Financial Advise

godinman · 4 Jan 2012 at 13:19

What did you buy with the loan and credit card? Can you sell it?

Why not sell the car and buy something better, older and cheaper?

That's what I'd do, if you weren't paying that out and saved it instead you'd have 15k in 3 years, mortgage deposit anyone?

Casdawer · 4 Jan 2012 at 18:13

Loan was to pay for my old car which I had to get rid of due to a car crash!

Credit Card was stupid things, like deposit for eye surgery and new phone!

Can't sell the car as I'm leasing it.

Simon · 4 Jan 2012 at 19:40

Casdawer said:
The problem is with the credit card transfer is that I doubt I'm going to be able to get a credit card with a £3000 limit. Most places only offer a £1200 limit!

Like who?
Most will give you much more.

[TW]Fox · 4 Jan 2012 at 19:44

Simon said:
Like who?
Most will give you much more.

Yea, if you have a reasonable salary and credit rating.

Simon · 4 Jan 2012 at 19:59

I don't know if you are trying to be funny, but I cant see why all lenders would 'seem' to offer only £1200.

Sure try a few, but don't go mental with applications as it will hit your credit rating.

You could get a family member to look after the debt for you on a card in their name if they are comfortable with it.

[TW]Fox · 4 Jan 2012 at 20:12

Simon said:
I don't know if you are trying to be funny, but I cant see why all lenders would 'seem' to offer only £1200.

It's fairly common for it to be difficult to obtain a high credit rating on a credit card, surely you can think of the circumstances where this might be the case without us digging into speculation about the OP's circumstances?

If you have a low income and high outstanding debt then lenders will not be falling over themselves to offer you a credit card with a £4k limit.

Casdawer · 4 Jan 2012 at 21:09

Well I plan to make an appointment with my bank next week to see if they can offer me a credit card.

I'm a Natwest Advantage Gold customer so get special rates on Credit Cards and Loans so should get a good deal... hopefully.

OllyM · 4 Jan 2012 at 21:35

Casdawer said:
The problem is with the credit card transfer is that I doubt I'm going to be able to get a credit card with a £3000 limit. Most places only offer a £1200 limit!

No, the £1200 you are referring to is the representative example credit limit that card issuers have to use (unless they have a higher minimum limit). The actual minimum/maximum limits they offer will be in the full summary box.

Casdawer said:
Well I plan to make an appointment with my bank next week to see if they can offer me a credit card.

I'm a Natwest Advantage Gold customer so get special rates on Credit Cards and Loans so should get a good deal... hopefully.

I strongly recommend that you don't bother - the branch staff will only want to hit their targets by recommending totally unsuitable products that won't be the best on the market. Do the research online and go with the best deal you can get.

And as you've mentioned it, why are you paying for an Advantage Gold account? If you have a new Polo you'll have breakdown cover from VW, and the rest of the benefits are rubbish - cancel it and save the £13/month cost.

Casdawer · 5 Jan 2012 at 10:39

OllyM said:
I strongly recommend that you don't bother - the branch staff will only want to hit their targets by recommending totally unsuitable products that won't be the best on the market. Do the research online and go with the best deal you can get.

What card would you recommend then?

OllyM said:
And as you've mentioned it, why are you paying for an Advantage Gold account? If you have a new Polo you'll have breakdown cover from VW, and the rest of the benefits are rubbish - cancel it and save the £13/month cost.

I pay it for the Mobile Phone Insurance, Travel Insurance, Identity Theft Cover and hotel discount.

OllyM · 5 Jan 2012 at 10:46

Casdawer said:
What card would you recommend then?

Well, I don't know what card(s) you have at the moment but Barclaycard have a two year 0% balance transfer card at the moment - the best thing to do is read this and pick a suitable card.

I pay it for the Mobile Phone Insurance, Travel Insurance, Identity Theft Cover and hotel discount.

I strongly recommend you look again at these "benefits" - you can probably get them for much less elsewhere.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2012 at 12:25

Casdawer said:
I pay it for the Mobile Phone Insurance,

£5 a month.

Travel Insurance,

£20 a year for worldwide inc USA.

Identity Theft Cover

Free with various credit cards.

and hotel discount.

Completely worthless.

You are paying over the odds for benefits worth less than you pay for them.

Bin the fee paying current account.

Bunka · 5 Jan 2012 at 13:42

Basically, listen to everything that [TW]Fox has said in this thread and act on it. The situation you're in isn't that complex to get out of at all.

Simon · 5 Jan 2012 at 13:45

Can you get phone insurance on iPhones for £5 a month?

Bunka · 5 Jan 2012 at 13:49

Simon said:
Can you get phone insurance on iPhones for £5 a month?

First result on google brings it up for £5.99 p/m

http://iphoneinsurance.org.uk/

TJM · 5 Jan 2012 at 14:03

I use Insureandgo: http://gadget.insureandgo.com/

Less than £50 a year for everything except loss, which is fine by me as I've never lost anything of value in my entire life.

Simon · 5 Jan 2012 at 14:49

Bunka said:
First result on google brings it up for £5.99 p/m

http://iphoneinsurance.org.uk/

Not bad, an extra £1 a month to include loss though.

Still a Natwest joint is £6.50/month each and covers 2 phones.

Casdawer · 6 Jan 2012 at 20:08

OllyM said:
Well, I don't know what card(s) you have at the moment but Barclaycard have a two year 0% balance transfer card at the moment - the best thing to do is read this and pick a suitable card.

I strongly recommend you look again at these "benefits" - you can probably get them for much less elsewhere.

According to that site, the Natwest Card is very good.

It's only 0% for 20 months, so I do lose 4 months BUT it would be nice to have everything under one roof, as it's easier to manage the money in Online Banking.

[TW]Fox · 6 Jan 2012 at 20:10

Casdawer said:
According to that site, the Natwest Card is very good.

It's only 0% for 20 months, so I do lose 4 months BUT it would be nice to have everything under one roof, as it's easier to manage the money in Online Banking.

ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHG

You want to get out of debt, not sacrifice the best deal you can get for meaningless 'convenience'. You don't need to 'manage' your balance transferred credit card, you need to do a balance transfer, set up a direct debit and forget it whilst you focus on saving up enough to clear it!

OllyM · 6 Jan 2012 at 20:18

Casdawer said:
According to that site, the Natwest Card is very good.

It's only 0% for 20 months, so I do lose 4 months BUT it would be nice to have everything under one roof, as it's easier to manage the money in Online Banking.

Why even post and ask for advice then? I guess you won't even look for alternatives to the pointless packaged bank account you're paying for either?

Pudney · 6 Jan 2012 at 20:40

[TW]Fox;20967039 said:
ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHG

You want to get out of debt, not sacrifice the best deal you can get for meaningless 'convenience'. You don't need to 'manage' your balance transferred credit card, you need to do a balance transfer, set up a direct debit and forget it whilst you focus on saving up enough to clear it!

Well, if he can pay it off in 20 months instead of 24 months (in full) then it's a reasonable thought process. Assuming that's part of the reason for the preference. Which I don't know.