Help Closed my cc think i've made a mistake

athensgeorgia

My husband and i had some cc and a loan between us and thought it best to pay them off asap so we borrowed £10k on our mortgage to pay off our debts which is fixed at 5.8%, when we used martins repayment calulator it worked out the only cc that would be paid off before 100 yrs is 45 yrs and we thought it best to get out of any debt other than our mortgage.

Anyway i paid all the cc's and when i went into Barclays to check it had been received they had reduced my credit limit i admit it wasn't that good to start with only £800 but they reduced it to £260 when i rang up to query it and to see if they could alter it back i ended up closing it now i think i've made a mistake because yes fair enough we don't want to get in anymore debt but what if some drastic emergency occured and we needed to use a cc that one was my best rate at 14.9%, if anything happened i'd be stuck with my halifax at 21.9% and god forbid capital one at 32.9%:eek: that assuming none of them will be reducing the limits in the future. Was i a bit eager to close? did i make a mistake? my husband says if needed we could always use my o/d £2.5k at 13% , i was actually quite pleased with myself having never gotten a cc before or any credit for the past 7 yrs having messed up as a kid.

I don't know what reply i'm expecting tbh i just need some sensible cc feedback from you v.well informed people

a7man

As I understand it you have no more credit card debt anymore? If that is the case the two credit cards you have at the moment should be scrapped and you should apply for a brand new credit card. I would properly close the other two to avoid future temptation and limit yourself to a certain amount of emergency credit.

Ideally now you should start an emergency savings account but in the mean time a brand new credit card with 0% on purchases for 6-12 months should be a priority. This, however does not mean to go blow it all because its free lending for 6 months. Once the interest free period is over, you should change credit cards once again...to keep the free credit. The balance can also be transferred for free on some major credit cards eg. Virgin (subject to a small 1-2% fee).

Hope this helps

Barneysmom

I don't know why you're worried, I've never ever had a cc and never will. If you need something, save for it.
Once you get out of the habit of using one you'll be fine.
To me if someone chooses to have a credit card, they are making a conscious decision to live in debt.

good luck and don't worry xx

athensgeorgia

thanks for the replys i think whats bothering me most is i recently applied for a catalogue and was refused and if i was refused something as credit basic as that i'll never get a good apr again if i was ever credit worthy, another newbie question does it go against me or for me closing it?

MABLE

Barneysmom wrote: »

I don't know why you're worried, I've never ever had a cc and never will. If you need something, save for it.
Once you get out of the habit of using one you'll be fine.
To me if someone chooses to have a credit card, they are making a conscious decision to live in debt.

good luck and don't worry xx

No I am not making a conscious effort to live in debt. Have you never heard of stoozing. Credit cards are an excellent thing to have and can work in your favour. Do not tar us with the same brush. Ok you get the morons who sole purpose is to spend to the limit and then go bankrupt but the majority of people are very savvy and use cards sensibly.

MYLITTLESISTERLOLA

athensgeorgia wrote: »

thanks for the replys i think whats bothering me most is i recently applied for a catalogue and was refused and if i was refused something as credit basic as that i'll never get a good apr again if i was ever credit worthy, another newbie question does it go against me or for me closing it?

It will benefit you closing your card/s as a credit search takes into account all available credit even if you don't have a limit on it. You may find after a few months that you can get better credit at a better rate. I would cancel all cards o/d that you don't need and agree with the poster who said start a small emergency savings account. Good Luck MLSL

CLAPTON

You can overthink about some of these issues

for most normal people a reasonable situation is:

-build up a savings a/c so you don't ever need to borrow again
-credit cards, paid in full each month are a practical aid to normal living... there are some things their fairly essential.. hiring a car, booking some hotels, plus extra security if you're spending over 100
-an overdraft is occasionally useful just in case you accidentially overdraw.. at least this way you don't get charged for unauthorised OD.
-unless your credit limits are very high, cancelling the cards will make virtually no difference to your credit rating and indeed may make it worse.

-If you are worried about your credit rating the get copies of your crdit files and see what they actually say
-use a credit card regularly but pay in full.

If you were planning to get a catalogue I hope you were going to pay in full each month.. usually they have awful APR and are anyway poor value for money

NickX

Barneysmom wrote: »

I don't know why you're worried, I've never ever had a cc and never will. If you need something, save for it.
Once you get out of the habit of using one you'll be fine.
To me if someone chooses to have a credit card, they are making a conscious decision to live in debt.

A very old fashioned and narrow minded opinion.

I have made a conscious decision to live in debt and it works.

Credit Cards are an invaluable tool for modern living. They offer much more protection on purchases over using a Debit Card, they are essential for booking hotels and hire cars, whatsmore you actually save money by using them. You get cashback on purchases and you don't have to actually pay for items for up to 2 months.

Whatsmore if you are stoozing, you are making money by investing the Credit Card companies funds.

Living in debt is good, the more the better

a7man

You say living in debt, but really you arent in debt, you are borrowing money but investing it elsewhere. Or you are just paying for things on C card and paying off the full amount when you need to.

Some people arent as active with money management as you, so using credit cards isnt best for everyone. However I agree with what you are saying as it works for some people - me included!

NickX

a7man wrote: »

You say living in debt, but really you arent in debt, you are borrowing money but investing it elsewhere. Or you are just paying for things on C card and paying off the full amount when you need to.

Ok, I agree that it is debt that is offset elsewhere. But this is no different to having a large mortgage that is then covered by the value of your house.

The point I was making was simply that debt is a fact of modern life. But I do agree that if not managed effectively it can get you into a lot of trouble.

athensgeorgia

CLAPTON wrote: »

If you were planning to get a catalogue I hope you were going to pay in full each month.. usually they have awful APR and are anyway poor value for money

Actually it was a one off purchase that i had intended to pay by debit card and it asked me at the end if i wanted to apply for a credit facility and i just clicked yes and thought why not, having been refused i ended paying in full by dc so tbh i hadn't really thought about what i was doing oh god the more i type the more i realise how unmoneysavy i actually am.

I thought i had it bad with no o/d no cc and payg phone, now i'm getting out of a debt i didn't need to start i think i should go back to how it was only spend the money i had and budget for the stuff i wanted, accepting the o/d and getting cc actually haven't helped me personally in anyway glad they work for other people though.