Help picking a credit card offer...

[geeraf]

I just can't get my head round which way is best to pay off my credit card balance if anyone could help please?

I have a balance of £7500 about to end it's 0% offer. I can either transfer to another 0% for 6 months with £145 fee and then transfer back to the card it's currently on at the end of that which usually has a 12 month offer, or I can transfer to 6.9% for the life of the balance with a £220 fee.

I can only afford to pay £200ish a month off it so it won't be paid any time soon. What would you advise me to do in this situation please?

Just to add, there will be no further spending on this balance, and any extra I get will also go off the balance as and when I can...

Is the 6 months at 0% the best you can get?

There's much better offers listed on Moneysavingexpert.

Have you actually applied for any of these? I've found the accuracy of their eligibility calculator to be poor and have been accepted for cards that it said I had no chance of getting.

The 6.9% offer looks expensive, as does the 6 month one so I'd apply for one of the low fee longer 0% ones, even if the eligibility calculator says you aren't eligible, you have little to lose and I've also found that the impact on your credit rating of one failed application is nowhere near as bad as people often make out.

Have you also looked at all your other bills and spending, to free up money to pay off the debt?

They are on a credit card I already have with a zero balance and I don't think I would be able to get another one.

I'm hoping to get a lump sum of £1500 that I can pay off in the next few weeks but it's not guaranteed. If I go for the 0% for 6 months, the card I'm transferring from should hopefully still have a 12 month 0% offer on, I'm going to have to just keep swapping it about until it's paid I think. I can't see another option at the moment. Luckily I can afford minimum repayments!

I'll have a look at the eligibility thing now but don't hold out much hope as there is other debt as well that's currently at 0% and it's a lot compared to what I'm earning.

I'd swap to the 0% one for six months. Then to the 12 month one.

In the meantime watch your credit rating, keep to the £200 payment and any more you can pay, just incase the 12 month offer is not there so you can apply for other ones.

Always check out mse and pre eligibility checks. Saves wasting your time applying for cards that you have no chance of getting.

I did the eligibility thing and went for an 80% chance but got turned down... annoyed at myself now as I wasn't going to try.

I've gone for the 0% one for 6 months and will
Pay as much as I can in the meantime!