People who ask "should I get a credit card?".

eskbanker

leeroy2009 wrote: »

and too the other poster im also fully aware on the different amounts, after I all I did state in my case, this is what I use my current account interest for - well not all of it.

Well yes, but you did also say "free lending - cant be bad" when (a) your lending clearly isn't free if you're paying interest on it and (b) it's not necessarily bad as such but it could be better if you wanted more money! Your prerogative if you choose to save at 2.4% while borrowing at 7% and convincing yourself that it's a good idea but obviously that's not typical of those on here looking to make the most of their money....

bigadaj

Stephen_C. wrote: »

The answer is always yes, seeing as it doesn't have to cost you anything and can reward you for paying for things you're already buying.

I'll never understand why so many people use debit cards.

Well teh obvious exception as stated previously is where people aren't responsible enough to use a credit card.

Like alcohol it's a nice sensible option for many, but give an alcoholic one drink and the results can be disastrous.

bigadaj

eskbanker wrote: »

Well yes, but you did also say "free lending - cant be bad" when (a) your lending clearly isn't free if you're paying interest on it and (b) it's not necessarily bad as such but it could be better if you wanted more money! Your prerogative if you choose to save at 2.4% while borrowing at 7% and convincing yourself that it's a good idea but obviously that's not typical of those on here looking to make the most of their money....

Well with that sort of arbitrage for the banks then we may get rbs and lloyds off the tax payers hands quicker than we thought!

Herbalus

bigadaj wrote: »

Well with that sort of arbitrage for the banks then we may get rbs and lloyds off the tax payers hands quicker than we thought!

Yes. I suppose somebody has to subsidise those who don't pay a cent in CC interest.

Techno_Mystic

I've always understood that it is better to use a credit card than a debit card when buying things over £100 by mail order or on the internet.

This is because if the supplier goes bust the credit card company has to reimburse the money to you.

I'm not totally sure because it has never happened to me, I've just heard that a few times.

leeroy2009

eskbanker wrote: »

Well yes, but you did also say "free lending - cant be bad" when (a) your lending clearly isn't free if you're paying interest on it and (b) it's not necessarily bad as such but it could be better if you wanted more money! Your prerogative if you choose to save at 2.4% while borrowing at 7% and convincing yourself that it's a good idea but obviously that's not typical of those on here looking to make the most of their money....

quite clearly making the most of my money as the interest im earning is more then paying for the interest I incurred, unlike some if I want to "buy" money then I will, I pay more for coffee then what I was charged in interest.


the fact remains that I used my interest earnings to pay for the credit card interest, still leaving me with £30+ pure profit in earned interest

Hooloovoo

leeroy2009 wrote: »

the fact remains that I used my interest earnings to pay for the credit card interest, still leaving me with £30+ pure profit in earned interest

But you could make even more profit if you paid off your credit card, since your borrowing is not free ...

Herbalus

leeroy2009 wrote: »

quite clearly making the most of my money as the interest im earning is more then paying for the interest I incurred

There's no helping some people....

The interest rate you're earning on savings is less than your credit card rate, which means that for every pound you're borrowing, you're losing money.

£300 at ~7% costs you more than you get by saving £300 at 5%. That means you're losing 2% on that £300. Actually losing money.

You can pay that 2% from the interest from your other savings, but the fact remains that you're losing money. Ergo when you say you're making the most out of your finances, nobody agrees with you.

BillJones

leeroy2009 wrote: »

quite clearly making the most of my money as the interest im earning is more then paying for the interest I incurred, unlike some if I want to "buy" money then I will, I pay more for coffee then what I was charged in interest.


the fact remains that I used my interest earnings to pay for the credit card interest, still leaving me with £30+ pure profit in earned interest

You don't seem to understand that you'd be better off not paying interest on your cards, and foregoing the interest earned on the equivalent amount in your current account.

You seem to be arguing otherwise.

sweetstudent

Some credit cards can be of a great benefit as previously mentioned, I have two American Express card - which I got mainly for the fantastic offers that they used to do (and started to re-do!)