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Two Credit Cards to pay off

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andy-hughes | 11:45 Mon 12th Mar 2012 | ChatterBank
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I am paying off cash advances on two credit cards - approx £1500 on each.

The interest rate on both cards is the same.

Is there any advantage to paying the minimum payment on one, and the maximum avaialble on the other, so one decreases rapidly, with an attendent drop in interest, and on completion, pay the maximum to the remaining card.

Or is it just as ecconomical to pay a split amount to each card, and reduce them both at the same level?
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Definitely pay one of them off as soon as you can, as that will then mean zero interest on that one. I realise that sounds obvious!

There's also the psychological aspect of it, i.e. one of them will be paid off much more quickly.
I was once in that position with just one card. Making the minimum payment of £60 per month saw the balance decrease by only £10 per month because of the high interest rate, so always try to pay off more than the minimum if you can afford it.
If you have a good credit rating why not apply for a % interest card.
you can get one for 22 month at the moment.


it will cost you £90 to transfer the £3000 over to the new card.
That will be £136 per month to pay the card of on the 22nd month.

only £90 interest on the whole 3 grand ....not bad at all.
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Thanks Mick-Talbot - I am trying to avoid getting yet another card, a couple of aplications have been refused, probably because the new provider assesses (correctly) that i will only use the new card to kill the debt, so they will not get any new credit business out of me.

mike 1111 -I do pay well above the minimum on both cards, i simply need to know if maximising the payment on one, and minimising on the other is any better than a matched payment on both.
probably because the new provider assesses (correctly) that i will only use the new card to kill the debt

that will not be the reason andy, I have just transferred £4000 from the O/H's high interest card to a new % card in my name.

dangerous bloody things in the wrong hands are credit cards :0/
Often just paying the minimum means that the interest on your next statement will be MORE than you have just paid.....your debt will therefore INCREASE which is not what you really want....I have tried to explain this mad situation to my own bank (NW) but they are not interested (no pun there intended)
Why would they be interested , commoner?

It is up to you how much you pay off every month.
re Mick's comment -and not assisted by retail stores either.

My mother was after something from Next back last October. They were out of stock, me having sent in an e-mail, the mater being a technical dinosaur.

Then I got a message in early Dec saying that the item was restocked and, being close to Xmas, I thought that it would make a present for her.

I filled out the form and pressed to confirm, awaiting the payment page. "Ding" - back came the message that the order had been dispatched - and that my credit was £350. A good point was that the order was placed at 5.30pm and I had the item delivered next day at 1.30pm - impressive. But it did cross my mind about the ease of credit given - probably a cross reference on the postal code.

The bill did not materialise for about 3 weeks - £28 which I immediately settled and "Ding" back comes the message that I now had a £950 credit limit. Jeez and they wonder how folk get in credit trouble.

One other word of caution, a truck turns up in the depths of the countryside here to deliver two hefty Next catalogue tomes (about 6lb weight).....the next statement I see that I have been debited £5. I e-mailed about this to object as I can see their offerings on-line and they can come and pick the tomes up and that I should be credited back the money. That came off pretty quick and the admin said I could keep the tomes anyway..........don't get caught out by that little one.
DT; must pick you up on the one point here.
The reason that people get into trouble with credit is that they are never taught to manage their money. Modern life seems to encourage the idea that everything should be blamed on others and that people should take little or no responsibility for their own actions. This is wrong; the businesses are offering a service, it is up to the individual to access whether they take up that service or not.
Here's a radical idea; instead of buying on credit why not save up for what you want? If you can afford to pay back loan + interest then you will soon save the money; if you can't save it then you can't afford it. Simples!
SP *Assess*
But with credit cards you get protection if anything goes wrong. Credit card companies should be responsible to their users as well and not just up the limit because you make the payments each month. That's tempting someone to spend what they can't afford.
umm, sorry but that's rubbish. I have 2 credit cards both have limits of 7.5k, I have never paid interest on either of them because I only buy what I can afford. IE, I save the money, use the card to pay, then pay the card before the interest kicks in. I also get rewards on the cards.
Just because I can do something doesn't mean I have to do it.
But that's you. What would you do if you had no money and children to feed? And a credit card sitting there with spare money on it?

I don't have a credit card btw....
With the usual "pinch-of-salt" required when reading anything in the Torygraph:

http://www.telegraph....ow-33000-in-debt.html
If I couldn't control my buying I would destroy the card. As it is I do have self-control and a regard for consequences.
And yes, I have been in the position of a single mum with very little income to feed and clothe us. But I can also cook a meal with very cheap ingredients and I can sew. I also bought our clothes from jumble sales.
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madmaggot - surely you must see that you are the exception to the rule?

If everyone worked within their limit, then no credit carc company would stay in business.

Some people like ummm - and myself, and many many others, calculate paying an amount of interest in order to obtain something they want or need - and are willing to pay that interest as per the agreement.

My question was regarding the most efficient way to make payments - I have no problem at all with making the payments, or the interest, I knew what I was doing when I incurred the debt.
But not everyone is like that.

I don't like spending money, not mine anyway :-) but I have a mate who's skint a week after payday. Impulsive person...
Andy, good luck with reducing your debts. Try my way in future, especially once interest rates get back to proper levels.
buy now pay later ..... i'm happy with that.

Why wait for something that you can have today?
pay off both at the same amount. it is more economical as less interest will be accrued on both cards. i sat down once and painfully worked it out! minimum payments are a rip off and it can take years to pay off an amount like that x

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