Easiest way to manage CC?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

As some of you may know, I took our a CC a while ago and it came out of the 0% rate just recently.

Since then I have been using my card and paying it back monthly (not really used a lot)

However, I recently started to use it more, rather than my Debit card, and want to manage my payments etc. Without looking at my statement i couldnt tell you what payments ive made back to it this month (I've been doing it weekly)

What I think I'm going to do is put the money i would normally pay into the CC on a weekly basis into another account, and then at the end of the month pay the card off in full - at the moment im getting confused as to what my balanace / due amount is and how much i've actually paid.

So - my query is - how to you manage yours so that you dont get in any debt with them?

Hooloovoo

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

So - my query is - how to you manage yours so that you dont get in any debt with them?

Very simply. The monthly spend on my credit card(s) is only a small percentage of the total float in my current account. So long as my monthly expenditure is less than my monthly income, then the whole thing looks after itself with practically no intervention or planning required on my behalf.

The trick is to ensure you keep a float in your current account in order to decouple your income from your expenses. That way it's completely irrelevant what dates you receive income and what dates you incur expenditure.

molerat

I use an excel spreadsheet. You can see exactly where the money is, the right hand column shows how much is in my current account at the time and the bottom of the left hand column shows how much money I have left to spend this month.

ic

Are you gaining any benefit from using the card? Points, cashback? If not, and you're struggling to track it, why not just give up on it and keep it for emergency use only - go back to spending on your debit card.

Personally I only use my credit cards for the following reasons:
- extended warranties
- protection on online purchases
- missed event cover
- cashback
- commission free foreign purchases

If I didn't get those, I wouldn't use the cards.

Get your banks mobile apps. I generally check my accounts most days, so always have an idea as to what I have in my bank account vs what I owe across the cards.

Hooloovoo

ic wrote: »

Get your banks mobile apps. I generally check my accounts most days, so always have an idea as to what I have in my bank account vs what I owe across the cards.

Always remembering of course that there may be several days delay between making a transaction and it appearing on the account. So even with this method you have no real overview of the situation if you don't keep track yourself. Only you know what you have spent.

MrSilk

I have 2 credit cards, one for travel expenses, and the other for household emergencies (Food, electric etc..). It's very easy to see a credit card as an extension of your bank account, which is where you'll find people !!!!!! it up.

I'd say keep it for emergencies, and like Hooloovoo said, if your spending on the CC is below your monthly income, it should look after itself, but with no benefits from the card, you're better off doing all of your day to day spending from your current account.

ic

Hooloovoo wrote: »

Always remembering of course that there may be several days delay between making a transaction and it appearing on the account. So even with this method you have no real overview of the situation if you don't keep track yourself. Only you know what you have spent.

Absolutely - the Barclaycard app recently added the pending transactions amount, which is generally only a few minutes behind reality. Sometimes transactions can take two or three days to appear proper.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Hi,

Thankyou for the replies. It’s definitely less spending than I earn. This month Iput a mini break on my CC (£400) and budgeted it into my weekly “normal”account but then I got confused as to how much I have paid since the laststatement. I think I would be better moving the “weekly” payment into anotheraccount and then when this gets to the full CC statement (In this case £400)then pay it off in full .... I hope that makes sense!

Thereason I took the CC out was because at the time, I didn’t have such a goodcredit history. My ex took a lot of credit out and I (stupidly) co-signed some(Ah to be young again!) – I managed to sort that out and get disassociated fromhim and now it’s just about building credit up. The CC I have also offers cash back and rewardpoints so I figured providing I don’t get charged for it then I might as welluse it.

Anthorn

Some people have had their fingers burned when using a credit card. Personally, I've had my whole body burned. So drawing on past experiences my balance is never any more than I have in my savings account. With payments I have a direct debit covering the minimum payment and I make an extra payment once monthly mostly online with my debit card. Usually I don't clear the whole balance and I calculate the interest I pay in with my outgoings.

Ever heard the one about you can't get credit unless you can prove that you don't need it?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Yes i have heard that lol

Luckily i'm not needig credit (at the moment) - but figured I'd try and boost my score just in case

joedenise

I use my CC for nearly everything and pay off at the end of the month. If it's an "extra" such as deposit for holiday rather than fuel or food for example then I transfer that amount from my current account to my savings account to ensure it doesn't get spent and then transfer it back again when the CC needs to be paid.

As I always round up the amount then I actually get to save a bit extra each time I transfer the month so a little bit of extra savings without really trying.

Denise