You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Looking to buy a second hand biking motor (~£1800) plus sort some insurance & tax etc - going to need about £2k (as have a little put away). Likely to be from a private seller so can't just tick it on an interest free credit card.
Have lots of surplus cash coming in at the moment, about an extra grand a month.
Normally I'd just wait til I had the money and buy, but also conscious I don't have a car at all at the mo, and as well as the surplus cash I have surplus time and would get a lot of use out of it over next couple of months.
So, what are my options if I wanted to get my mitts on a couple of £k, and pay it off within 2/3 months?
What I'm seeing is:
Standard bank loan (Tesco bank etc). You don't get the best rate unless you take out ~£10k. Can I take that amount, pay £8k back in month 1, then £1k each next two months and not get some weird penalties?
Some kind of cashback deal on a credit card - a single 3% fee (~£60?)
Peer to peer lending?
Sorry if this seems a weird question, I've never had a loan before other than student ones.
Have got guaranteed work over next few months to pay for it, so not worried about not making payments, But also, would rather get the decks cleared within a couple of months rather than dragging it out
I am a Zopa.com user (peer to peer lender) the rates wouldn't worry if it is very short term as there will be very little interest charged, but there is a charge for the services about 125 quid, but you can pay back with no penalties.
As above, I wouldn’t worry about the interest rate as long as it’s not silly.
What will cost you is early repayment terms. You should really be careful to check them as typically all interest on loans is front loaded (aka added on day 1 of the loan) and then discounted for early repayment, I’m a bit rusty, but fairly sure you’d never be left owing more than you borrowed originally but check.
Credit cards were pretty much invented for short-term loans. Some offer cash advances. You’d need to pay 2.5%-5% of the balance plus the interest per month until it’s cleared.
overdraft. At current interest rates it's not worth your time 'shopping' around for the best loan rate. Giver your bank a call and for the amount you're looking to borrow the difference between the rates you could shop around for would be equivalent for a round of drinks on a Friday night out with some mates.
Could you just withdraw the money using your credit card then pay it back as you usually would when paying off the credit card.
Could you just withdraw the money using your credit card then pay it back as you usually would when paying off the credit card.
Do not do this without checking your terms and conditions!
Some cards have different interest rates for cash withdrawals, and usually don’t have the 30-45 day interest-free bit you usually get til your next bill. You start paying interest that day.
If you can get the interest free cash transfer for a one off fee then that’s likely to be lowest cost (and could be interest free for a good few months) - I’m pretty sure Halifax are offering that sort of thing at the moment
If you really will pay pay it off in a few weeks the overdraft is likely also a player (but only if the t really is short term)
Pawn your guitars and amps.;)
^yup, an arranged overdraft is exactly what you need if you're paying it off over the next couple of months. Don't use a credit card for short term cash unless you're OK with a hit to your credit rating.
In a similar position, but for a bit more than a couple of grand.....
Current plan is a Sainsburys loan. Rates are pretty much lowest out there for the amount we need, but more importantly you can get a 2 month payment holiday at the start of the loan, you'll of course still be charged interest but if you won't have the money to repay it until a couple of months down the line then it works out perfect. I think it's a months interest charged for early repayment, but double check as I can't remember exactly.
Lloyds personal loans can be paid off early for no penalty.
When I bought a bike a few years back, I paid myself using Paypal from an interest free credit card, then withdrew it from the paypal account. It was ages ago, so can't remember the exact ins and outs, but it wasn't hard to do.
Interest free credit card.
I've just bought my van with one.
Trick is to link it to your PayPal account. Pay the seller via PayPal (gift if happy to do so) with the credit card as the funding source. Bit less complicated than Dez's scheme, although could probably be done with two PayPal accounts.
I got a new card with 27mths interest free and £6.5k limit in about 20mins on the internet! Was surprised how easy that was, worryingly so.
Anyway, spent £4.5k on the van, only had £3k so needed to borrow about as much as you. Have stuck the money I did have in premium bonds, gives me two years to make it up to the amount spent then sell them and pay off the card, jobs a good un.
Rich parents......?
Ah yeah, the credit card/paypal thing would work. I already have a 0% credit card that would work. Good thinking team!
Also worth considering that any £2k car could cost you a reasonable amount at the next service. Once you have the car, the initial purchase won't be the only expense!
Zopa, you can pay back early when you want and interest gets knocked off
£2k for a car?
You could buy a bike for that!
Well, the one I was looking at was either sold or my "if your first offer doesn't embarrass you, it's too high" offer offended the guy so much he doesn't want to speak to me any more.
Keep looking, but holding out for a good one. If it takes me til I have the cash in the bank it's no bad thing
Ride your bike a bit more and take up crochet (other pointless activities are available) and before you know it 2 months will have flown by and you'll have the cash in your hand anway.
Don't you have any good mates that would lend it to you?
If it was one of my friends and I knew they could pay it back, I wouldn't hesitate to lend them it.
Well, the one I was looking at was either sold or my “if your first offer doesn’t embarrass you, it’s too high” offer offended the guy so much he doesn’t want to speak to me any more
.probably didn't offend but I also ignore people who make offers without viewing when I'm selling
It's a pet hate.
To be fair, it was 200 miles away