[Archived] Credit Cards

[Eddie]

Everyone knows how I love to start topics asking for advice, so I thought I'd get onto credit cards as I'm looking to get one in the UK. Obviously there's lots of information on the internet, but just wondering if anyone had horror stories regarding any of the major companies, or great experiences with anything. Not looking to do anything major with it, just make the odd purchase and build up a credit history in the UK.

Any advice would be great.

[92er]

My advice would be to look at the Martin Lewis website.

Then make sure you pay off your bill every month.

[Paul]

If you intend to pay off the balance every month it's best just to carry on using your bank card. The only real benefit to having a card is the protection offered on purchases over £100, so booking a holiday for example gives you good protection if the holiday company goes bust.

I have various cards, currently the best seems to be Abbey Zero which has azero interest rate, don't know if this is still available . I've had good experience with Capital One, Sainsbury used to be very good but recently have started to treat customers very badly. I missed a payment, always clear the account monthly, and had my credit limit slashed from £8000 to £800. Instead of closing the account I keep it open just to cost them money in administering it!

[colin]

Stick with a debit card

That way you're not spending money that you don't have.

So you're not spending the rest of your life paying off debts for some stupid spending spree on stuff that you thought you wanted at the time, but you didn't have the money to pay for.

[Beta Ray Bill]

My main credit card is a play.com one from MBNA.

Signed up for 9 months interest free purchases and slapped all my forthcoming holiday expenditure on it. Do all on-line trading with it, and most incidentals.

Clear "BAU" spend each month, and just cleared the holiday expenditure in one go at the end of the interest-free period.

My reward for 9 months hammering of a credit card and saving the money for the holiday in a normal bank account?

Zero interest, zero balance and £100 vouchers from play

[Al]

Stick with a debit card

That way you're not spending money that you don't have.

So you're not spending the rest of your life paying off debts for some stupid spending spree on stuff that you thought you wanted at the time, but you didn't have the money to pay for.

That's good advice.

[DeadlyDirk]

Stick with a debit card

That way you're not spending money that you don't have.

So you're not spending the rest of your life paying off debts for some stupid spending spree on stuff that you thought you wanted at the time, but you didn't have the money to pay for.

I agree with colin and AL, the best advice is not to get one. I'm only 26 but my university days quickly taught me that!

[broadsword]

Nothing wrong with a credit card if you use it responsibly. Can be a very handy form of short-term credit if you have the discipline to use it right.

[cletus]

I`ve had a creditcard for years & always made sure i paid it off every month.....until a few months back! I`d been off work through illness & a couple of biggish bills fell through the letter box. I didn`t have the readies so put the stuff on my credit card. It took a lot longer to pay the bills off & i realised the interest rate was in the mid 20%s.

If i ever get into that situation again (& i hope i don`t) i`ll get a loan from the bank. Yhe interest rates are a LOT lower than credit cards. If i could start all over again, i`d not bother with credit cards. They are useful, but can prove expensive

[Seggie]

Stick with a debit card

That way you're not spending money that you don't have.

So you're not spending the rest of your life paying off debts for some stupid spending spree on stuff that you thought you wanted at the time, but you didn't have the money to pay for.

Sound advice, Im 28 and I only finished paying off stuff from thigs I bought when I was in my early 20s just last year. Brings it all home when you think about what you spent some of it on, one instance was an original XBOX when they first came out, I got about £30 when I got rid of it and the Interest I paid on it is not worth thinking about. I got it as an 'Emergency Thing' but I didn't use it like that.

There are only TWO purchases I would consider getting using credit these days, Car and a House and the car would be at a major push.

[DanLad]

Nowt wrong with credit cards as long as you are responsible and pay the balance every month.

AMEX cashback gets you 5% cash back for the first 3 months and then .5%/1%/1.5% depending on how much you spend over a year. I got about £200 cashback last year without spending any more money than I normally do (back to paying the balance back in full every month again!) Literally money for nothing. Just thinking about looking at new rewards cards.

If you stick to a debit card remember that if it is 'cloned' or whatever they have instant access to your bank account. If they clone your credit card they are not spending your money.