A day in the life of a Trade Union Rep.

MCBIRNIE25

Hi All, just wanted to say hello and thank you for an inspirational thread. Al though this is my first posting I feel that i know many of you personally through keeping up with your threads, and will marry Oberon (She is a female version of moi) if she is single:p
Anyway, have had my light bulb moment and am crunching my figures etc, ready to post up with a goal of being completely debt free by my 30 birthday next year. I owe around 8 grand.
Anyway, I wanted to share 2 tips based on experience.
1) Credit cards, I have been using a pre-paid creditcard avaialble from https://www.mycashplus.co.uk this has been invaluable in making me feel like a normal human. There is a one off14.95 fee, then you pay 4.95 per month, or 1 per transaction if you are a light user. Anyway this card is fantastic because you can buy tickets, shop online, do anything a real card can, but you have to charge the card with cash, so, no chance of going overdrawn or incurring charges. I have had mine a number of months and highly recommend this product.
Secondly, credit unions, look in your phone book and see if you have one/ The point? Most Credit Unions allow borrowers to borrow at fabulous rates between 1.5& 4% maximum. This is a huge saving on the apr currently paid by most companies. I have taken a very low cost loan out with my credit union and used it to pay off loads of debt, saving me a fortune in interest rates. If you are in a trade Union, most unions hav ea credit union there are aloso some national ones. The unions will usually not let you borrow until your 3rd month, encouraging you to save, even if only a nominal amount, they offer decent interest, usually around 4%, have a look and join.
Anyway, i fully expect to join in various threads offering me tuppenceworth cos I am a typical chatty scouser, also a trained benefits advisor so will offer any advice I can over benefit enquiries.
Have fun,
MCBIRNIE25

brranger

Welcome!!

Great first post.

Xbigman

So your prepay credit card costs you a basic £74 in the first year. That doesn't seem very MSE to me. Far better to pay cash or just run a regular credit card with some discipline.

Credit unions are excellent, but most require you to have been members for a while and to actually have saved some money with them first. Long term they can be very usefull, but then again thinking long term I don't intend ever borrowing like that again.
Regards



X

h4nym

Just a consideration on the Cashplus thing: My wife and I have just applied for one each. Agreed, the fiver a month is not welcome, but we've just paid off both our credit cards both of which have pretty serious credit limits - 12,500 and 15,000 each.

The reason why we wanted to go with Cashplus is that we can use them for transactions that we don't really trust! Internet and telephone transations primarily and, of course, that hoary old chestnut of PINs being transmitted from restaurant tables unsecured.

If there's only a couple of hundred quid available on the card, then that's the extent of our liability! I recognise that we're pretty protected from the financial consequences of fraudulent use of our "regular" cards, but the practical inconvenience is horrendous... hence cashplus!

I'd recommend it!

H

MCBIRNIE25

Hi guys,
most credit unions do require you to have been a member for 3 months. If you are saving anyway, and want to transfer soem debt, it is an option I would recommend.
With the cashplus card. The sums are wrong. Light users like myself, after the initial one off fee, can pay just £1 per transaction, this offsets against the savings made buying items over the net. I do agree the one off fee is a pain, however, it si a reputable company who have been around for a while, and i do recommend them like I said. Probably get a better perspective visiting the website.

spacemonkeypg

After my first post people have suggested i get a credit report on the net, however i cannot as i dont have a debit or credit card. I was considering unsing one of these cards

CosmoCat

just wanted to add my welcome and hello

credit unions are a great option. thanks for pointing that out to people who would otherwise not think of that choice. i'm personally striving to be a cash person myself, and one internet bank i know offers a webcard for use with online transactions without revealing your card numbers. that's another option too i suppose.

looking forward to seeing your many future posts and your proposal to OberonH

lynzpower

Hello there

Welcome

I know what you mean about Oberon, isnt she a darling. If I was a bloke, or single, I might well have a stab myself. But IM not. So I wont etc.

Oberon, is this far too embarrasing for you to comment on? Would be for me

Anyway , lovely to meet you! And i love idle chit-chat too, so lovely to have you on board

Love Lynz

Annie_Fanny

spacemonkeypg wrote:

After my first post people have suggested i get a credit report on the net, however i cannot as i dont have a debit or credit card. I was considering unsing one of these cards

There is always more then one way! You can send £2 cheques to them - I know this isn't free but hey.