Hi all

going through that v expensive stage of life when you decide to start planning a wedding and trying to sell and buy a house at the same time.

We have some savings + bank of mum and dad which will help us out on some things but am wondering about the ins and outs of other forms of credit.

I have never done any long term borrowing (except mortgage/Student loan) so am a bit new to this.

Would it be sensible or silly to get one of these:
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/credit-cards/purchases/

and put 2-3k of wedding spend on it and set up a DD to pay it off before the end of the 15months 0%?

I know I dont want to get into ‘credit card debt’ with all its connatations of high interest rates and spiralling payments but is it actually possible/ wise to utilise their 0% offers to get ‘free’ money if u manage it well?

(atm just I earn so we have had little chance to build large savings, after wedding/move we will be two earners so will have little trouble with extra monthly payments)

Thanks for any advice

is it actually possible/ wise to utilise their 0% offers to get ‘free’ money if u manage it well?

yes. although the 0% offers are usually for balance transfers rather than new debt aren’t they?

Do that sort of thing all the time / bounce balance transfers. IMO low-risk and is pretty common practice, however they could at any time withdraw the interest free period and call in the debt.

If you pay it off in the time period, then its free money, and therefore an utter no-brainer

*sits back and awaits the “neither a borrower or a lender be” lot arriving*

IMHO don’t spend what you haven’t got.

If you don’t have the money to afford the wedding you *want*, either wait until you can, or scale it back until you can afford it.

Dave

I work for a bank and have had multiple credit cards utilisiing the introductory offers you are talking about.

If you manage it well, definately go for it, cheapest form of finance you can get after the bank of mum and dad.

The problems only occur if your silly with your money and dont budget to pay it off, but even then alot of cards nowadays are only marginally more interest than a small volume loan, and you have the ability to do minimum payments for a month if your skint.

Everyone on here will say no.

However its up to you to way up the risk. To me yes if I knew I could comfortably pay back the debt then 0% credit cards are a great way of purchasing things.

Personally though I wouldn’t be too sure about but debt on a credit card for some thing I will not have a tangible asset for.

Is there any way you can borrow off family, thats what me and Mrs FD did, and then paid back for a year at £500 a month.

Oh the other bonus of having a credit card is that you will be improving your credit rating.

but is it actually possible/ wise to utilise their 0% offers to get ‘free’ money if u manage it well?

yes.

If you’re sure you can afford the repayments, and you’re disciplined to stick to them, it’s very sensible.

If you think you might stop paying after a month or two when you need something else, then roll the debt over to another card @ 15 months, then thik “that was easy”, get used to it, and carry on borrowing; maybe less so.

Binners + 1.

Sometimes debts are worth it, if you can do it (and really do it) without incurring the intrest charges then why not.
Of course you can always transfer the balance to a new card if it’s going to take longer to pay off than the interest free bit

*sits back and awaits the “neither a borrower or a lender be” lot arriving*

IMHO don’t spend what you haven’t got.

If you don’t have the money to afford the wedding you *want*, either wait until you can, or scale it back until you can afford it.

Didn’t take long did it?

atm just I earn so we have had little chance to build large savings

Just to keep binners happy…

Seriously, you’ll have enough shite to borrow for after you’re married (assuming new home, all the stuff you’ll have to fill it with, etc etc) so take what you’re willing to spend on it and what bank of Mums and Dads will give you and tailor your wedding to fit that. There are far more important things to borrow money for in the long term.

Of course, for your original question, yes, you can flip flop stuff around but eventually, somebody will refuse you a card. I don’t know anymore though, as I’ve not owned a credit card for around ten years now.

Shove it all on the CC, pay off the minimum and bounce it around different cards on interest free deals. Eventually run out of switching options and then if no relations have kicked the bucket leaving you an inheritance just shove it on your mortgage (and end up paying 10x what you originally borrowed). Just don’t lose your job at any point else my advice doesn’t work.

Deadly makes a very good point. New houses cost a fortune and you will be spending more on that per month than you expect.

Be careful if you start using that c/card for normal transactions after getting the 0% ‘loan’.

The banks are tricky – you put £2000 on the card for the wedding and then after the wedding you bought, say, a new TV on the card for £500.

You use some wedding gift money to pay off the £500 off the bill plus your usual d/debit payment. Jobs a good ‘un?

Nope – in the tiny T&Cs for the card, the bank has used the £500 to pay off your 0% balance first. So now, you’ve only got £1500 on 0%, and £500 attracting 20% interest. And, IIRC, you’ll keep having £500 with interest until you pay off the 0% balance. So easy to run up a fairly big interest charge.

If you can manage the debt seriously, go for it. If you’ve a mind to buy that first flat, new car etc. then have a good think about it. Like people say it’s easy to think it’s money you don’t need to worry about and it’ll count in mortgage applications, other loans etc.

For a wedding it’s definitely not worth it. If it was for a bike on the other hand…

Jokes aside, if it’s 0% and you are disciplined then go for it.

Congratulations and good luck!

Actually a lot of CC’s pay off the highest interest balance first these days, I don’t know why so many people spread so much FUD about CC’s as if they’re evil. If you’re a muppet they might help you get into debt trouble a bit quicker than you would have managed otherwise but ultimately it’s down to the person.

Above +1

Nope – in the tiny T&Cs for the card, the bank has used the £500 to pay off your 0% balance first.

Not any more. See Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act 2009

Do not most of these 0% cards have a balance transfer fee of around 3%?

i.e. if you transferred £1,000 to the card you would immediately be charged £30.

If you went for a Halifax Mastercard which offers 20 months at 0% and has a 3% balance transfer fee you would be effectively paying just under 2% of the loans value per year – a pretty cheap way of borrowing money but certainly not free!

Thanks for the advice all

breatheasy has reminded me that i might want to get the mortgage sorted and out of the way before i take on CC debt though otherwise it will count against us

I think u guys are right that wedding isnt the right thing to use it for (that is likely to be pre moving) and we would be better off using it for any post move expenses or even paying back bank of M&D

Cletus, the link i gave above is to 0% on purchases cards which dont seam to have that extra fee

i use a CC for all my purchases that arent standing orders or direct debits (bills) each month, then each month the full CC bill gets taken out my current account… its purely a way of building up credit rating before applying for a mortgage at some point in the future. after that i’m getting rid of the credit card as i dont need it 🙂

i only spend what i know i’ve got waiting in the current account to pay it off.

not preaching, thats just the way i do it, how others manage and spend their money is their choice 🙂

we’re in the process of planning and paying for a wedding, so far we’ve managed to keep the costs comparatively (when compared to the average spend on a wedding in the UK) low, its helped that we’ve both spent a LOT of time talking about what we want from the day and whats really not important when you get down to it.

robowns – Member

I work for a bank …

The problems only occur if your …

Oh how standards have slipped “you’re”.

😉

Personally as soon as I bought a house I found myself spending a fortune on stuff around the house like cookers as the one in the house was leaking gas, fridges as mine didn’t fit in the kitchen and while I was able to save I’d not want to start off with the debt to clear.

Personal choice though if you are controlled with money it’ll be fine 🙂

If it’s your preferred option, you’re sure you can manage it and not get into trouble then do it. That said we’ve been putting off getting married for 4 years now as we can’t stand the thought of spending that much when it could go towards a house, shoes for the kids, etc etc.

As others have said if you have done the sums and are sure you will pay it off (stay disciplined!), then go for it.

All the people I know who got in CC debt did much less thinking a planning like that and get drip, dripping spend onto it (mostly clothes) without clearing enough of the balance. Suddenly the interest is as much as they can afford to pay and they are screwed.

It’s not a bad idea at all- but an awful lot of people had the same idea, then never paid it off. So it’s kind of a gateway drug if you like, one puff won’t hurt you 😉 Only you know your own mind though.

Something else to consider is a credit card that gives cashback on purchases – just buy everything on that and get money back on stuff you were going to buy anyway.

All the info you’ll need is here:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/

If you’re a Nationwide customer, their credit card gives you 0.5% cashback, and 0% on your purchases for a year – probably a good deal for your circumstances.

Like others have said, stay disciplined and beat them at their own game.

Make sure the interest free period is for purchases, and in future (if necessary) on transfers, although you will get charged for transfers.

Some will give 12 months on purchases and transfers.

As said above if you treat the card as a loan, cut it into tiny pieces once you’ve finished it should be fine, however when they send it to you with an allowance of 3k more than you need it will be very easy to spend a little bit more here and there until you’ve maxed it out.

Another good thing is that you have protection on any purchases over £100 for all purchases, which can be handy.