Is dh being unreasonable ?

[Mandifromwales]

So my dh sorts out our money stuff. This has always worked for me. There are other areas of our ‘life admin’ that I deal with.

we are in the process of clearing a shall amount of debt and we’re paying a chunk off this each month with a view to being clear by March

i noticed that we’re being charged about £25 per month interest. I suggested that I take out a 0% credit card to deal with this. Dh doesn’t want me to.

dh blames 0% cards for our debts ( quite high at one point) as we didn’t clear the balance in time etc. he just wants to carry on doing What we’re doing until March when we’ll be clear. He also doesn’t want us to have an application logged on our credit files as this can be viewed negatively if we need to remortgage etc

i should add that he’s not in any way controlling in other areas of our lives

is he being unreasonable?

I'd definitely transfer the balance to a 0% card if you can pay it off within the year. Literally no point in paying interest for the sake of it, and will mean you'll be able to pay the actual debt off quicker.

Go on Experian. They have offers for 0% balance transfer cards that use a 'soft' application, ie, it won't show on your credit file.

I’m with your DH on this, it’s only 6 months and only a small amount and cards lead to problems. Plus the interest will reduce as the debt reduces. If you don’t have a card you can’t use it.

So he'd rather pay £150 to a random company credit card than get a zero credit card, short the debt and cut up the card and pay of the debt by March

Can I have some of your dh free money to give away?

How much is the debt?
When do you need to remortgage?

Most cards will want a balance transfer fee, and 3% is common, so if that is more than the interest you’ll pay over 6 months sticking with the original card (and if it’s £25 now that will reduce as the months go on and you clear capital) then it’s probably not worth it.

Psychologically he’s probably right - if 0% cards have got you in a mess before, and this plan is working, paying a small
amount of painful ‘stupid tax’ interest is perhaps beneficial?

They have a ‘soft’ search to show if you’d be accepted for the card if you applied for it.

If you go through with the full application then it will definitely show on your file. So if the OP and DH want to remortgage soon, it’s a legitimate concern not to apply for a new card.

I agree with your DH, there’s a plan in place and it sounds a good one.
It could be risky to get another CC if it’s caused problems in the past.

Yep. 0% doesn't mean free and the transfer cost may outweigh the benefits.

Only you know whether you'd be tempted to put "just a couple of things" on it in addition or whether you could be disciplined so I won't comment on that.

For the sake of what, £150, I'd carry on as you are. Having another line of credit available could mean a difference in any mortgage rate you're offered.

I'd let it be, he's managing it and has a good reason..

Sorry, yes that's what I meant!

I can see both sides, but I don't think he's being unreasonable.

If CCs got you into trouble in the past, it's reasonable for him to be nervous about getting another.

0% can be free, I've Stoozed (borrowed on credit cards to put in savings to profit from the interest) for decades and 9/10 not paid a penny in interest or fees. I think I once paid a 1% transfer fee to get a 2 year interest free deal, but that's it.

OP, your DH is throwing away about £150. Get the 0% deal today, transfer the balance. Pay off the minimum plus a fiver to get rid of the minimum payment marker on your credit file, save the rest of the money in a savings account for the interest, cut up all the cards so you can't spend on them and look forward to being debt free.