To ask you to please help me sort this financial mess!!

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DH and I have two credit cards. One is on 0% and has a balance of £3040. The other card has is not on 0% and has a balance of £3228.

We have been paying as much as possible off the one that isn’t 0%, each month, to minimise the interest payment and have just paid the minimum on the other. I have just realised the 0% runs out mid December and am afraid we are going to get hammered in interest. DH is refusing to apply for another 0% card and do a balance transfer, as he is sick of having credit cards. I get it, but it’s going to cost us loads if we don’t. I can’t get as good a deal as my earnings are a lot lower than DH’s (I’m working on that).

We currently have £4,000 in our current account, but have about £1,500 of bills to come out of that. We have other financial commitments as well as this, this is just the direct debits.

What should we do? Please help.

I’m also wondering, how will it work with the 0% running out. Will that be reflected in the end of December bill? I also don’t know how to work out how much interest we would pay a month. I think the APR is 27%.

For context, we have £27,000 in savings that we can’t access. We don’t have a car loan and don’t own our own house. This is the only debt we have.

So is your DH suggesting you use the money in your current account to put towards the outstanding balance?

if dh does want credit cards then the next o interest one could be the last. At 20% plus interest you will otherwise have the cards for longer. A flexible repayment consolidation load could be better (if you can get one) if he won’t be sensible. Then get rid of those cards ( just keep one - somewhere hidden for payments where you need the extra insurance) .

Ask DH what his suggestion is for how you deal with it?

Apply for a personal loan for £5000 to be repaid over 12 or 24 months (whatever you can afford). Go on one of those comparison websites like Compare The Market and see what the best offer you can get is.

Whatever it is the interest rate is guaranteed to be lower than the credit cards will charge you.

Then pay off both cards, cancel them and pay down the loan as fast as you can.

You need to do a balance transfer on to another card with a 0% rate. There will be a small fee to transfer which will be added to the balance. Then work out how much you need to pay each month to have it all paid off before the 0% term ends.
Secondly, work out how this situation has happened and see if you need to make any changes to you spending/outgoings to ensure you’re not building up the debt again.

He just wants to get rid of these cards and get on with our lives, without debt. Which I understand. Especially since we seem to always have this debt following us around. I think he’s just snapped and thinks we haven’t done enough to be rid of this; and he’s right.

Sounds like you need to sit down and have a grown up conversation about how you’re managing debt in the household, and forward plan to manage the remaining debt.

Taking a debt that you’re struggling to pay down and letting it switch from 0% interest to 27% interest is madness if you have literally any other options available to you.

Can see why no more credit cards appeals, but that should probably be applied to spending on credit cards rather than them as a way of getting credit until the balance is cleared.

If either of you can get a 0% balance transfer then that’s probably the cheapest option. Transfer the balance, cut the card up so it’s never used, and focus on clearing your debt before the zero interest window expires.

If cant get a zero percent balance transfer then look for a sensible loan to cover it and pay down the loan. Christian’s against poverty, step change ane citizens advice all go good quality, free debt advice.

Ok and what solution is he offering?

Is he stupid? Like dense? He doesn’t want to apply for another interest free card and pay upto 30% interest on this balance?

Get a personal loan to cover both balances, with monthly payments you can afford, however long the term is. Pay off both cards then cut them up so you can't use them. Gradually pay off the loan and don't spend more than you earn.

I think this is sensible.
Why can’t you access some of the 27k to clear the debt??? Get rid of the credit cards and don’t get any more x

Why can you not access the £27,000 you have in savings? It would be much better for you to take a hit on interest accessing this and using it to clear all of your debt and then you will not be paying exorbitant interest. You can then use any money you have been using to make payments off the credit card to rebuild your savings. There is never any point in having savings but not using it to clear debt.

Yes but if you don’t balance transfer to a 0% you are literally just going to be lining the pocket of the credit company for longer.

paying interest = longer to becoming debt free

balance transferring to a 0% is blindingly obvious. Your husband is bizarre frankly

There is no point applying for a loan, the OP’s husband is refusing to apply for a 0% balance transfer card, not because he’s ineligible, because he’s either thick or stubborn.

Taking out a loan, likely these days to charge at least 6% interest when you could take out a 0% card with a balance transfer fee of around 2%, is madness.

I understand that and he is being sensible in wanting to get rid of the debt but how is he suggesting you do that?

You take out a 0% credit card, hopefully without a transfer fee. What you can’t transfer pay off with the £2/£3k in your account.

If you look at the paperwork it will give you the exact date when the 0% interest rate runs out or call them ask.

Any chance this is just a notice account, and if so, any family you could borrow off with the strict promise to start the notice period now and repay in full as soon it is processed? I have done similar for close relatives in the past.

(obviously you know your family, I knew mine would be good for it)

To be brutal, it is not the only debt you have.
council tax. Utility bills phone bills are all debt & next yr, we all know these will be hiked,
I am guessing you rent which will probably be upped next yr. I would call your cc & discuss a payment plan, it might surprise you. Another cc will just exacerbate the problem. Good luck

Baffling. People here are suggesting you get in more debt to pay off a different debt.

Get access to the £27k in savings and pay it off if you're that bothered.

The only possible things to do are another 0% card or a loan.
show him the calculations how long they’ll take to pay off at 27%

The obvious answer is a 0% balance transfer, but I can see that your OH holds all the cards on this one. Call the credit card company and see if they can make you any offers, unlikely to be 0% but might be considerably less than the 20 something percent APR.

But she says she can’t access it, not that she doesn’t want to access it. I think the people who are baffling you also think she should just simply use the twenty seven grand but she can’t. So they aren’t saying ‘get access’.

Just don’t get a card or loan out in just your own name OP.

Maybe it'll teach you both a lesson🤷‍♀️
Why can't you access your savings??