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[Mr Skrunts]

I have a friend thats has created herself a problem and I have come up with an idea that may or may not help her.

Basically she had a cash flow problem quite a while back and had to reley on a credit card to survive. (none of which I knew about at the time)  Now she is getting back on her feet but life and bill's end up battling her down.  The biggest hinderence is the CC Interest.

Her circumstances are improvoving but as mentioned the Interest is hindering the move forward, Her card is maxed and payments are being maintained, so my idea was to suggest paying the income she has straight to the card and live off the card as eccomically as possble, If income and outgoings are balanced carefully there would be very little interest if any and if done carefully the card would need to be relied on less and less.

The one question I need to find the answer to is her rent, being with an independent landlord  (That I believe has card facilities) would her rent be classed as a cash payment (meaning would it attract the cash transaction %)

Yes I am very aware that there are a lot of downsides to this method, one of the worst being that the card balance might get increased and it causes a whole lot more problems, but if it stays at the current limit then it could work well.

Any help regards the rent payment would be appreciated.  TIA.

[Lazydocker]

If it goes through a card terminal then it should be a transaction as opposed to cash. But only definitive answer would be to check with card provider/bank. 

[zirk]

There are Credit Cars out there that when you join them they will give you 0% interest on Cash Advances for 12 months or so, meaning the Cash Advance can be paid into another existing Credit Card Account so as to wipe out all or some of the Interest Payments.

Short term fix and using additional Cards can be a slippery slope for getting yourself into more issues.

[amba]

Most service providers apply a cc handling cahrge normally between 1.5% and 2.75% so you would need to factor that additional cost ontop of the rent .

Better option if her credit status allows would be to apply for another credit card with a 12 or 18 month balance transfer at 0% .That way the credit balnace off the interest bearing card could be transfered so no interest would stack up for a while on the balance.Accepting she may incurr a charge for using the card to pay the rent payments could then be made against both reducing the balance on the 0% and having no charge of interest on the old card as you would be clearing the spend on the rent each month.

Obviously that does rely on her being able to secure a new zero % charge card allowing a large enough balance to transfer the existing cards balance 

[Kevin Wood]

I think the best answer is to forget the credit card, cut it up and pay it off with anything that's surplus at the end of the month or, if possible, by borrowing elsewhere with a better rate or balance transfer deal.

Even with the best of intentions, a credit card is a dangling carrot.

Oh, and I'm sure a small landlord would incur charges if they accept credit cards as payment, so I'd expect them to be passed on to the customer.

[Bigron]

Speak to the card company and ask them to freeze the interest, paying back an agreed monthly amount off the capital. You might be surprised how co-operative they can be.

Ron.

[Entwood]

Far better to get help/advice from Citizens Advice or one of the other legitimate Debt Counselling services .. something like

"Stepchange"   http://www.stepchange.org/ 

or the

"National Debtline"    https://www.nationaldebtline.org/

....... avoid the sharks like the plague ...

They know far more about the subject than all of OOF put together !!

[Andy B]

....
They know far more about the subject than all of OOF put together !!

but the knowledge here on OOF is very broad ...... and amazing at times 

[Entwood]

....
They know far more about the subject than all of OOF put together !!

but the knowledge here on OOF is very broad ...... and amazing at times 

Totally agree .. but on something as important as debt counselling a face to face interview with an expert is, IMHO, far safer than an "internet chat" ...

[Andy B]

....

Totally agree .. but on something as important as debt counselling a face to face interview with an expert is, IMHO, far safer than an "internet chat" ...

Agreed! 

[05omegav6]

Can vouch for Stepchange very helpful and always at the end of the phone if you've any questions

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

There are Credit Cars out there that when you join them they will give you 0% interest on Cash Advances for 12 months or so, meaning the Cash Advance can be paid into another existing Credit Card Account so as to wipe out all or some of the Interest Payments.

Short term fix and using additional Cards can be a slippery slope for getting yourself into more issues.

The competition between credit card companies is white hot at the moment, so many of them will allow you to transfer your balance from one card to another with an interest free period of up to 40 months.
MBNA will also allow cash transfers to pay off bank overdraft. Interest free debt is much easier to reduce / pay off.
This may well be a good option for the op, but as said, debt counselling advice has to be the first thing to do, if the sums involved are significant.

[STEMO]

There are Credit Cars out there that when you join them they will give you 0% interest on Cash Advances for 12 months or so, meaning the Cash Advance can be paid into another existing Credit Card Account so as to wipe out all or some of the Interest Payments.

Short term fix and using additional Cards can be a slippery slope for getting yourself into more issues.

The competition between credit card companies is white hot at the moment, so many of them will allow you to transfer your balance from one card to another with an interest free period of up to 40 months.
MBNA will also allow cash transfers to pay off bank overdraft. Interest free debt is much easier to reduce / pay off.
This may well be a good option for the op, but as said, debt counselling advice has to be the first thing to do, if the sums involved are significant.

You have to have will power to use this method though, credit card companies don't do it from the goodness of their hearts. The new provider will be hoping, and giving you plenty of encouragement, to spend more on the card once the balance is on there.

[Mr Skrunts]

Many thanks for all the replies, I am aware about most of the information given, and if it were for my benefit it would be very helpfull.

The land lord probably owns in excess of 500 houses and in thier hayday probably is excess of a 2000+

0% balance tranfer would only lead to her maxing the old one if she got into more difficulties.

I could have have helped her out, but she probably wouldn't cancel the card (cutting them up doesn't close the card, it gives them the option to re-order a replacement) and because I had helped her then she probably would run the card into debt again.  As you can guess she isnt very good with balancing her spending.

[Kevin Wood]

All the more reason for her to seek professional advice while the situation is not so dire it can't be resolved, then, IMHO.