019 at 8:06AM

You are right to be careful about the minimum payments on new cards. After reading on here about someone's minimum payment jumping from 1% to 2.5% (basically £15 extra quid for every £1000 owed) I went and checked mine. 2 of mine are at 1% and this could be increased at any point, I think, due to being some kind of short term offer. I'm keeping an eye on it.

At the moment your Asda card minimum payment is 2.5% of the balance. Your Virgin card is 1.5%. The monthly payments will be noted in the terms of the new credit card as a percentage of the amount on the card and yes you can find out before you apply and make a decision about whether or not you can afford it. The good news is they are unlikely to be more than 2.5%.

If you need any help figuring out the percentages just come back and we will try to help. Overall by moving to 0% cards (even if you can't pay off the full balance during the offer period) then ALL of your payment will go to reducing the debt meaning you will make quicker progress and pay it all off faster.

skintdaddy79 · 30 January 2019 at 8:57AM

Great, thanks Babystepper. Forgive my ignorance on this but my APR on the Asda card is 19.9%, so even though my min payment is 2.5% of the balance I take interest is being added to the balance and I'm paying the 2.5% on that? Also would it be better getting a 0% balance transfer for the Asda card and another one separately for the Virgin one? It's looking like the general consensus here is to avoid a consolidation personal loan..

skintdaddy79 · 30 January 2019 at 9:01AM

And does card "tarting" affect credit score??

Sanctioned_Parts_List · 30 January 2019 at 9:25AM

skintdaddy79 wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance on this but my APR on the Asda card is 19.9%, so even though my min payment is 2.5% of the balance I take interest is being added to the balance and I'm paying the 2.5% on that?

This is what happens.

The APR on the ASDA card is 19.9%, which works out as 1.5239% per month.

If you were to owe £1000 on this card, then at the end of the month the credit card company would first add the interest, so your balance would be £1015.24. Then they would deduct your minimum payment, which would be 2.5% of the new balance, or £25.38.

Your new balance would then be £989.86.

As you can see, despite paying £25, you've only paid off £10 of debt. The bank keeps the other £15. Sometimes I wish I owned a bank. The only way to make headway on this sort of debt is to cut your interest rate, and to pay more than the minimum.

You really need to do that SOA.

skintdaddy79 wrote:

And does card "tarting" affect credit score??

Short term, yes. Every time you make a credit application, your score will reduce for a while.

BabyStepper · 30 January 2019 at 6:23PM

Great example Sanctioned, really clear.

It doesn't really matter if the 2 cards are transferred to 1 or 2 (or 3?) different new cards. The aim is to get them all on 0% however you manage it.

Apply first for ones with low balance transfer fees. If you can find one with no balance transfer fee and a long 0% deal then that's the best.

You won't be able to balance transfer from, say, a Barclaycard to another Barclaycard. It needs to be a different provider.

Your credit score will take a hit but it will not be destroyed by any means and it will recover completely in time.

EssexHebridean · 30 January 2019 at 11:36PM

Skintdaddy you keep talking about lowering monthly payments but unless you put together that SOA you won;t know whether you need to worry about that. Step 1 is ALWAYS a budget in your situation - without that you don't really know where you stand. Remember lower monthly payments = being in debt for longer. The more you can pay off, the quicker normal life - in fact better than before life, because you'll have control over your finances - can resume.

skintdaddy79 · 31 January 2019 at 10:33PM

OK, heres my SOA. I think i've completed it correctly...
I've looked into 0% balance transfer cc, i've found one but MSE eligibility checker says 60% chance . Is it worth going for? I dont want to keep applying and my credit score takes a battering.

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1548
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1300
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2848

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 624
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 129
Electricity............................. 61
Gas..................................... 61
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 26.99
Mobile phone............................ 38
TV Licence.............................. 12.83
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 7.99
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 2.82
Car Insurance........................... 41
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 18.99
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 18.99
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1434.61

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 17000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 22000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 75500....(624)......2.75
Total secured & HP debts...... 75500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card 1..................6824......172.......19.99
credit card 2..................5659......86.99.....17.75
Total unsecured debts..........12483.....258.99....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,848
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,434.61
Available for debt repayments........... 1,413.39
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 258.99
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,154.4

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 22,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -75,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,483
Net Assets.............................. -65,983

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Credit card help!!!!

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