Newbie advice

Bootneck21

Hey guys, New to this forum as you can see. Need some advice from hopefully older and wiser members to help me though this patch.

Currently 21, Left the Navy a few months ago and joining the Royal Marines in April.
Currently i am working as a lifeguard and i took a loan out of £1000 to pay for a holiday and cost of my lifeguard course. First payment due in April

Now this job has been merely temporary to bide time for my Royal Marine start date. I have a few months yet until i start and i am not getting enough hours at my place of work, but see no point of starting a new job because its going to be a measly 2/3 month.

I am looking at getting a credit card, to make ends meet. But i am unsure how they work, Say i spent £1000 on a card. Will i then pay monthly (like a loan) to pay off that amount? may sound stupid but all these figures and facts on websites are just mind boggling for someone who is new to all this.

Hope someone can help and point me in the right direction.
Cheers
sam

latecomer

If you have a credit card with a credit limit of £1000 then you can buy stuff up to that limit. When you get to your billing date (end of the month or whatever you pick) you'll get a bill and a date by which you need to make a payment. If you were to pay off the full amount amount then you would not be charged any interest. If you pay less than the full amount you will be charged interest on the balance of the card. There is always a minimum amount that you must pay off each month but it varies between the different cards.

Credit cards are generally the most expensive way to "borrow" money. Have you tried asking your bank for an overdraft or a larger one if you have on already?

Edit: Say you were being charged 1% interest a month (to keep things simple) and paying off £100 a month

balance £1000
Interest £10
Payment £100
new balance - £910

Bootneck21

Okay many thanks for the advice Ive asked about a top up of my loan but i have not been paid yet but my new job (end of this month) so they wont top it up for another 3 months so they can see my income.