thanks.

RingoB:

....I'd like to completely close my Virgin account, making sure that I've also paid off any accumulated interest since my last payment. I can't see a link or phone number anywhere to do that....

For starters, I'd strongly recommend you wait until you receive a zero balance statement, hopefully the next one, then simply phone the normal customer services number probably on the back of the statement.

Also you should check carefully that you don't need to cancel any Continuous Payment Authority (or CPA) arrangements on the account.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/post/quotclosedquot-natwest-mastercard-account-still-a-192529.aspx

I've managed to pay off the balance for my Virgin card, thanks to recieving some unexpected cash. Yay for unexpected cash.

However now I'd like to completely close my Virgin account, making sure that I've also paid off any accumulated interest since my last payment. I can't see a link or phone number anywhere to do that. Also when I click on 'contact us' there is nobody to talk to about closing the account. Does anyone know how to do this?

Also, for future reference I'd like to know how to close my Egg card account (though I may hang on to this as a credit builder).

The quickest way to pay them off will be to pay off (either cash or balance transfer) the one with the highest interest rate. Not the one with the most interest or largest balance but the one with the highest apr. That way you reduce your interest payments in the quickest way. It's called snowballing and there are various calculators available to show you the effects of even quite small overpayments on the minimum charges.

thanks everybody, i'll take maxstreams advice and pay off the largest debt first.

Many thanks for the kind words.

One thing that I'd add is that it does cost to use the 0% deals. Most charge a 3% fee which is significant given the suggested repayment timetable. Whether it would be better to transfer or not is hypothetical until/unless an offer becomes available (perhaps after a successful application for another card). The interest situation with the current cards would need to be known to give better advice. There may be a better option but diving in and paying off as much as you can as soon as you can is usually sensible.

I too don't like debts but I have just used a balance transfer to finance the purchase of some stock. It's not something that sells well at this time of year but hopefully I'll sell enough in the next six months to be able to pay the debt off before October. The "0%" promotion and the chance to purchase the stock came at about the same time. Time will tell if I made the right choice. Certainly I'll be cashing in some investments if that is what is needed when the time comes to avoid the card's "standard" interest rate.

RingoB

Maxsteam is a shrewd one and gives great advice. I started to overpay my credit agreements a couple of years back after just getting sick and tired of seeing nothing (but more interest!) for the effort of minimum payments. It takes a little bit of extra money to start this off successfully...you have £420 so you're more than sorted that way.

For your highest interest card, pay in your £420 per month whilst still making the minimum payment to the other...you'll soon see it whittle down to nothing in a few months. Then, when it's paid off, pop the £420 onto the other card each month whilst still paying the minimum amount too. Hey presto, and as Maxsteam says, it'll be gone in a little over seven months.

If the best savings rate you can find at the moment is, say, 3% and your credit cards are at, say, 18%, you'll end up paying yourself six times the interest than if you squirrelled your extra cash away in a bank account. Yeah, it's nice to have savings, but so much more satisfying not to have any debt!

And yup, I'm more or less debt free...and I now use my credit cards instead of them using me. My credit rating has gone up and I now get better offers, and a better level of acceptance for applications. I keep a little on 0% cards because a) it doesn't cost me anything and b) it helps preserve some payment history and credit usage.

Good luck!

Rob

RingoB:

.. I'm just paying the minimum on both cards right now...

In that case you cannot be certain that you will be accepted for a good balance transfer card since a reasonable interpretation (as seen from a credit search) is that you cannot afford more credit (even if that is not true).

If you particularly want to maintain a good credit rating you should ensure you repay credit card balances every month by significantly more than the minimum payment on top of your monthly spending.

The best way, in my opinion, is to look to see which card has the highest interest rate and then pay minimum plus £420 per month for that card until the debt is repaid, then pay minimum plus £420 per month on the other card. You should get both the debts paid off fully in about 7 months.

There is no point in using savings as you've suggested unless the interest that you earn on your savings is noticeably more than the interest that you are paying on your credit cards. This may be the case if some or all of your debt is subject to a "0%" or similar promotional deal.

The transaction charge would mean that starting with a new "0%" promotion on another card might not be worthwhile.

I owe about £1700 on my virgin credit card and £1000 on my egg card. I'm just paying the minimum on both cards right now.

From my wages I'm managing to save £420 per month which I plan to use entirely to pay off these cards.

What would be the best way to go about doing this? I was thinking of opening a new credit card and transferring the balance, so that the previous amount I was paying in interest can go to my savings. But would this affect my credit rating?