Daft not to? 0% interest balance transfer.
Discussion
Nearly 2 years ago I got a credit card with a £5k limit in addition to my usual Barclaycard.
The Barclaycard I use as a charge card and pay the balance off each month. Just helps with cash flow and I feel that I'm better protected with purchases, especially online.
The other card was 0% interest for purchases. It helped me through a rough patch and I got to £4800 and stopped using it, just paying the 3% minimum payment per month. About £130.
The 0% stops next month and rises to 16.9%. Current balance is £4000 give or take.
I have the funds to clear it but am moving next month and will need everything from a toaster to a sofa and I have just seen that Barclaycard are offering 0% on balance transfers for 2 years with a 1.9% transfer charge, about £60.
Would I be daft not to?
Plus would I need to work out the minimum payments on top of clearing my monthly purchase balance. Has anyone else done this? ie do they separate the two amounts on the statement?
Thanks for any help, cheers.
The Barclaycard I use as a charge card and pay the balance off each month. Just helps with cash flow and I feel that I'm better protected with purchases, especially online.
The other card was 0% interest for purchases. It helped me through a rough patch and I got to £4800 and stopped using it, just paying the 3% minimum payment per month. About £130.
The 0% stops next month and rises to 16.9%. Current balance is £4000 give or take.
I have the funds to clear it but am moving next month and will need everything from a toaster to a sofa and I have just seen that Barclaycard are offering 0% on balance transfers for 2 years with a 1.9% transfer charge, about £60.
Would I be daft not to?
Plus would I need to work out the minimum payments on top of clearing my monthly purchase balance. Has anyone else done this? ie do they separate the two amounts on the statement?
Thanks for any help, cheers.
. Just make sure you cut up the other card and don't do what I did! Barclaycard have a reasonably high minimum monthly payment compared with others like MBNA - so you're likely to have made a good dent in the balance over 2 years anyway.
I'm a regular with the interest free cards - well, interest free except for the up front fee - cheapest way of funding I can find.
Check the rules though - as I think as soon as you spend an extra £1 the interest free stops and interest besoms chargeable on the entire balance. So if you take the money, you can't use the card for anything else for the duration......
I'm a regular with the interest free cards - well, interest free except for the up front fee - cheapest way of funding I can find.
Check the rules though - as I think as soon as you spend an extra £1 the interest free stops and interest besoms chargeable on the entire balance. So if you take the money, you can't use the card for anything else for the duration......
Situation you describe I agree you should. Trivial cost £60 to ease cashflow.
You are able to clear £130pcm so in 24 months you’ll have paid off £3,120 of the total leaving £880.
£880 is 6-7 months and then your all done. So 30-31 months and it’s cleared.
Or up the £130 to £167 pcm and you’ll clear it in 24 months and it’s done for good.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do
You are able to clear £130pcm so in 24 months you’ll have paid off £3,120 of the total leaving £880.
£880 is 6-7 months and then your all done. So 30-31 months and it’s cleared.
Or up the £130 to £167 pcm and you’ll clear it in 24 months and it’s done for good.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do
just an idea - clear it, and use a 0% purchases card to purchase essentials. you might not rack up as much debt as you had before (and perhaps will delay purchases), thus potentially end up in a nicer debt position down the line.
whilst a useful tool, endless balance transfers are certainly a way to enable people to keep building up debt (thats why the product exists) until one day it becomes unmanageable. i prefer 0% lending with a fixed repayment term for that reason.
whilst a useful tool, endless balance transfers are certainly a way to enable people to keep building up debt (thats why the product exists) until one day it becomes unmanageable. i prefer 0% lending with a fixed repayment term for that reason.
jimmybell said:
just an idea - clear it, and use a 0% purchases card to purchase essentials. you might not rack up as much debt as you had before (and perhaps will delay purchases), thus potentially end up in a nicer debt position down the line.
whilst a useful tool, endless balance transfers are certainly a way to enable people to keep building up debt (thats why the product exists) until one day it becomes unmanageable. i prefer 0% lending with a fixed repayment term for that reason.
Totally agree, moving credit card debt around is not solving the problem it is just putting it off for another day. I work with a guy who is always moaning about having no money, he has now got a Monzo account which allows you to create savings pots. One of the ideas is you save 1p on day one of the year and increase this by 1p every day so you are saving £3.65 on day 365.whilst a useful tool, endless balance transfers are certainly a way to enable people to keep building up debt (thats why the product exists) until one day it becomes unmanageable. i prefer 0% lending with a fixed repayment term for that reason.
After explaining all this to me and telling me he wants to have a few thousand saved he then tells me he also has £3k on a credit card. Not a lot I admit, and just a decent Friday night out for your average powerfully built director, but madness trying to save money when you have credit card debt.
I explained that paying off the credit card should be his first priority, but because it is 0% he just moves it to the next card when the deal expires. In his mind because it was 0% it wasn't a real debt and he was so set on having some savings that he didn't see the point of paying it off.
I find this a lot, there are a lot of intelligent people in the world who seem to think if you have £3k on a credit card and £2k in the bank you have £2k in savings. They cannot comprehend that -£3k + £2K is still -£1k, or £1k in debt.
Going back to the OP, transfer the debt to a 0% card and cut up the card and pay off as much as you can each month.
That's the idea, I hate debt. I last ran up a credit card debt when I was 20, 37 years ago.
Had to go and work on a farm in Denmark to pay that off.
As I originally said, this time it helped with a rough patch and my original card is used as a charge card only.
I could pay it off tomorrow but with moving and having to get furniture, pans, toasters and even a selection of spices, £60 to keep the debt going with full intention to leave alone and pay off, seems a good idea.
Had to go and work on a farm in Denmark to pay that off.
As I originally said, this time it helped with a rough patch and my original card is used as a charge card only.
I could pay it off tomorrow but with moving and having to get furniture, pans, toasters and even a selection of spices, £60 to keep the debt going with full intention to leave alone and pay off, seems a good idea.
MrBen1 said:
Why not pay off the balance and then use a 0% on purchases card to buy the things you need for the new place. Thus saving the £60 transfer fee - free toaster!
^^^Was about to post the same thing. This is the thing to do for sure.
But i wouldn't spend £60 on a toaster
You'll get a good one for half that! Drew106 said:
MrBen1 said:
Why not pay off the balance and then use a 0% on purchases card to buy the things you need for the new place. Thus saving the £60 transfer fee - free toaster!
^^^Was about to post the same thing. This is the thing to do for sure.
But i wouldn't spend £60 on a toaster
You'll get a good one for half that! 
I did it with 2 credit cards and balance transfers. And I set my monthly payment to be 140 of whatever it is to pay it back by the time the 0% period ends. One was Barclaycard and the other post office.
I also have 3 bank loans, a mortgage, pcp etc etc but that’s another story!
I also have 3 bank loans, a mortgage, pcp etc etc but that’s another story!
Edited by CoolHands on Wednesday 13th November 11:21
Drew106 said:
^^^
Was about to post the same thing. This is the thing to do for sure.
But i wouldn't spend £60 on a toaster You'll get a good one for half that!
My days of Dualits are over, Argos do toasters for a tenner. There's one in this house and dare I say, it does a better job than my old Dualit. OK it doesn't look as good. Was about to post the same thing. This is the thing to do for sure.
But i wouldn't spend £60 on a toaster
You'll get a good one for half that! croyde said:
Drew106 said:
^^^
Was about to post the same thing. This is the thing to do for sure.
But i wouldn't spend £60 on a toaster You'll get a good one for half that!
My days of Dualits are over, Argos do toasters for a tenner. There's one in this house and dare I say, it does a better job than my old Dualit. OK it doesn't look as good. Was about to post the same thing. This is the thing to do for sure.
But i wouldn't spend £60 on a toaster
You'll get a good one for half that! I wouldn't be messing around applying for a new card etc if you are going to move next month. Just get your move done, pay a months interest on your balance, and make your decision after.
I was in the same situation, just 3 months ahead of you. I moved last month, found I had enough left over to clear my card (month 26 after a 25 month interest free period). So the debt is now gone. I've got some big expenses coming next year. So will probably have to do it again, putting regular spend on a 0% purchase card so my salary can be used for debit spend reasons. But at least I can go a few months without debt.
I'd do it again in your situation too, if you really need the new stuff in your new house, and can't wait until cashflow allows, then add it on a 0% purchase card. It will reset your mind knowing you are racking up debt again, rather than carry on with paying your current debt over another few years which has become normal.
I was in the same situation, just 3 months ahead of you. I moved last month, found I had enough left over to clear my card (month 26 after a 25 month interest free period). So the debt is now gone. I've got some big expenses coming next year. So will probably have to do it again, putting regular spend on a 0% purchase card so my salary can be used for debit spend reasons. But at least I can go a few months without debt.
I'd do it again in your situation too, if you really need the new stuff in your new house, and can't wait until cashflow allows, then add it on a 0% purchase card. It will reset your mind knowing you are racking up debt again, rather than carry on with paying your current debt over another few years which has become normal.
BaldOldMan said:
Barclaycard have a reasonably high minimum monthly payment compared with others like MBNA - so you're likely to have made a good dent in the balance over 2 years anyway.
This is quite important, i found they have a much higher minimum payment (more than twice that of MBNA) but like you say it takes a nice chunk off the balance. croyde said:
My days of Dualits are over, Argos do toasters for a tenner. There's one in this house and dare I say, it does a better job than my old Dualit. OK it doesn't look as good.
I bought my brother a toaster from Tesco as a joke wedding present, I think it was about a fiver. I kept it and 10 years on it's still going strong!Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff