I Am Totally New To Credit Cards

nzseries1

ANY credit card is fine if you pay off the FULL balance each month, because you'll pay no interest that way. If you pay even £0.01 (one penny) less than the FULL balance, you will pay interest on the ENTIRE amount starting from the FIRST day you made the transaction. So be sure to pay off the full statement balance when your statement comes in.

Cashback and reward cards are good, but if this is your first credit card, you will probably get declined for them. Try contacting your current bank to get a credit card, as they are your best bet. Alternatively, try some of the banks that are more lenient but have higher interest rates - Vanquis, Aqua, Barclaycard Initial or Captial One. Remember that the interest rate doesn't matter if you pay your balance off in full each month, because you won't pay any interest anyway.

Make sure you are on the electoral roll at your current address. It will increase your chances of getting a credit card - although at this time of year they don't update the electoral roll again until December at the earliest.

*Jane*

Thought i would have a good credit history with no debts but now realise i havent. My current account is with the Abbey and i am a bit put off with the zero card now they are charging £10 a year to use. I only work part time so would it be better to apply in my husbands name who works full time and get an extra card for me. I was going to go for the nectar card as i shop in sainsburys, i work for sainsburys would i have a better chance with them

Any

*Jane* wrote: »

Thought i would have a good credit history with no debts but now realise i havent. My current account is with the Abbey and i am a bit put off with the zero card now they are charging £10 a year to use. I only work part time so would it be better to apply in my husbands name who works full time and get an extra card for me. I was going to go for the nectar card as i shop in sainsburys, i work for sainsburys would i have a better chance with them

Credit history is not about having no debts. If you haven't had any debts, you haven't proven that you can manage your money and pay them off.
If you work for Sainsbury's you might well have better chance. I don't personally have an experience with this, but I would think that you will. For example my friend used to work for Barclays and she got loan without problems at the time. And she was only quite young.
Check their T&C how old you need to be and how much do you need to earn. Some credit cards don't give you credit until you are 18 and earning 15k and some until you are 21 and earning 18k.... Everyone is different.

Any

*Jane* wrote: »

Thought i would have a good credit history with no debts but now realise i havent. My current account is with the Abbey and i am a bit put off with the zero card now they are charging £10 a year to use. I only work part time so would it be better to apply in my husbands name who works full time and get an extra card for me. I was going to go for the nectar card as i shop in sainsburys, i work for sainsburys would i have a better chance with them

Have you spoken to him about this option yet? He might not be happy to do that as it will leave a search and used credit on his credit file. But if he knows his file is O.K., he will have probably better chances. Depends on his history.

5AM

nzseries1 wrote: »

ANY credit card is fine if you pay off the FULL balance each month, because you'll pay no interest that way. If you pay even £0.01 (one penny) less than the FULL balance, you will pay interest on the ENTIRE amount starting from the FIRST day you made the transaction. So be sure to pay off the full statement balance when your statement comes in.

OK assuming I don't pay off the full balance every month, what would folks recommend then?

I am only think of the "bigger" purchases, holidays etc... which would be spread of 2 or 3 months pay.

Any

5AM wrote: »

OK assuming I don't pay off the full balance every month, what would folks recommend then?

I am only think of the "bigger" purchases, holidays etc... which would be spread of 2 or 3 months pay.

Hi,
As it is your first credit card I think you need to first build up a credit profile. What is your bank? Check out on their website what is their offer.
I use credit card exactly the way you describe - I pay for my holidays or Xmass present with my cards and then pay it off over period of time.
Then what you need is:
Credit card with 0% interest for purchases for as long as you can get. Halifax at the moment has 10 mths for example. Let's say you get one until July 09. Then you pay for your holidays, Christmass etc and you have till July 09 to repay the credit card. Until then you pay no interest. You still have to pay at least minimum amount as stated on the statement each month though, otherwise the credit card company will withdraw this promotion.
Then there is 2nd kind of "offer" companies offers and that is 0% interest on balance transfers. That is for people, who have credit card and have larger debt on it and pay interest (might be you, wouldn't you manage to repay the card we mentioned above on time). Then you take this 0% on BTs card and pay the other card with this BT card. Usually there is fee for this - about 3% of the amount you are transfering - but then you don't pay interest on the balance for the stated time.
Is this a bit clearer?

5AM

Yes that is alot clearer thanks.

Thanks to everyone.

*Jane*

Thanks everyone have applied for the halifax 10 months 0% interest one on line and have been approved so hope they dont change their mind. Went through topcashback site and got £20 from that as well.

Richard019

*Jane* wrote: »

My current account is with the Abbey and i am a bit put off with the zero card now they are charging £10 a year to use.

That's not really true, they're charging you £10 every 6 months if you don't use it. If you were to use it to buy hubby his Easter egg, then use it on your summer holidays in July/August, and then use it to buy him something for Xmas you would avoid that charge.

I bet a lot of people who got it for their summer hols this year will get caught out with it and be on here complaining about it in February time (or will it be April since the terms change from October?).