Looking to make a purchase, would a credit card or finance suit me better?

-pete-_2

Hi all,

I am in the process of looking for a new laptop that I can use when I travel around working, I have specced out the model that I would want and it comes in at around £2000 (expensive I know but I see it as investment in the long run)

To fund this I have being looking at either getting it on finance or via a credit card (I haven't had either before) I have an old computer that I think I can sell for about £900 that should cover most of the costs so I only have around £1100 to find.

I can either take this money and put it into my current account to pay off the monthly repayments on finance.

Alternatively I was looking at maybe getting a credit card, paying off the first £900 when I sell the computer and then paying off the rest over the period of a year or so.

I have checked with Experian and I currently have a "fair" credit score of 900. Which would be the better option for me?

TadleyBaggie

A 0% credit card would probably be best. This could either one that allows purchases at 0% interest or one (e.g. MBNA) that allows you to transfer the balance to a current account.

pjread

be prepared you might not get accepted for 0% if you've never had a card or any loan etc history.

Also that's got to be a heck of a decent old computer if you can sell it for £900, they depreciate pretty fast - either that or let me know who's buying, I have piles of old hardware I can do them a deal on!

-pete-_2

So I think I have decided on a card but I just want to check to make sure I understand this correctly before I sign on.

I was looking at getting a Tesco Clubcard Credit Card (I would link this but apparently I'm not allowed :undecided) for purchases since they offer 0% on purchases for 18 months. If I get this card and spend £2000 on a laptop, pay off £900 in the first month or so (when I sell my current computer) and then pay off say £62 a month for the next 18 months I will only pay £2000 for the computer in total, is this correct? What does the 18.9% APR do? Does that kick in if I don't pay off what I owe after 18 months?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, I just want to make sure I understand everything before jumping into this.

grumbler

-pete- wrote: »

...(expensive I know but I see it as investment in the long run)

It's a delusion. By definition investment has to generate profit. It's hard to believe that you really need £2K laptop for your work, not just for fun.

-pete-_2

grumbler wrote: »

It's a delusion. By definition investment has to generate profit. It's hard to believe that you really need £2K laptop for your work, not just for fun.

It will generate profit though. I do website design and development and some video editing in my spare time meaning I need a big high resolution screen and good performance. I have recently started seeing a girl who lives the other side of the city meaning the 9kg 27" desktop machine I have is rather impractical to bring around.

You wouldn't expect a plumber to skimp on his tools, this is no different.

ndeezy

The 18.9% will only kick in after the introductory period ends. As long as you make monthly payments you'll be fine. The lack of credit history may be a problem. Use one of the smart search tools to see how likely you are to be approved for a card and remember that you may not get the advertised deal so be prepared that 18 months interest free may become 13 if you get approved.

Not all credit card providers do this (risk based pricing). You are more likely to get a credit card from your own bank as they may reduce the bar in terms of the credit score required.

ricky_v

If you're wise, put the balance on the 0% credit card, sell your computer, put the cash from the sale into a savings account, then continue to put in cash in said savings account up to (and beyond) the outstanding balance on the credit card, while maintaining min payments +£1 on the credit card.

BEFORE the 0% ends use said savings to pay off the card in full. You have now earned interest from a debt, rather than paying interest from a debt.

Ensure that:
You make min payments +£1 every month on time.
You have the outstanding credit card balance in the savings account, easily accessible near to 0% end.

pjread

[QUOTE=-pete-;[URL="tel:64773922"]64773922[/URL]]I do website design and development [/QUOTE]
Crikey, 2k for a machine to run a text editor? Back in my day....

Did you manage to achieve what you wanted?