Now the the title sounds grander than the post may actually suggest, but sometimes in writing its hard to sound even more dull than I am or the mundaneness of what I am about to post, but hey. As its some time out of work, I am completing as rearrangement of some finance work I did before I went on my holidays. Thankfully my holiday was paid for from a sharesave and money I had in the bank so no need for any debt.
However, as I was checking through where I was at, I “rediscovered” the amount of plastic I had sitting in a wallet, in a drawer, just around the house. In the main they all had zero balances are small (and I mean tiny) balances. As such I’ve been making an effort to clear down and more importantly closing down accounts. For some easy I had all details for others, didnt have the card in question which makes it difficult.
As part of my review, I’ve been going through APR’s to see whats cheap and expensive. My go to card is a Barclaycard at 6.9% which isnt too bad in fairness. I’ve just closed a Tesco @12.9% as they wouldnt move me to the 7% card and I need to leave, wait 6 months and reapply…. A Natwest at 20+ has gone and a MBNA is almost gone (but its currently 0%) In terms of revolving credit through cards, there was scope for 30k+ of debt, thank god I am not completely mental.
Fair to say though not just about the APR rate I’ve kept a nationwide highish % as its a fee free no load european card so worth having if abroad.
Next up is the biannual trip to the bank as the mortgage is about to drop off its 2 year fixed deal and interest rate would revert to base. Now that’s not great in the current state of play so I need to go back and revisit. In all fairness last time, no issue, I went with all the details which confused the lady and we had an offer done in less than 20 minutes and it all concluded in a month or so. There was also an incentive cashback payment last time. I wonder what they will offer this time?
A quick look suggests on a 2 year jobbie:
| Borrowing between 60% and 75% of your home’s value | |||||
| No product or mortgage account fee. | 2.09% fixed until 31 October 2017 | Homeowner Variable Rate, currently 3.99% | £0 | 3.8% APR | For loans between £0 and £149,999. |
Or 5 years:
| Borrowing between 65% and 75% of your home’s value | |||||
| No product or mortgage account fee. | 2.89% fixed until 31 October 2020 | Homeowner Variable Rate, currently 3.99% | £0 | 3.7% APR | For loans between £0 and £149,999. |
Decisions….. but not until next week…. or even looking further afield….
