A North Yorkshire super-mum has beaten the credit card companies at their own game, as HAYDN LEWIS reports.

FOR some of us, the dull thud of the credit card bill landing on the doormat is the sound that we most dread.

The astronomical interest rates charged by some credit card and loan companies and the financial pressures of modern living mean debts can mount up at an all-too-alarming rate.

But one card-savvy mother of three from North Yorkshire says that need not be the case.

Margaret Maltby, of Ripley Road, Knaresborough, thinks a well-managed loan with little or no interest is a help, not a hindrance, on the road to hassle-free living and has used them to help her family manage their money.

Debt-dodging mum Margaret is a self-confessed "card tart" and refuses point-blank to allow credit card companies to make a profit out of her.

"I'm proud to be a card tart," she said.

"I use the facilities offered to me by credit card companies to my advantage.

"I think I use my common sense, I don't get stung by high interest rates and I use the money available to help me out, help my husband and my children," said Margaret.

Margaret's method is plain and simple. She takes out a low or no-interest loan and pays it off in monthly instalments until her time is up and then transfers any remaining balance to another willing credit card company.

She then continues the cycle until the debt is paid.

This seemingly foolproof technique has stood Margaret in good stead for years.

She first got a credit card 15 years ago and initially only used it to buy life's essentials, such as groceries and petrol.

But when her husband Glenn's company went into liquidation about four years ago, Margaret said the couple had a year while he set up a new business when cash was scarce.

"I got wise and started to use my credit card to help out," said Margaret.

Margaret was there again when her son, Leigh, now 31, needed help paying off his university debts.

"He got in to a sticky situation. I took out a loan to pay off his £10,000 debt - which would be considered quite low by today's standards - to help him to be able to pay that himself and live, because he was living in London at the time and that isn't cheap," said Margaret.

Margaret's eldest daughter, Lucy, 28, also relies on mum to help her stave-off high interest rates while she and her husband and a new baby struggle with the mortgage needed for a family home in Harrogate.

And with youngest daughter Melanie, 18, looking to go to a London university, Margaret is already thinking ahead to how she can help out with tuition and cost of living expenses.

Margaret still has a credit card which she uses month-to-month and which is paid off monthly.

In March Margaret, who works for York-based Persimmon Homes, was offered a £16,100 interest free loan from MBNA for nine months to off-set her mortgage interest.

It has also been used to help off-set her husband's tax bill and buy a larger family car for her daughter until the other one is sold.

In December, when a higher interest rate starts to bite, Margaret plans to switch again.

"It will all be repaid in December, with any shortfall 'tarted' to another willing credit card company," said Margaret.

But Margaret does not let it keep her awake at night, and she would only ever consider borrowing money for herself or her close family who she knows will pay her back.

Nor does she think she is being over generous, just that she is helping her family out where and when she can.

She said: "I don't pay it off for them, I just borrow it.

"We have a very good relationship.

"I don't think they are going to leave me high and dry - I'm very comfortable with it."

Margaret said she did not think she was the only "card tart" out there.

She said: "A lot of people move money around with credit cards, and if you are not a person who's ever done it, you might find it a little confusing.

"I am absolutely amazed people have stayed with cards when they can pay 30 per cent interest if they are not paying off their debt.

"If anybody does need to use or borrow money there is absolutely no reason they should be paying those sort of rates - it's a matter of shopping around.

"It's easy enough to do it's just a matter of ringing them up and they are more than willing to lend you money if you have a good credit history."

Margaret's tactics given thumbs-up by financial advisor

GERRY GRAY Gray, an independent financial advisor with Grosvenor Financial Consultants in Swinegate, York, applauds Margaret's tactical use of credit cards.

"I'm all for it. If credit card companies are stupid enough to lend money on a low or no rate basis for a period of time, I think the general public are wise to take advantage of it.

"The problem with credit card companies is they give people unrealistic limits and they allow people to borrow on one credit card without checking with other companies to see how much debt people have elsewhere," said Mr Gray.

Mr Gray said that on more than one occasion people looking to borrow money to help out a relative with their debts have come to him for financial advice and he has advised them to take out a low or no rate loan.

"Although obviously I am more in the business of helping people save money rather than run up debts, if Mrs Maltby had come to me that is what I'd have advised her to do," said Mr Gray.

Mr Gray said problems can arise, however, when people end up taking out too many of these loans and get into difficulty paying them back.

He said there were risks involved with not paying off such loans by the end of the agreed period and transferring them on to another low or no interest credit card as well.

"Say you have a £10,000 credit card limit and you get to the period when you have to pay it off, you may be able to bounce it on to another low rate credit card account, but you can't borrow any more money on that."

He said the fact the MBNA had said it will be implementing a two per cent balance transfer charge from October 1 may be an indication that credit card companies may be getting wise to the trick.

Updated: 09:25 Monday, November 01, 2004