0% on purchases - Help!!

sophiegreenwood

I'm looking to make a one off purchase of £3000.
I've been looking at the Tesco 0% for 18 month card but it says purchases are 0% for a maximum of 51 days in the Ts&Cs.

What does this mean?

I was hoping to make the payment and pay the 3k off in 18 months with monthly direct debits of about £170 - which I can happily afford.

I'm only planning on using the card for this 1 payment.

Can anyone shed light on this?

longtermplanner

The 0% on purchases is an introductory rate which will only apply for 18 months.

After the 18 months, the normal T&Cs will apply and then you will have a maximum of 51 days.

sophiegreenwood

So if I pay off in full within the 18 months then I'm ok?

longtermplanner

The best thing is if you can make a regular payment of 1/18 of the amount you borrow each month. Then you have effectively got a 0% loan for 18 months.

eskbanker

longtermplanner wrote: »

The best thing is if you can make a regular payment of 1/18 of the amount you borrow each month. Then you have effectively got a 0% loan for 18 months.

The best thing would be to make the minimum payments on the 0% card and stash the rest of the monthly 1/18ths into an account where they'll earn some interest, such as a regular saver (6%) or a Nationwide FlexDirect (5%), subject of course to credit ratings supporting this approach of starting one or more new current/saving accounts and a new card (with minimum monthly payments) at much the same time!

thenudeone

If you have a 0% special offer, you must still make the minimum payment every month once your statement is produced. The easiest way is to et up a direct debit.
You will then need to pay off the balance just before the offer ends, to avoid paying interest.

Once the 0% offer ends, purchases can still be interest free provided you pay the full balance every month.

jonesMUFCforever

OP and all other 0% cardholders out there - if you have 18 month interest free make sure you pay by month 17.
If you leave the 18th payment until after the end of the promotional period you will pay interest.

sophiegreenwood

That's great thank you. I'm planning on putting 3k on the card then cutting it up straight away and setting up a direct debit to pay off the 3k in 17 months by direct debit (£180 per month). The only thing that confused me is this on the T&Cs...

Repayment details -
Interest free period - 51 days

bigadaj

sophiegreenwood wrote: »

That's great thank you. I'm planning on putting 3k on the card then cutting it up straight away and setting up a direct debit to pay off the 3k in 17 months by direct debit (£180 per month). The only thing that confused me is this on the T&Cs...

Repayment details -
Interest free period - 51 days

That last point should refer to the normal repayment period rather than the zero per cent offer. It means that if you buy things on the first day of a period then for a normal purchase you have 51 days to pay it back before you incur any interest assuming you clear your card every month.

This shouldn't apply to your offer so long as you don't spend on it.