Poll do you have a credit card ?

I can't be trusted with them. I've had them before and despite my promises of 'it's only for emergencies' and 'I'll pay it off it full when the bill comes', it just never happens. My last one had a £7000 limit and I maxed it out with not much to show for it. I had to take money from the mortgage to pay it off. I am dangerous with them and it's really best not to have one.

We have one but the balance is tiny and will be paid off over the next couple of months (it's a 0% so there is no rush). We will alsways have one to pay for large purchases and holidays as you get more insurance through a card Im lead to believe. We usually do that then pay it off with the money we have saved for that item.

I've had one since we went to NZ last year as I thought it would be far easier and safer than carrying lots of cash with us. I rarely use it in this country though.

Lots of people used to assume I was blacklisted or bankrupt as they couldn't fathom why I didn't have one till then. I just don't feel I have the need for one. If I can't afford something, I'll wait untill I can. I buy most things online with a debit card so its not like I have to carry cash with me, in fact I usually have less than a tenner in my purse ?

All our household spending (not bills but things like petrol, food shop) goes on our joint Visa card. It's paid off in full each month. It makes our life a lot easier - I find it's easier to keep track of than cash. Also I'm paranoid about spending on the credit card - I find cash far easier to spend.

It works in our favour as our money stays in our current account longer, earning us interest, and we get cashback etc.

I have 3, but only 1 I use now - thats only for big things, work expenses and online shopping (which pretty much all get paid back straight away), and I get tesco points back on it which we use for treats. I used to be in quite a bit of debt, but its all paid back now, and I do trust myself to be sensible, so am happy to carry it around with me - I didn't for 2 years though while I was paying them all back!

Nutfluff - we do it this way because we both had a bad time with money management in our 20s and are scared of being able to get in that position again.

Yes, we have a few cards between us, individually and joint.

We use them for all purchases and then pay them off in full at the end of the month. All the cards we have are cashback cards so we get the benefit of having the cash in an interest bearing account until we pay the cards off, get cashback annually (just got nearly £500 back) and also get insurance on purchases.

Jelly Baby - I fully understand where you are coming from - I wasn't great with money in my twenties either, but as a result of that I am fully aware of the problems if I overspend and how long it took me to sort myself out. Hopefully (and it has so far) this will make me less likely to get into that kind of mess again. Since both of you are scared of this then so are you (aware of the pitfalls etc and therefore less likely to get into debt problems again), which is a good thing really! I still think though that giving the CC company your money for them to earn interest on isn't ideal, but if it works for you then fair enough. ?

I have two. I have one for emergencies and I use the other one for little things (like my college course). I pay over the minimum payment for that, so it's not a huge balance and it's still 0%. Will probably pay it off fairly soon.

H has three credit cards, one for emergencies related to his job and two for us. One of them has a 1k balance on it, but we had to use that when something went wrong with the car and even our rainy day fund didn't cover it. We could probably pay it off in a couple of months if we wanted to, but our money has gone on flights and hotel for a wedding and a couple of others things. Should be able to pay that off shortly. The other one should be clear too.

Another one who can't be trusted with them.
I have 2 with a large balance of £3500 (low interest rate).
I don't have anything to show for it, but it have managed to reduce from over £6000 in a year so definitely going in the right direction.
When it's cleared I will cut up one and keep one (to be looked after by H!) for hotel bookings etc

I have a Barclaycard, used almost exclusively for online purchases (it's safer to use a credit card than a debit card, as you have more security if things get pear-shaped) and an Egg card, which I haven't ever used - I cut up my old one when I paid off the balance, and the current one turned up in the post a few years later. I don't even know the PIN number, so it's pretty much useless to me.

I think I might have another couple somewhere - JK has a habit of ordering additional cards for me - but they've never been used.

quote:Originally posted by Mr JK
I have a Barclaycard, used almost exclusively for online purchases (it's safer to use a credit card than a debit card, as you have more security if things get pear-shaped) and an Egg card, which I haven't ever used - I cut up my old one when I paid off the balance, and the current one turned up in the post a few years later. I don't even know the PIN numberid="red">, so it's pretty much useless to me.

I think I might have another couple somewhere - JK has a habit of ordering additional cards for me - but they've never been used.

id="quote">


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quote:Originally posted by seraphina
All our household spending (not bills but things like petrol, food shop) goes on our joint Visa card. It's paid off in full each month. It makes our life a lot easier - I find it's easier to keep track of than cash. Also I'm paranoid about spending on the credit card - I find cash far easier to spend.

It works in our favour as our money stays in our current account longer, earning us interest, and we get cashback etc.

id="quote">WSS. I'm a bit more careful about what I spend on the joint CC so don't go mad on it. I've also got an egg card which is used purely for paypal.

I have a joint one with H. Like a few others who have posted on here we put everything on to the credit card and then pay it off in full every month. Our current account is with Halifax who offer a decent interest rate so we might as well keep the money in our account for as long as possible and gain the extra interest.

I just forgot to mention that the card is a Sainburys one so we get Nectar points on everything we spend.

Meant to add - we have an offset account so the longer the money is in OUR account - the shorter our mortgage becomes!

We both have one, but I hardly ever use mine because my debts were so bad at uni first time round I had to leave.

Its handy to have, and I get cashback on purchases, but haven't used it even when travelling since I got a Visa debit.

We don't have credits cards. If we've not got the money then we go without.
For things like paying for holidays, most companies allow you to pay with debit cards.
We've never really had the need for one at all.

I'm another who pays for everything on my card, and then clears the balance each month. I earn more in interest on my money that way, and over here it is about 7.5% on my everyday account.
However, there are no interest free cards, and the interest rates on credit cards are pretty high, so I have an automatic payment set up to clear off the balance to ensure that I don't incur any interest.

My account earns air points, and I've had many weekends away with the points I've earned by using my card.

I got one last August with 0% purchases for 12 months. I was planning on nly spending about £200 on it for some new stuff I needed, but have managed to get it up to about £1500 ☹️

When the 0% comes to an end, my husband is going to lend me the money to clear it, and I will pay him back, so as not to incur interest.

I doubt I will get one again, as although I don't rack up "big" debts by soem standards, they are more than I want to be paying.

Unfortunately, I have 4 - we still haven't finished paying off the wedding with H being signed off. I've never been in debt as much as I am now (around £4,500) but we will have them cleared within a year of H going back to work and will cancel all but one of them.

We have a joint main one - Tesco.
We put pretty much everything on it and clear it in full every month.

As several others have said:

money stays in bank account longer earning interest
better protection for purchases
delays payment
We earn lots of tesco points which gives us a free shop every quarter or can be swapped for lots of lovely treats

I also have several others with nothing on them - I was a rate tart and have reduced an outstanding balance from a few K to nothing over the last few years without paying any interest. They now sit in a box at home.
My H has got himself in a pickle with CC before so only carries the joint one. And I make sure it gets paid in full every month.

I've had a Barclaycard for years and it gets paid off in full every month. I use it for big purchases, online shopping and when I'm on holiday for the protection that it offers. I need to get around to sorting out a DD on our new account though as I've recently developed a tendency to miss the payment date by a couple of days.

H got his first credit card last year - thankfully I discovered that he was mistaken in how they worked before the first payment date, when he was about to only pay the minimum amount required as 'they've said I don't have to pay any more'. ? We now have his card set up on a DD.

quote:Originally posted by alison76
We have a joint main one - Tesco.
We put pretty much everything on it and clear it in full every month.

As several others have said:

money stays in bank account longer earning interest
better protection for purchases
delays payment
We earn lots of tesco points which gives us a free shop every quarter or can be swapped for lots of lovely treats

id="quote">
Exactly wss.

I have a couple of other cards in my name only just in case they're needed in an emergency, one of which is a mastercard for the rare occaision when visa isn't accepted.

I have the Egg one so I get cash back on all purchases, and it is paid off every month.

I only got in last September, and got it because I have to pay for a lot of flights/hotels/meals/etc for work, and then claim the expenses back. I couldn't afford to do this out of my own pocket every month, but with the credit card I can pay off the amount as soon as my expenses are paid.

I've never had one for general purposes since from a young age I saw what a bad thing they could be. Even the potential to earn higher interest wouldn't be enough of an incentive to start using one regularly (although I admit it's a very smart thing to do if you are organised enough and reliable enough to do it ?).

I do, however, have one. So does H. Its only purpose is for a) a car hire we needed a few years ago which wouldn't accept a non-CC and b) internet shopping due to the added security (very very rarely used), and c) absolute emergencies (never had something like this yet but I do feel that it has a place for this).

This thread would be more lovely if it represented the crap spenders/good spenders ratio in real life... but sadly from what I kno of friends and relatives the people who use CCs to their advantage vs. the people who get into trouble with them is not in favour of the former [V]

This thread also reminded me of an incident in my bank, the weekend after I found out a relative of mine had been juggling CC debts to tens of thousands of pounds. A woman, as I was waiting in the cashier queue, came up to me with a leaflet and a clipboard and asked if I would be interested in the 0% credit card offer the bank had on at that time, and I was so sensitive (and a little taken aback she was trying to sell to me whilst I was in a queue ?) that I automatically shouted "No, they are evil things" at her without thinking, far too loud to be polite. She almost dropped her clipboard and just backed off saying "oh". I've never felt so embarassed in all my life, the poor woman must have thought I was mad or something [:I] I think it's interesting that whilst daydreaming as soon as I was interrupted and heard the words "credit card" the first word to come to mind is "evil". I think it sums up my feelings towards them well (I try not to make a habit of shouting at bank employees though).

SA. ?

A lot of the people without them are saying that they only buy something when they have the cash for it so don't need a CC and the people with cards are saying they always pay it off in full, so the same thing really, both have the cash to buy but chose to manage it differently. I guess people just have really different views on how a CC can be used.

I have a couple, they are always paid off at the end of the month ( as I don't buy things I don't have the cash for) but I love the extra protection and all the other things mentioned. It is amazing how many things I have got with the points over the years.

My H got a 0% one instead of a bank loan at one point so another way to get around paying interest to the banks. As long as you know you can pay it back within a set timeframe and you use them for the benefits then great.

quote:Originally posted by very excited
A lot of the people without them are saying that they only buy something when they have the cash for it so don't need a CC and the people with cards are saying they always pay it off in full, so the same thing really, both have the cash to buy but chose to manage it differently. I guess people just have really different views on how a CC can be used.

id="quote">

i was thinking this too. As i mentioned earlier, we are the type who pay everything on CCs and pay off in full each month - so we don't buy things we can't afford, we don't say "oh just stick it on the credit card" we save and spend when we have the money, we just keep that money a little longer.?

i have an aversion for paying for money, and the thought that it might cost me more money to spend my own money is enough to stop me spending too much?

If you're the sort who manages to keep tabs on their spending, credit cards are a godsend. I got one primarily for unexpected bills when I bought my first car and for that reason alone I wouldn't be without it now. I don't always have a few hundred pounds going spare for unforeseen repairs.

I also do a lot of internet shopping and like the reassurance that my purchases are protected by credit card insurance.

I travel a fair bit and booking hotels can be a problem without a credit card. Many won't accept debit cards and all of them get very nervous if you're a cash buyer! The same with hiring cars.

For me, it's just another thing that needs to be included when budgeting my monthly finances. I'm not a shopaholic so don't get tempted to run up huge bills which I can't then pay off. They're just a useful tool for managing my finances and cash flow.

We have one and to be honest in the last year it has gotten out of control. A large house move and a finacially draining family emegency that we were the only ones with savings to be able to help them out meant that our CC is now out of control and much much higher than we are both comfortable with. It hasn't been used since before xmas and all of our spare monthly cash is going towards large lum payments each month to try and cut into it (£500 a month) - we have now decided that perhaps a loan to cover it and pay it back over 2 years will be our best option so that there is an end in sight and we can just cut up and close the CC account hence there is no further temptation. We have no other cards at all, no store cards, nothing just our individual debit cards.

I have one, with a 2k limit which is about half full at the moment. I was just considering another one to book aholiday actually, so I'm glad I read this- Raches JL card sounds just up my street.

I do have one-but won't come Thursday. Mine has a very high limit due to a balance transfer. H is lending me the money to pay it off completely, and then I will cut the card up. My debit cards will suffice, and I have no store cards, thankfully.

Meant to add re: the money management thing- I don't pay off in full each month, which must be more representative of the general population, otherwise CC companies wouldn't make any money.