are you still using your credit card?

Just reading some research about American consumers ditching credit cards and only using debit and cash – no more living on debt, and realised I’ve done the same – I’ve cut right down on it and paying it off every month rather than letting it rack up. Anyone else doing this?

always use them to get the cash back, but never rack up debt.

Never had credit card debt – it’s always been paid off monthly.

Never had a credit card. Never been in debt.

use mine for everything, but pay it off in full every month.

Use to stooze quite happily making £50 a month, but stopped as it wasn’t worth the hassle, and i had 10+ credit cards at one point..

Generally credit cards are all paid at the end of the month as a rule, so no real advantage having one.
I have, however, stopped using it as a test to see if it’s possible to live without the plastic. I’ll let you know how I get on…

had my credit card for 25 years & I always pay off the balance in full each month 😀

Credit card interest rates are extortionate 😥

I use mine for all online shopping – still using it just the same, though I also pay it off every month.

sill using mine but always pay it off every month.

As others, always pay it off each month.

However might switch back to cash as its so easy to buy on CC as the money is not tangible like if you’ve got cash and I find I’m far more hesitant when purchasing with cash.

use it for holidays only. got into the trap when I started earning of using it here and there thinking I’d pay it off. Small amounts on numerous cards didn’t seem to matter until I added it all up and shit myself. Paid it off, cut up all but one, not been in debt since.

Are there any CC’s out there that give you points / cashback / airmiles or something worth getting. Im thinking of getting one for fuel and paying it off each month.

I normally use my credit card and pay it off each month. Using a debit card instead strikes me as unwise, as if it get scammed it’s your money that dissapears, rather than the credit card companies.

I’ve used them for 3% loans (i.e. the admin cost of the balance transfer) but other than that, only spend on two which both give cashback and are cleared monthly.

Now the interest rate has plummeted, I’ll add the remaining (not high) debt to the mortgage and pay it off over the remainder of this year.

To be fair you’re not going to get people on this thread admitting to having massive CC debts they can barely manage, are you? On the whole CC debt is a mugs game – probably not many worse ways to borrow money aside from logbook loans and loan sharks.

Credit cards are OK for short term borrowing to get you out of a hole – when I started working on a paltry graduate salary things like car repairs went on a CC if I couldn’t afford them when they needed done. First expensive bike (Orange Patriot) was bought on a 0% card and paid off over a year as well at zero interest cost to me. Now I use my main card quite a lot but pay it off in full every month – should really look at a cashback card I guess.

Also have a few hundred quid on a 0% Barclaycard as well after last year’s summer holidays, we overspent a bit so it worked out cheaper to transfer the balance than not clear the card I had, they do you over for months if you don’t clear in full. Will clear that card just before the interest free period runs out – might as well get the paltry interest I’m earning on the money I’ve put aside to pay it off than none at all – at worst should cover the balance transfer fee.

stppede using it about 5 months ago , had some good nesw these past weeks , my fixed rate morage finished (was at 4.7 % ) has now dropped to 3.5 or poss a bit lower, as im on a variable ,im saving 200 squid , never been a better time to have a variable ,imo.

Trimix

Egg money gives you 2% cash back when used at Shell stations
Asda card does the same when used ad Asda stations

always paid the credit card off in full monthly. Never seen the attraction to being in debt.

I’ve always paid off at the end of the month. They’re very useful currently for buying from organisations who may/do go bust. You’re going to have loads more success getting your money back when paying by CC vs debit card. I’ve bought a couple of things online recently on CC on the off chance the retailer shut shop.

Citi bank shell credit card for me 3% back on purchases of shell fuel and 1% on everything else.

Always paid off every month, makes me a few hundred a year in cashback for nowt. Plus the benefits of protection if things go wrong. It’s a bit daft not to use one in my book!

if you (or your mrs) shop at m&s already then their card is good for loyalty style rewards on all the money you spend – you have to redeem them at m&s though. some good deals.

otherwise that citibank one sounds good

[slopes off to google it]

shell card does seem like a good plan if you can get your fuel there conveniently

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cashback-credit-cards

still owe a couple of grand for my ‘fancy bike’ on my CC was gonna pay it off real quick but as always things got in the way!! probably going to end up paying over 3 grand for a 2.5k bike!

owe 1200 on mine and can’t afford pay it off until i move back up north and stop paying £850 a month for mt daughters nursery…

I use mine for the buyers protection/insurance. Always have paid it off.
BT (MNBA?) are doing money off you line rentail at the moment, seems to work for us.

Never used one, never had an overdraft, never had debt.

Got no credit cards at all now…

…as I’ve just been declared bankrupt!

use my cc for everything and pay it off in full each month. Get 1% cash back. Plus you get the protection with larger purchases that you don’t get with a debit card. Useful in the current climate if you buy something and the company goes bust before you get your goods.

use CC for protection (it ain’t my money if it gets scammed at a dodgy petrol station), and used it for v short term borrowing when I was the only earner, paying all the rent and needed to eat until my 1st/2nd/3rd payday. Now times are better I still use it just in case it gets cloned, etc.

If you can get in fast enough to get one and before they change the rate then you can get 5% cashback with Amex card. Not all places take amex though

I always use a credit card for day to day purchases, means money stays in my bank longer and important additional consumer rights. Never use them to actually borrow, paid off at month end.

Only ever had the one, and use it for the big things like car service/MOT, booking holiday flights etc. Nothing else.
Pay at least £100 a month back.
I’d rather not have one at all, but it can come in handy

Cash is king.

Bank did offer me a CC but I refused instead I just use my debit card to withdraw cash.

🙂

my advice. given the current economic climate of companys going bust at the drop of a hat may i suggest you all put things on credit cards to cover yourself,this way you will be ale to claim rom your card supplier i a co goes bust fleeces you of your money .

i have maybe5/6 cards of which i use all the time for everything .
i earn things from extra tesco vouchers to halfords reward points through to airmiles.

never pay interest as cards can be swapped every 6 9 12 months.

we seem to have a stigma with credit cards but if used correctly they are brilliant.

plus i leave my income in the bank for 6 mths gathring interest it may be little but use the card for 6mths pay it off i earn narly £600 interest .

not used a credit card for anything other than business for about 4 years.

like the above, I’m still in the habit of using a card for purchases and pay it off at month end. With an offset mortgage that reduces the interest by holding the money in my account for the extra month, so in effect I’m getting my mortgage rate of interest back on my purchases. Seems a bit dumb of me not to if you ask me.

And then up until recently, I’ve been card tarting around 0% interest rate for balance transfer cards to keep my mortgage down for the same reason as above. There were some great deals but now the trf fee is higher than the mortgage rate, that’s not so good (although if you are in card ‘debt’ and can trf from 25-20% to 0% for a single 3% fee that is still a deal). I’m not worried though to admit that I’ve got £3K on a 0% card right now and have no intention on paying any less than the minimum each month until the deal runs out.

As I’ve said before: if you make them work for you they are in essence giving you free money, but if you can’t manage your money and lack that discipline then they’ll work you over something rotten.

[at the peak I had ‘paid off’ nearly £20K of my mortgage onto cards at 0%, and have gradually bled that back into the mortgage again. No-one else was offering the same interest return as a nett guaranteed 1% over base rate for instant access no penalty and I reckon it save me nearly £1200 over the course of it – while it lasted]