Credit card help please!

I’d like to get a credit card to borrow around £1000 which I could pay off within a few months. but as I’ve never had one before I’m confused on a few things.

The Sainsburys one says it’s 0% interest for 31 months. What does this mean exactly? If I spent £1000 using it does that mean I have 31 months to pay it off without paying anything extra? What if I spent £500 and paid it off within 2 months, then a few months later I used it again.

I know I must sound so stupid but I didn’t learn much about this growing up or got to learn about it from anyone else. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Comments

  • Nebulous2
    Nebulous2 Posts: 5,072
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    You need to read the information at the top of the page on how credit cards work.

    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/

    You might not get one like a 31 month 0% card if you have never had one before. That will depend on your credit history, so effectively whether you have shown you can repay debts on time without late or missed payments.

    If you spend £1000 on a 0% 30 month purchases card you will get a statement every month which shows a minimum payment and a due date, around 3 weeks later. The minimum is often 1% but varies from card to card. So possibly £10 per month minimum. As long as you make these payments on time you wont pay any interest until the 30 months is up.
  • Dobbibill
    Dobbibill Posts: 4,133
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    A 0% on purchases is ideal for spreading payments (assuming you are buying from somewhere that accepts CCs)

    You must make the minimum payment on time so setting up a DD is a good plan.

    Make sure you budget correctly as it will incur interest when the promo period expires.
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  • nic_c
    nic_c Posts: 2,928
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    If you have not had a card, then you may need to be careful who you apply, as Sainsburys could reject you or give you a low credit limit. If you have no cards and get a rejection it would make getting a card from another company less likely in the short term. If you got a card but it only had a credit limit of a few hundred pounds, would that be any use. So you say you need £1000, how long do you need to pay it off - define a few months.

    You could check your acceptance likelihood with such as MSE credit club to see which card providers are more likely to accept you (this is only a soft search, so not affecting any applications) and see if any of those have any pre-application checkers to give you an indication of acceptance.

    If you only need to pay off in a few months then no need to try for the longest 0% with a higher threshold to get accepted. since one rejection will harm applying elsewhere, or even an acceptance but with an insufficient credit limit for your needs. Another alternative is a low APR card. £1000 paid over 6 months at 4.9% APR will cost just over £14 in interest, or less if paid off sooner.
  • ashe
    ashe Posts: 1,546
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    I!!!8217;d like to get a credit card to borrow around £1000 which I could pay off within a few months. but as I!!!8217;ve never had one before I!!!8217;m confused on a few things.

    The Sainsburys one says it!!!8217;s 0% interest for 31 months. What does this mean exactly? If I spent £1000 using it does that mean I have 31 months to pay it off without paying anything extra? What if I spent £500 and paid it off within 2 months, then a few months later I used it again.

    I know I must sound so stupid but I didn!!!8217;t learn much about this growing up or got to learn about it from anyone else. Any help would be very much appreciated.


    You would have 31 months at 0%, providing you meet your minimum payments which is usually 1-3% of the balance each month. Failing to meet a min payment even once can jeopardise the promotional rate and mean you start paying full interest, so be safe and set up a DD.

    You can pay the balance back at any time during that period and then your balance is settled. If you don't pay it off within that period you start paying interest only from the end point, not from the beginning of when you put the balance there, and only what your balance is remaining at the time, not the original balance.

    Any other spend you add will likely be at the purchase rate unless they have a purchase rate deal, and payments to cards usually pay off the highest interest rate first.

    There may be a fee of between 0.5%-4% depending on the lender, although some are fee free.
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