credit card or personal loan

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Sammie

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Hi, I have 3K on my credit card, that I haven't used, and am trying to decide if it's better to get a personal loan for 3K from the bank rather than using my credit card. I have to put flooring down on a new appartment I bought and buy stuff for it. So I need 3K. Can someone advise please?

thanks
 
Do you have 6 months interest free on this card?
How soon are you planning to pay off the 3k?
 
Hi, I haven't transfared to anther credit card company, just managed to clear it all off. Becuase I will have to start paying my mortgage in Jan, I will probably like to spread out the payment back of the 3k for as long as possible so I was thinking of getting a personal loan to do this over a 5 year period. I get a christmas bonus of 3K at chrismas but I will get all of the money if I get it in vouchers otherwise if I get cash then nearly half of it is gone on tax. I don't know what the best option is?
 
Typically the APR on ccs is higher than for term loans. Depending on who your cc issuer is though you could work it in such a way that by transferring the cc balance from issuer to issuer you pay little or no interest eg ( this example is not meant to be exhaustive as there are other possibilities ) transfer the 3k to an UB cc at 0% for nine months, then transfer that to BOS to take advantage of their 6 months 0% period and finally to BOI gold advantage cc at 2.9% for 12 months - overall that's a fairly cheap 27 month loan. No guarantee of course that present offers will continue or that the various cc issuers will accept your application.
 
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But will payments work out more monthly paying off the credit card than it will do with a loan considering the personal loan will be spread out over a 5 year period?
 
If you want to pay off 3k over 5 years, id be going down the personal loan route, wouldnt fancy 3k off credit card debt hanging over me.
 
Sammie said:
But will payments work out more monthly paying off the credit card than it will do with a loan considering the personal loan will be spread out over a 5 year period?
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Your cc repayments will probably be between 3 and 5% of the oustanding balance ( but obviously if you keep paying only the min. you will have a larger than otherwise balance to transfer to the BOI cc ) whereas the repayments on 3k over 5 years would be roughly €65 per month going the term loan route. In your op you queried "am trying to decide if it's better to get a personal loan for 3K from the bank rather than using my credit card ". I took " better " to mean cheaper . Generally the longer the term of the loan the lower the repayments but the more interest you will pay.
 
If I were you I'd get a loan and be done with it. You never know what unexpected costs you'll have with the new apt and so you may need to avail of your credit card unexpectedly over the next year or two. From other discussions I've read on AAM, some mortgage providers offer unsecured loans at lower rates of interest if you have your mortgage with them so it might be worth checking your own mortgage provider.
 
How much would the monthly repayments for the credit card be? i can afford max €150 a month.
 
Not trying to sound like a dick, but do you really need to go into debt over some flooring? Can you not save up for a few months and do it then?
 
thanks for all your advice. what's does a "unsecured" loan mean as apposed to a personal loan?
 
I get paid monthly and it would take some time to save. I'm not going to look at concrete floors for any longer than i have to. I was thinking of maybe the sales at the end of Dec and get some deals then...otherwise it'll be a while before more sales come along.....
 
Sammie said:
How much would the monthly repayments for the credit card be? i can afford max €150 a month.
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Assuming 9 months interest free, you would be talking €333 per month.

Why not get a personal loan over say 2 years as opposed to 5?
 
Sammie said:
Can I pay off lump sums without being Penalised to a unsecured loan?
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Depends on the loan. Some fixed rate loans don't allow lump sum penalties. Tesco do however, and their rates are generally pretty competitive.

A fixed rate loan from [broken link removed], for 2 years, at a rate of 7.5% would cost €135 a month. Total interest is around €232 for the 2 years. A safer option than using a credit card, even if you can get away interest free on the credit card.
 
Tesco refused me a while back for a loan so i won't be trying them again. i will try my mortgage bank and my own bank and see what the best option is......i will get it over a time less than 5 years.....

thanks all for your advice, i will keep it all in mind when making a decision....
 
In the first post, I presume you mean you have a €3,000 limit on your credit card, and a balance o/s of zero?

Also, when you say 'put down flooring and stuff', how much and what kind of flooring and what kind of stuff?
 
CCOVICH said:
In the first post, I presume you mean you have a €3,000 limit on your credit card, and a balance o/s of zero?
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I have a limit of 3K on my CC that is correct and the balance is zero....don't understand o/s in your post..?
 
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