Looking for credit card advice

Mondy

I am looking for some advice on what credit card to get as I am getting married in May 2010 and am thinking of using a cc to pay for all the stuff we need to get in preparation for it.

The wedding is an all inclusive package deal and is already paid for but we still need to get rings, dresses and a suit for myself. I currently have a credit card with Halifax, its an all in one MasterCard with a 2k limit that has £600 sitting on it. I was thinking of getting a new card with a better interest rate and transferring my existing balance to it and using it to pay for the stuff above.

Just looking for opinions on the best card or route to take as I am not the best with credit cards and try my best not to deal with them.

Cheers

CannyJock

Sounds like a long 0% purchase card will be your best bet.

You pay for things with the 0% purchase card, make at least the minimum payments each months and you won't be charged any interest over the 0% promotion period, giving you time to clear the balance in full before the 0% period expires.

If money's tight, consider asking people to just make a payment to a nominated bank account for your "wedding fund" instead of toasters and towels?

The Tesco Clubcard is offering 0% on purchases for 12 months and they're reasonably decent on limits from my experience.

If you've not already, might be worth getting a copy of your credit report (see the sticky at the top of the board) and checking that nothing on there you don't know about. Presumably as part of your pre-nup agreement you're getting a copy of the fiancee's credit report too?

xigmapro

Don't expect the lights to dim while the sound of soaring arias fills the air. We doubt that when it happens, your heart will skip a beat, your face will flush, or the air will fill with white doves.

No, we're not trying to keep your expectations in check for the significant other of your dreams. We're talking about that moment when you find the perfect credit card for you.

But how do you sort through the credit card come-ons you got this week alone to find the One? What makes the perfect card depends on which of these categories you fall into:
I have a balance I am trying to pay off.
I never carry a balance, always pay my bill on time, and make complete stops at every stop sign.
I occasionally carry a balance, spread my spending across several credit cards, and sometimes pay cash.
I have little or no credit history, or one riddled with blemishes, and I can't seem to qualify for any credit cards.:beer:

CannyJock

spamming knob

NickX

Mondy wrote: »

I currently have a credit card with Halifax, its an all in one MasterCard with a 2k limit that has £600 sitting on it. I was thinking of getting a new card with a better interest rate and transferring my existing balance to it and using it to pay for the stuff above.

Firstly Congratulations on your wedding :beer:

Now, a word of warning. Martin's golden rule is NOT to mix Balance Transfer deals with Purchases otherwise you will usually fall into the classic "Allocation of Payment" trap that the Card Providers love.

The safest route is to get a 0% Purchases Card as Canny has suggested and use this for ongoing expenses. Also get a separate 0% Balance Transfer card to move that £600 from the Hally to a 0% deal. Currently Virgin offer the longest deal with 15 months at 0% (a Balance Transfer fee of 2.98% applies).

The only exception to this rule is when there is both a Balance Transfer and a Purchases promotion for identical periods of time. Sainsbury offer a card with 10 months available on both Purchases and Balance Transfers (a Balance Transfer fee of 3% applies).

Good Luck :beer:

Mondy

Thanks for all the advice!

Just been having a look at the Tesco Credit Card and as stated above it has 0% interest on purchases for 12 months, the site states:

"0% for 12 months from account opening"


But then further down the site the following statement is shown:

"Maximum 51 days for purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time, and have paid the previous month's balance in full and on time."

As I said I am a n00b when it comes to understanding credit cards and i read these 2 statements and think they contradict each other. Can someone explain.

If this card is 0% on all purchases for 12 months then this would be an option along with keeping my existing halifax card and just paying that off.

Cheers

CannyJock

Mondy wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice!

Just been having a look at the Tesco Credit Card and as stated above it has 0% interest on purchases for 12 months, the site states:

"0% for 12 months from account opening"


But then further down the site the following statement is shown:

"Maximum 51 days for purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time, and have paid the previous month's balance in full and on time."

As I said I am a n00b when it comes to understanding credit cards and i read these 2 statements and think they contradict each other. Can someone explain.

If this card is 0% on all purchases for 12 months then this would be an option along with keeping my existing halifax card and just paying that off.

Cheers

The 51 days applies when you're outside of the 0% promotion period

So long as you make the minimum payments, you won't be charged interest on your purchases during the 0% period.

NickX

CannyJock wrote: »

The 51 days applies when you're outside of the 0% promotion period

So long as you make the minimum payments, you won't be charged interest on your purchases during the 0% period.

Absolutely.

Best best is to get confirmation from Tesco of the exact date that the 0% promotion expires and ensure that the account is paid back in full before that date. This will avoid you incurring any interest and after that if you simply pay any balance off in full every month you will contine to avoid interest completely.

Good Luck.

Mondy

Ok thanks for clearing that up, one last question.

Is there any point in me transferring my £600 balance from the Halifax all in once card to this Tesco card? (if i get it). I was planning on just paying this off separately.

Cheers

sillystudent_2

Ok thanks for clearing that up, one last question.

Is there any point in me transferring my £600 balance from the Halifax all in once card to this Tesco card? (if i get it). I was planning on just paying this off separately.

Cheers

Does the Tesco card have a 0% interest deal on balance transfers too? (will prob. be way shorter than the deal for purchases.) Tbh its prob. not the best idea.

Let me explain - in theory its the logical move to transfer the balance across (assuming there's a 0% deal) as it'll give you a few months interest-free on the £600. The problem arises in that credit card companies allocate your payments in reverse order of interest - meaning that the highest interest stuff gets paid off last (the chronological order you paid/transferred stuff is irrelevant to them.)

Thus this means that when the 0% BT deal expires before the purchase deal (as it probably will) any payments will be allocated to your 0% purchases rather than the interest-bearing £600 - you'll have £600 effectively 'trapped' on the card until you pay off all of the purchases.

I guess the question is whether you'll be in a position to pay off large chunks of the balance when the 0% BT offer expires - if so, then it may well be worth doing, as you'll be paying no interest on the £600 in the meantime. Otherwise it may be simpler to leave things as they are - however the best solution by far would be to get a 0% BT card and transfer the £600 across to that. That way you don't pay any interest on the £600 for a while - and you get the flexibility of paying it off as and how you want (providing you don't purchase anything with the BT card that is.)

Hope this was helpful (p.s. i'm also assuming the tesco card has some kind of 0% BT offer - if not ignore the irrelevant parts above, sry )

NickX

Mondy wrote: »

Is there any point in me transferring my £600 balance from the Halifax all in once card to this Tesco card? (if i get it). I was planning on just paying this off separately.

Not a good idea, sillystudent has clearly explained the deliberate pitfall set by Tesco in doing this.

If you really want to mix the Balance Transfer and new Purchases, I would re-iterate my advice to go for the Sainsbury card which offers 0% for 10 months on both Balance Transfers and Purchases. This will sidestep this trap and the promotion is only 2 months shorter than the Tesco deal.