Balance transfers

[Crocsforlife]

I have a credit card that is racking up the interest. Got accepted for a new card with interest free balance transfer for 24 months. The limit doesn't cover the balance of the old card though.

Should I just stick with the old card or would it be worthwhile transferring over what I can to the new card? I need to try and get my payments down but not sure I'm going the right way about it. Thanks

Transfer as much as you can to the interest free card and then pay down as much as you can as quickly as possible on the old card.

If you're struggling to meet the minimum repayment, check what it is on the BT card as it can vary between 1 and 2.5% so you don't want to inadvertently commit yourself to a payment you can't afford.

But as long as you can make the minimum, definitely get as much on to the 0% deal as possible then concentrate on the rest. You could even apply for another offer for the rest of the debt.

If you can't make the minimum payment, you need debt advice, so look on Moneysaving Expert for where to start, but you'll need to make sure you have done a comprehensive and workable budget before seeking further advice.

Are you able to afford the card bill just now?

If so you can do a balance transfer from your old card onto your new 0% Apr card then do that fir the most you can. That way a lot of your debt will be free of Apr. Therefore it will be cheaper. Do the max you can afford to repay on the old card and the min on the new card.

ie you need to pay off the highest interest card first so concentrate on that other card just now and get the balance down.

The problem is paying off that and the 0% Apr one at the same time.

If you can't afford to do that then you have a problem and may need to seek proper advice.

At least you have recognised there is an issue and are addressing it.

How much will you have left on your old card once you transfer the max to the other new 0% one?

What would be the reason not to have a s much as possible interest free? Unless you've missed something out of your OP I'm not sure why you'd need to ask

I would have about 3000 left on it. All crept on over lock down due to furlough and my husband being made redundant. I should be able to make the payments, was disgusted when I saw the interest I was paying each month.
I used to be financially savvy always interest free cards etc but unfortunately had a few years of depression and let things slide. I need to get on top of things now before things become unmanageable.

Transfer what you can, any saving is great. You may find in a few months you can transfer the rest. It can feel really scary but make a plan, stick to it. I balance transfer at the end of every interest free period.

This. The best way to clear the debt is the ‘snowball’ method (Dave Ramsey - if you skip the very American religious bits, he’s got good advice).

1. Transfer as much as you can to the 0% card.
2. Pay only the minimum on the 0% card (you’ve ‘parked’ this debt for now.)
3. Pay off as much as you can each month on the high interest card.
4. Once you’ve paid off the high interest card, transfer the payments to the 0% card until it’s paid off.

Many people doing this have 4 or 5 loans / cards etc. The advice is to put them in order of interest rates, pay the minimum on all but the highest rate until it is paid off then move the payment to the next on the list and repeat.