Interest Question

jamiedavies02

Hi, sorry if this is a stupid question but...

If I make a purchase on my credit card, and then pay it off in full say a week later, will I be charged interest?

Thanks

Meadows

No!

You only pay interest if you do not pay the statement balance in full by the due date.

redpete

f I make a purchase on my credit card, and then pay it off in full say a week later, will I be charged interest?

If you paid off the full balance on the previous statement - no.
If you didn't pay off the full balance - yes, but not much.

jamiedavies02

The reason I ask is because I've just signed up for a Virgin Atlantic card and they offer either 1 air mile per £1 or £2 that you spend.

So if I made all my weekly purchases on my credit card and paid the balance in full every Monday I would never pay any interest?

Meadows

jamiedavies02 wrote: »

The reason I ask is because I've just signed up for a Virgin Atlantic card and they offer either 1 air mile per £1 or £2 that you spend.
So if I made all my weekly purchases on my credit card and paid the balance in full every Monday I would never pay any interest?

Why do that unless you can not trust yourself to pay the balance once a month?

One of the advantages of the card means you can use it throughout the month, pay the statement balance in FULL by the DUE DATE and you will pay no interest.

Usually you can set up a Direct Debit to take the statement balance and that way you don't even have to remember to pay the bill on time (just make sure you bank account holds sufficient funds by the due date each month).

By paying weekly you may not be balance free one week by the due date of that months statement!

jamiedavies02

I'll pay it off monthly then by DD

Linda32

Hi,

Yes, you don't have to pay it every Monday, you can keep the money in your bank for a bit longer.

Ring them up and ask them to collect the whole balance by direct debit. They will tell you the date that it will be collected on and you should get email reminders when the statement has been produced and when the date of payment will be.

YorkshireBoy

Linda32 wrote: »

you should get email reminders when the statement has been produced and when the date of payment will be.

I'd suggest for someone new to credit cards it might be better not to opt for paperless billing.

Much better in my opinion to get a posted statement...something presented to you in your hand to read and digest. Keep it pinned to the board by the car keys until you've dealt with it/made provisions and you'll be reminded every day...not just when you log in to your email account!

girlatplay

I have this exact cc. I only spend on it to get the air miles. I have the money available to pay it off so I usually do it within a couple of days of spending on it. I am quite good at managing my money but I don't always trust myself to have the money available for the DD in my account as I am always shifting money around. It works for me and I have never paid any interest.

zerog

girlatplay wrote: »

I have this exact cc. I only spend on it to get the air miles. I have the money available to pay it off so I usually do it within a couple of days of spending on it. I am quite good at managing my money but I don't always trust myself to have the money available for the DD in my account as I am always shifting money around. It works for me and I have never paid any interest.

This is bad for your credit history. Since you make manual payments already, why don't you just wait for the statement and then pay it off sometime between when you get it and the due date?

Linda32

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'd suggest for someone new to credit cards it might be better not to opt for paperless billing.

Much better in my opinion to get a posted statement...something presented to you in your hand to read and digest. Keep it pinned to the board by the car keys until you've dealt with it/made provisions and you'll be reminded every day...not just when you log in to your email account!

I said:-
Ring them up and ask them to collect the whole balance by direct debit. They will tell you the date that it will be collected on and you should get email reminders when the statement has been produced and when the date of payment will be.

With respect, you have quoted half my paragraph and half my sentence, which isn't quite fair

If the OP sets up the whole amount to be collected by DD then they don't have to remember when its due. Since they have said they want to pay it off a week later then they do intend to pay the whole amount.