Pre-set Spending Limits

digitalbullet

Hello MSE Forumites!

I have a bit of an unusual request and was hoping somebody on here might be able to provide me with an answer.

My wife and I do the majority of our monthly spending on a joint credit card. We pay the bill off every month and don't have anything outstanding. However, we're finding that bills have been creeping higher and higher each month.

So what we're looking for is a credit card where we can set the maximum spending limit per month so we stay within the bounds of our monthly budget. If we end up breaching that budget then we'd like that credit card to simply decline the payment.

I spent the best part of an hour searching the web looking for a credit card that can do the above but with no luck at all.

I've looked at pre-paid cards but there are fees for loading the money on etc. which doesn't really work for me.

Any ideas?

oopsadaisydoddle

Hi,

I just checked out the AA prepaid card - mainly because of the same reasons as yourself! Although I have some CC debt on 0% I want to pay way before the deal ends.

Anyway, I don't think the AA card does have any fees if you top up from your current account by bank transfer. It also gives you some rewards. I haven't read everything because I was checking it out at 3 this morning when DD was poorly!! I'm going to have another look now though.

meer53

Lower your limit. The whole idea of cc's is so you can spend up to your limit, i don't know of any cc issuer who will monitor your spending for you.

exel1966

And that's exactly why people get into trouble with credit cards. A limit is not a target to try and reach.

If you can't stop yourself from spending money which isn't yours and and you possibly can't afford then you really shouldn't have credit cards in the first place.

Prepaid cards are something else entirely. There is no such thing as a credit card which will cap your monthly spending as you wish.

DCFC79

meer53 wrote: »

Lower your limit. The whole idea of cc's is so you can spend up to your limit, i don't know of any cc issuer who will monitor your spending for you.

Always thought the monitoring of spending was down to the card user myself.

OP lower your limit is a start or watch what your using the card for.

k12479

digitalbullet wrote: »

Any ideas?

You could log on to your credit card account online once in a while and check how much you've spent.

sharpy2010

Get a prepaid card, load it with £xxx of money per month, and once its gone, the card will decline any further use - sounds perfect for what the OP wants.

thewad

I have a pre paid card the cash plus one.
Only charges are 99p per transaction.
Just use for hols and w/e away.

Curr946

barclaycard have a monthly spend trigger, you set the limit and it will text you or email you when the limit is reached. Though, it wont stop you from spending on the card.

reclusive46

Curr946 wrote: »

barclaycard have a monthly spend trigger, you set the limit and it will text you or email you when the limit is reached. Though, it wont stop you from spending on the card.

+ Bare in mind that that will only happen once the transactions have cleared.

Regarding prepaid cards, the Orange cash card or Kalixa card are both good.

Anthorn

To the OP: By "bills" do you mean those paid by direct debit or paid by debit/credit card or/cheque.

What you're actually describing is a budgeting account where the money needed for bills is held back and is not available to spend.

As far as I know only Think Banking which is a prepaid account and Mastercard have such an account. But the fees are hefty: £25.00p setting up nd £14.00p per month.
http://www.thinkbanking.co.uk/

Secure Trust Bank is a real (merchant) bank dating back to the 19th century and offers a prepaid bank account and Mastercard. They say they will be including a similar budgeting service for their account holders but it has been "coming soon" for over a year now. £12.50p setting up and £12.50p per month but you can get it for half price for 6 months through moneysupermarket.com
http://www.securetrustbank.com/