I’ve had a Santander 123 card for about 3 years now, use it for things like shopping & fuel purchases, for the money back offers, pay off the balance in full every month.
However, just last month my boiler gave up & died, the bill to fit & supply a new one was just over £2k. I don’t have that much in the bank, & just before Xmas, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. So, the credit card has come in handy & I’ll be paying off my bill for the next 2 years or so. I’m a bit gutted tbh, I hate being in debt, & never buy anything if I don’t have the pennies for it.
Having said that, if I didn’t have the card I’ve no idea how I would’ve afforded a new boiler. This is an emergency purchase though, so I’m trying not to get too stressed out about it.
I wouldn’t use a CC on eBay, but there as mentioned earlier, it can give you increased protection in the event that a seller (be it online, by phone, mail order or face-to-face) fails to deliver the goods, goes down the pan or there is some other problem.
If you need to borrow money on a credit card or loan then the simple fact is you can’t afford whatever it is you want to buy. People say they are handy for emergencies, but you’re far better sticking your spare income in to a savings account and using that for emergencies. And if you can’t afford to put a little away each month then there’s no way you can afford to pay back a credit card. There really is no argument for having one.
And yes people told me the same thing when I was young and yes I ignored them too
Betty Swallox:
I’ve had a Santander 123 card for about 3 years now, use it for things like shopping & fuel purchases, for the money back offers, pay off the balance in full every month.
However, just last month my boiler gave up & died, the bill to fit & supply a new one was just over £2k. I don’t have that much in the bank, & just before Xmas, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. So, the credit card has come in handy & I’ll be paying off my bill for the next 2 years or so. I’m a bit gutted tbh, I hate being in debt, & never buy anything if I don’t have the pennies for it.
Having said that, if I didn’t have the card I’ve no idea how I would’ve afforded a new boiler. This is an emergency purchase though, so I’m trying not to get too stressed out about it.
Not having a couple of grand available in reserve for just this sort of thing ought to be sounding some alarm bells, TBH. As an absolute minimum I’d want to see at least three months’ worth of salary in easily-accessible savings, ideally with another 3+ months’ worth locked away but available with a month or two’s notice. What would you pay the bills with if you lost your job or were suddenly taken ill?
Except the whole extra protection you get with a credit card argument. There is that argument, right?
Well fair enough there is that although I’ve never had any trouble using a debit card for purchases. Plus you don’t get charged to use a debit card whereas you often do for a credit card. The only reason you get extra protection with a cc is because most credit card users are paying for it with the interest and fees. Nowt for free in this world.
I spose another argument is if you are very disciplined and always pay in full every month so you never pay a penny to them and get the cashback deals or nectar points or whatever. If that’s the case then good on you, but if you can do that you don’t need a credit card for what it is intended for (ie borrowing money). Like the poor poster above who paid his off in full every month until his boiler recently blew up. Sure he will have got benefits from the card for a while, but now he will be paying back his debt for a year or two so any benefits he got will be wiped out with the interest.
JLS Driver SOS:
Like someone else said, if you are very sensible and pay off the total amount before Month end, it is interest free credit, that’s not what the bank wants but so what, who cares about them + it does give you the Protection plan automatically.
^^^Pretty much what I was gonna type. OP, get one, pay it off each month & build yourself a credit history (I’m guessing you’re quite young?) Some of the posters on this thread sound like they should’nt be allowed near a credit card!
I’v just booked flights to Australia for next year on one card, & got myself another with a 24 month 0% balance transfer deal and transfered the £900 onto that.
I now effectively have an interest free loan of £900 over up to 24 months (I’ll pay it off at £100 a month though)…That’s playing them at their own game!
Except the whole extra protection you get with a credit card argument. There is that argument, right?
There is that argument - but in order to enjoy the extra protection (which is only available for purchases costing over £100) you only need to pay a small amount by credit card. So if you bought a £500 TV from a local shop, paid £10 by credit card and the rest by cash, debit card etc, you could still claim the full price from the CC company if the shop went bust before the TV was delivered.
Ched:
Well fair enough there is that although I’ve never had any trouble using a debit card for purchases. Plus you don’t get charged to use a debit card whereas you often do for a credit card. The only reason you get extra protection with a cc is because most credit card users are paying for it with the interest and fees. Nowt for free in this world.
No - the reason you get extra protection with a credit card is because the law (in this case the Consumer Credit Act) says so.
JLS Driver SOS:
Like someone else said, if you are very sensible and pay off the total amount before Month end, it is interest free credit, that’s not what the bank wants but so what, who cares about them + it does give you the Protection plan automatically.
^^^Pretty much what I was gonna type. OP, get one, pay it off each month & build yourself a credit history (I’m guessing you’re quite young?) Some of the posters on this thread sound like they should’nt be allowed near a credit card!
I’v just booked flights to Australia for next year on one card, & got myself another with a 24 month 0% balance transfer deal and transfered the £900 onto that.
I now effectively have an interest free loan of £900 over up to 24 months (I’ll pay it off at £100 a month though)…That’s playing them at their own game!
If you can afford to pay back £100 a month easily, couldn’t you have just saved £100 a month for the last 9 months instead of borrowing it? It’s good that you’re playing them at their own game, but surely if you have £100 a month spare you could have just saved up over the last 9 months and earned interest on it (albeit 0.1% or something ■■■■, but it wasn’t always that low)
I do see your point and I’m not trying to be picky, but effectively you are £900 in debt albeit interest free. ie you’re spending money you don’t have.
Ched:
Well fair enough there is that although I’ve never had any trouble using a debit card for purchases. Plus you don’t get charged to use a debit card whereas you often do for a credit card. The only reason you get extra protection with a cc is because most credit card users are paying for it with the interest and fees. Nowt for free in this world.
No - the reason you get extra protection with a credit card is because the law (in this case the Consumer Credit Act) says so.
But it is only law because the credit card companies are making a fortune from people being in debt. Otherwise the law would cover debit cards too.
Ched:
Well fair enough there is that although I’ve never had any trouble using a debit card for purchases. Plus you don’t get charged to use a debit card whereas you often do for a credit card. The only reason you get extra protection with a cc is because most credit card users are paying for it with the interest and fees. Nowt for free in this world.
No - the reason you get extra protection with a credit card is because the law (in this case the Consumer Credit Act) says so.
But it is only law because the credit card companies are making a fortune from people being in debt. Otherwise the law would cover debit cards too.
Rubbish. The reason debit cards are not included is because the Act, as the name clearly states, applies to consumer Credit transactions. Besides that, the Act predates debit cards in this country by about 10 years anyway.
I do see your point and I’m not trying to be picky, but effectively you are £900 in debt albeit interest free. ie you’re spending money you don’t have.
I do the same and no, its not effectively being in debt as I am spending money that I do have, albeit in a different place.
Ched:
Well fair enough there is that although I’ve never had any trouble using a debit card for purchases. Plus you don’t get charged to use a debit card whereas you often do for a credit card. The only reason you get extra protection with a cc is because most credit card users are paying for it with the interest and fees. Nowt for free in this world.
No - the reason you get extra protection with a credit card is because the law (in this case the Consumer Credit Act) says so.
But it is only law because the credit card companies are making a fortune from people being in debt. Otherwise the law would cover debit cards too.
Rubbish. The reason debit cards are not included is because the Act, as the name clearly states, applies to consumer Credit transactions. Besides that, the Act predates debit cards in this country by about 10 years anyway.
OK. What I’m struggling to understand is why the law protects you when borrowing someone else’s money to pay for something, but doesn’t protect you when using your own money to pay for something. After all if you get ripped off using a credit card its the cc company that has to shell out.
Ched:
OK. What I’m struggling to understand is why the law protects you when borrowing someone else’s money to pay for something, but doesn’t protect you when using your own money to pay for something. After all if you get ripped off using a credit card its the cc company that has to shell out.
The Consumer Credit Act wasn’t written with credit cards in particular in mind - it was designed to apply to traditional Hire Purchase and similar deals where the consumer agrees to pay for goods over an extended period of time (with the attendant risks of suppliers’ circumstances changing in the meantime). Traditionally, shops etc had typically provided this credit off their own bats, and so if there was a problem there were only two parties to the deal - the shop and the consumer. It was becoming increasingly common for shops to utilise a finance company to provide the funds, and the Consumer Credit Act was designed (among other things) to define the relationship between seller, purchaser and finance provider. The way the Act was written meant that credit card transactions fell within its remit almost by accident.
Betty Swallox:
I’ve had a Santander 123 card for about 3 years now, use it for things like shopping & fuel purchases, for the money back offers, pay off the balance in full every month.
However, just last month my boiler gave up & died, the bill to fit & supply a new one was just over £2k. I don’t have that much in the bank, & just before Xmas, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. So, the credit card has come in handy & I’ll be paying off my bill for the next 2 years or so. I’m a bit gutted tbh, I hate being in debt, & never buy anything if I don’t have the pennies for it.
Having said that, if I didn’t have the card I’ve no idea how I would’ve afforded a new boiler. This is an emergency purchase though, so I’m trying not to get too stressed out about it.
Not having a couple of grand available in reserve for just this sort of thing ought to be sounding some alarm bells, TBH. As an absolute minimum I’d want to see at least three months’ worth of salary in easily-accessible savings, ideally with another 3+ months’ worth locked away but available with a month or two’s notice. What would you pay the bills with if you lost your job or were suddenly taken ill?
Tbh, I’d be up ■■■■ creek without a paddle if I lost my job or couldn’t work.
Ideally I’d love to have a few bob put away for a rainy day such as I’ve just had, but, I live in a big old house that I pay a mortgage on & there’s always something needs doing, so, any time I’ve money saved, there’s something needs repairing or replacing. 3 years ago it was new fascia, guttering & lead work, £3k, last year the kitchen needed replacing, £6k.
Ched:
OK. What I’m struggling to understand is why the law protects you when borrowing someone else’s money to pay for something, but doesn’t protect you when using your own money to pay for something. After all if you get ripped off using a credit card its the cc company that has to shell out.
I could never explain it to you fully in words you could understand . . . but I’ll have a go.
With a credit card there are 3 parties involved, you, the retailer & the credit facilitator.
With your debit card there are only 2, you & the retailer.
The law is basically trying to lump the retailer & the credit facilitator together, making a 2 onto 1 transaction a much fairer 1 onto 1.
There is much more involved, inc’ some very ancient laws & very very old common law principles, but that is basically the gist of it.
Betty Swallox:
Tbh, I’d be up [zb] creek without a paddle if I lost my job or couldn’t work.
Ideally I’d love to have a few bob put away for a rainy day such as I’ve just had, but, I live in a big old house that I pay a mortgage on & there’s always something needs doing, so, any time I’ve money saved, there’s something needs repairing or replacing. 3 years ago it was new fascia, guttering & lead work, £3k, last year the kitchen needed replacing, £6k.
Putting it bluntly, those are the alarm bells that should be ringing. We also live in an old-ish house, and the kitchen badly needs replacing, as does the central heating. But it ain’t getting done until I have saved up the necessary money in addition to my “safety cushion”.
Ched:
If you can afford to pay back £100 a month easily, couldn’t you have just saved £100 a month for the last 9 months instead of borrowing it? It’s good that you’re playing them at their own game, but surely if you have £100 a month spare you could have just saved up over the last 9 months and earned interest on it (albeit 0.1% or something [zb], but it wasn’t always that low)
I do see your point and I’m not trying to be picky, but effectively you are £900 in debt albeit interest free. ie you’re spending money you don’t have.
Firstly, In order to be on the same flight as the people I’m going with, I had to book my flights within 2 days of confirming I was going. I didn’t know 9 months ago!
Secondly, why knock a £900 hole in my bank balance when I can spread that cost at absolutely no expense to myself with a comfortable monthly payment? I could have gone the whole hog & spread the cost over the full 24 months available with a monthly payment of £37.50, which would have been barely noticeable.
I’m keeping money I do have, in the bank for longer!
My dad has 1 etc and he buys a holiday then pays it back within the time for interest free I think if not abused can only be a good thing? Cheers for replies some good advice cheers
