0% Credit Cards

Sugarmouse0707

I have a large purchase to make (about £4000) and several family members (all better with their credit knowledge than I) have said to put it on a 0% for 18months credit card and pay it off before the end of the 18month period, thus building up my credit rating and avoiding using actual money.

If I use money from my bank account that means I'll have to build up savings again and I won't have as much money available if I need it. If I didn't manage to pay the whole £4k off before 18 months was up I could always dip into my own money,then.

I currently have a credit card that I've never used, with a £3K limit. I don't know what the APR is on that, I can find out obviously.

I have questions about the whole thing , though!

1)Is it really better to do it this way, instead of using my own money?
2)If it is, who does the best 0% credit cards, does anybody have any experiences or opinions?
3)Should I explain the situation to the bank I currently have my credit card with (I also hold all my other accounts with them)and see what they say?If they'll give me a 0% credit card-I know they do one. I suspect 'no' is the answer to this, though-they'll just try sell me a loan or something or be out for their own gains and not the best situation for me!

I freely admit I'm a dunce when it comes to this sort of thing!Apologies if I'm asking totally daft questions.

Thanks

thebritishbloke

What's your credit history like? If you've never really used your credit card, then I don't think you'll get accepted for a 0% card with a high enough limit to be honest.

What you're talking about is called Stoozing, there's a load of websites, including a sub-forum on this forum dedicated to it. Basically you make a bit of money from 0% cards by having your money in savings, rather than making no extra money at all.

1) Yes, in my opinion. But it depends on financial situations. If I have £50,000 in savings, then I'd just bite the bullet. If I only have £4,000 in savings, then I'd go the 0% CC way.

2) There's a whole list of cards on this MSE article.

3) The bank won't listen, they'll put you through the system and if it says no, I wouldn't expect being there to make much of a difference.

Basically, the toughest part of this is getting accepted for a 0% purchases card with a high enough limit.

Sugarmouse0707

Thanks for your reply, really helpful. Get what you mean about the amount of savings mattering. I don't have anywhere near £50K unfortunately! Being self-employed, I always feel I have to have savings in case I don't get work or get ill, it has never happened for more than a week but just in case.
Thanks for the link, having a look now. I guess if I get accepted but not with a high enough limit I can dip into savings. My bank are always trying to get me to take out loans and other products, and I've just been accepted for a mortgage so maybe that signifies I'm more likely to be okay..But I don't know.

I'll have a look on the stoozing forum, thanks again!

Edited,didn't answer your question. Credit score is good, nothing on it, I have had credit cards in the past but a LONG time ago. No current credit apart from pending mortgage

[Deleted User]

Sugarmouse0707 wrote: »

Credit score is good, nothing on it, I have had credit cards in the past but a LONG time ago. No current credit apart from pending mortgage

It's not your credit score which is important, it's your credit history. From what you've written, you would probably be deemed fairly high risk by any lender, due to a lack of active credit history.

Sugarmouse0707

Okay good point, perhaps I should start using my credit card that I currently have-maybe my past uses of credit cards are no longer valid as they were a long time ago.

thebritishbloke

Sugarmouse0707 wrote: »

Okay good point, perhaps I should start using my credit card that I currently have-maybe my past uses of credit cards are no longer valid as they were a long time ago.

Information only stays on your report for 6 years from when it happened. I'd give it a go applying for a 0% card, if you get accepted, woohoo, if you don't, no big deal, use the cash.

Nebulous2

Sugarmouse0707 wrote: »

No current credit apart from pending mortgage

This rang a warning bell for me. You need to be very careful taking on any more debt until your mortgage is actually in place. Have a look on the mortgage forum but the new affordability rules have a lot of people worried. I'd wait until after you have the house before even applying.

I got a £6800 credit limit from Santander on a 0% for 18 months card, so it is possible. I'm trying to put most of my expenditure through it and am moving an equivalent or greater amount to an interest paying current account as I go.

Sugarmouse0707

thebritishbloke wrote: »

Information only stays on your report for 6 years from when it happened. I'd give it a go applying for a 0% card, if you get accepted, woohoo, if you don't, no big deal, use the cash.

Okay. I'll look at some anyway and see what happens.

Nebulous2 wrote: »

This rang a warning bell for me. You need to be very careful taking on any more debt until your mortgage is actually in place. Have a look on the mortgage forum but the new affordability rules have a lot of people worried. I'd wait until after you have the house before even applying.

I got a £6800 credit limit from Santander on a 0% for 18 months card, so it is possible. I'm trying to put most of my expenditure through it and am moving an equivalent or greater amount to an interest paying current account as I go.

Okay, still in the awaiting solicitor confirmation letters stage, shouldn't be long though. Thank you so much, I wouldn't have thought of that to be honest.

Thanks for all the replies

Sugarmouse0707

Nebulous2 wrote: »

This rang a warning bell for me. You need to be very careful taking on any more debt until your mortgage is actually in place. Have a look on the mortgage forum but the new affordability rules have a lot of people worried. I'd wait until after you have the house before even applying.

I got a £6800 credit limit from Santander on a 0% for 18 months card, so it is possible. I'm trying to put most of my expenditure through it and am moving an equivalent or greater amount to an interest paying current account as I go.

I got accepted for a 0% card with Tesco bank. The mortgage is still in solicitor contact stage so I am going to wait until It's all official and finalised, before I make the purchase.

Thank you again all!