Credit Card for Balance Transfer on Disability Pension?

parad0x on 11/10/2020 - 19:39
Last edited 12/10/2020 - 10:15

Hi All,

I flicked through all the questions that have been asked relating to CC's lately and I didn't see this covered anywhere - possibly for a clear reason!

Currently with Bendigo Bank, and hold a CC with $1500 limit, and near enough maxxed out.

For numerous reasons that have culminated over many years, I've really just had enough of BB and want nothing more to do with them! Unfortunately I owe them a moderate sum of money on credit that has kept me tied to them for far longer than I can bare!

As per the title, my only source of income is DSP. I have assets in my car which is paid off ($15k), and the house whichis about 7yrs into a P+I mortgage, so there's technically a decent amount of equity in the house of which only half is mine just to be clear.

SO! The elephant in the room is,,,, Is there any hope in hell that any financial institution would provide me with a CC for BT purposes? My credit rating has just dipped under 800, thanks to Bendigo Bank bouncing my final installment on a Cash Converters fast cash loan despite the fact that there was quite clearly available funds there at the time. This is just one example of many that has led me to NEED to escape BBank. This bouncing of direct debits when sufficient funds are clearly available has started happening far far too regularly this year, and i was livid when i learned that the Cashies one made it onto my credit file… They were paid on time, but the automation of the bounce triggered an entry on my file. I'm sure if it really mattered for something and i had the motivation to get it done, i could probably get that wiped from my file, but at present its more hassle than its worth.

Sorrry for trailing OT there for a moment! Let me know your thoughts, and please don't suggest i pay off my CC debt then move banks, that's not why I'm here :)

Thanks in advance,
Nasha!

EDIT: I must say, I didn't come here expecting to have to defend myself for who I am, the position I'm in and the hand I've been dealt in the game of life. I came here for some advice on CC BT's, most certainly not on how you think I am or should be living my life. Instead of help, all I've received is judgement, assumptions and false conclusions.

For those of you who are obviously better than me, I really damn you to have to have walked a mile in my shoes. Then you might have some consideration for people other than yourself.

Financial Credit Card

Comments

  • tsunamisurfer on 11/10/2020 - 20:20

    Banks consider a new credit card application a new credit facility on top of the ones you already have. They won't consider that you promise to close the BB CC with a BT.

    Right now you have a home loan, a maxed out CC, possibly a pay day loan as well.

    Another bank may look upon those with some caution.

    • parad0x on 12/10/2020 - 10:09

      Payday loan is in the past, but thanks for the info.

      That consideration alone rules out any bank even remotely considering allowing me to have a line of credit!

  • bobbified on 11/10/2020 - 20:33
    +4

    …so there's technically a decent amount of equity in the house of which only half is mine just to be clear.

    Your best option might be to focus on paying off the balance of the card first. Either that or, if you really can't wait that long, refinance the home, depending on whether the owner of the other half agrees and use that to pay off the BB credit card.

    To be honest though, $1500 isn't really a lot and if you can't afford to pay it off quickly, it might be time to have a look at your spending habits vs your income. You seem to be living on a very thin margin that will eventually get out of hand (if not already). I'm not going to judge, but if you're a regular at Cashies, you may already be knocking on the door of further financial troubles.

    • parad0x on 12/10/2020 - 09:54

      I'm not a regular a cashies… I'm on a government support payment, living week to week, and when a $750 car insurance excess comes up, it's not something that I can pay out of pocket, so I took out a payday loan and spread it across 3 fortnights so it was a manageable expense.

      This is the first and hopefully the last time I've had to do something like this, but unfortunately I was not presented with a whole lot of options to come up with the funds on short notice at the time. This was some 6 months in the past, it's not a current debt.

      $1500 is not really alot, no. However when you're living on government support AND have a mortgage, instantly your income stream is split very very thin, and anything that does come up spare is given to my amazing partner towards my financial burden on her for the cost of living expenses I can't meet. But the key point here I believe is that I'm not, not paying it off because "I can't afford to". A debt is a debt and efforts should be taken to have it repaid. However BBank can go get ***** before I make any room in my finances or way or life to pay them a cent more than I'm legally obliged to do at this point.

  • RockyRaccoon on 11/10/2020 - 20:57
    +5

    You can change banks for transactions.

    Just open a new account put your pension through that etc, pay out regular payments from the new bank, keep your Bendigo bank account alive with a few dollars and keep the credit card.

    That way they cant bounce your payments as its made by the other bank. Once things normalise after a few years etc swap your credit card then and close all the other bendigo bank accounts

    • parad0x on 12/10/2020 - 10:02
      -1

      I have considered this in order to stop future bullsh*t from occurring, however I also refuse to make any changes and sacrifices in order to hand over money to BBank!! I pay them what I'm legally obliged to do so at this point and that is all they're getting from me right now.

      This sounds immature and all that, but there is a lengthy history behind this which I don't need to get into on a public forum.

      If I were to go ahead, there's a bit of risk of "out of sight out of mind" as it's never been a traditional style bill that arrives in the mail with X days to be paid. Currently I'm reminded by a countdown in my banking app 5 days out.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/10/2020 - 20:59
    +4

    Ditch the cash converters loans, if banks see that its generally a sign of financial stress.

    • parad0x on 12/10/2020 - 09:55

      1 cash converters loan, at a time of financial stress.

      • parad0x on 12/10/2020 - 10:04

        I thought I might add, that financial stress was car insurance excess - something that doesn't come with a payment plan, or advance warning, nor does it fall within my "spare change" tin at the end of the fortnight.

  • Hithere on 12/10/2020 - 07:16
    +1

    It sounds like you are financially in deep trouble OP and getting deeper. You should get professional advice asap.

    The National Debt Helpline is one source of assistance, there are others.

    https://ndh.org.au

    • parad0x on 12/10/2020 - 09:58
      +1

      I appreciate the concern, but people are in much worse positions than me I'm sure. My position is stationary though, and there's not much a debt help line can do for me - it's essentially financial planning and budgeting and if I wasn't capable of doing that, I would've been in strife long ago

  • AustriaBargain on 12/10/2020 - 10:46
    +1

    You could boost your income, iirc you are allowed to earn a certain amount each fortnight on the DPS without it affecting your rate of DSP or your eligibility. You may be limited to what you can do for a variety of reasons, but if you only want a few hours a week anyway then there will be something you can do for someone. I wish I could find people who would commit to doing 4 hours work for me for years ahead. Just don't travel a long ways for 3 hours work per week. I've heard of someone catching a bus 1.5 hours each way for a three hour shift, but apparently they got more than just money out of it.

    I don't know anything about credit card applications, but a few hours extra income per week adds up fast.

  • justdigi on 12/10/2020 - 12:59

    You really need to clear up the non-payment mark on your credit file. If they agree that it’s there in error there should be no problem removing it. You say it’s more hassle than it’s worth, however the automated systems at the banks will automatically disqualify you for having that on your credit file. Try clearing that up and then looking into the Big 4 banks’ pensioner card programmes. I know CBA gets a bad rap, but they specifically have a card for DSP recipients. Pre COVID-19 you’d apply for in in branch only, so not sure what they do now.

    • justdigi on 12/10/2020 - 13:04

      From what I can see it says:

      Have not had defaults on any loans, credit cards, interest-free finance or store cards in the last 5 years.

      So you need to get rid of that default on your report or you can’t apply for 5 years from the date of it.

  • Tee Rex Arms on 12/10/2020 - 13:22
    +5

    The comments for the majority are constructive and clearly not making judgment, assumptions and false conclusions.

    I’d suggest you develop some more resilience along with your balance transfer…

  • bobbified on 12/10/2020 - 16:14

    "Advice" is not judging. Everything that's been said the comments have an impact on your ability to get credit - that is what you're asking, no?

    For those of you who are obviously better than me..

    Noone has said or even suggested that they are better than you. You have no idea what some people here have been through.

    I really damn you to have to have walked a mile in my shoes. Then you might have some consideration for people other than yourself.

    oh wait… that's right, you think you have had it the worst and have been hard done by!. * rolls eyes *

  • deme on 12/10/2020 - 18:04
    +1

    I've was on DSP for years but thankfully I can work again.

    You need help here is why:
    * You are living week to week
    * Expenses of $750 cause you financial difficulties.
    * You are having troubles paying off a $1500 credit card.

    Call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007

    These are professionals giving free and confidential advice from professional financial counsellors. This is not one of those ads on tv. They are a non profit.

    They can help you get on top of your debts and be free from them.

  • ausmechkeyboards on 22/10/2020 - 10:49

    PM me if you want help getting out of this situation.

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