Have just got a virgin cred card - but have spent on it!

ICan'tStandIt

exel1966 wrote: »

It may be debt, but not all debt is bad ! Debt is NOT a dirty word as many people seem to think. Manage debt correctly and it can and will be to your own advantage and financial gain.

Leaving a credit card balance with the minimum payment collecting is NOT a bad idea if the 'collection' is ZERO providing he/she uses the debt wisely.

I'm not saying debt is a dirty word at all, I'm just saying that credit card debt is debt regardless of how many 0% offers a person might get.

We'll have to beg to differ on the minimum payment situation, I still think it is better to pay it off as fast as possible ;-)

NickX

ICan'tStandIt wrote: »

If you owe money, it's a debt and it doesn't really matter if a trendy adjective gets attached to it.

If the OP is in a position to clear the debt fully after his/her offer runs out, then that's ok, but my point was that leaving a credit card balance with the minimum payment collecting is generally a really bad idea.

Well given the choice of paying the debt off fully or paying the Minimum whilst the £3600 is earning 6.8% in a Barclays ISA, I would choose the latter.

I know stoozing is not for everyone, but if you can manage it well the debt actually earns you money, so agree with exel1966 that debt is not necessarily evil. Also low Minimum Payments (MBNA style) are also not necessarily evil. But each to their own.

exel1966

ICan'tStandIt wrote: »

I'm not saying debt is a dirty word at all, I'm just saying that credit card debt is debt regardless of how many 0% offers a person might get.

We'll have to beg to differ on the minimum payment situation, I still think it is better to pay it off as fast as possible ;-)

I hear what you say and we will have to disagree In the end it all comes down to what the individual feels comfortable with and is able to manage effectively.

ICan'tStandIt

NickX wrote: »

Well given the choice of paying the debt off fully or paying the Minimum whilst the £3600 is earning 6.8% in a Barclays ISA, I would choose the latter.

I know stoozing is not for everyone, but if you can manage it well the debt actually earns you money, so agree with exel1966 that debt is not necessarily evil. Also low Minimum Payments (MBNA style) are also not necessarily evil. But each to their own.

I can see why you're doing what you're doing, but it's not really what credit cards were designed to do. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it and if you can beat the bank and its own game and get one over on them, go for it !

My main point is that banks are forever saying they are "responsible lenders" and yet they don't set a minimum payment that will pay the balance off in a reasonable time.

They like minimum payment direct debits, so that when the interest kicks in, only a small amount has been paid off. I know you will use your ISA money at this stage to clear the balance, but not everyone can do that.

Banks encourage debt and hide behind the chaos when it all goes wrong.

NickX

ICan'tStandIt wrote: »

I can see why you're doing what you're doing, but it's not really what credit cards were designed to do.

Absolutely, it is using the Credit Cards to your ends and is not what they are designed for. But it is nice to earn a little extra from the Credit Card Companies for very little effort and the feeling of getting one over on them is quite good too