For those of you who pay off in full each month

swaite53

molerat wrote: »

That is using the card as an overdraft, you must allocate current cash to spends if you don't want to end up in the doo doo. If it was cash you would not be able to spend it until after pay day, why should a CC be any different. As you correctly say, the only people who should have a CC are those who don't need one.

Absolutely, I learned the hard way, when I was young. Just going over a little bit one month, makes it harder the next, then starts spiralling out of control.

In my opinion, it's best to ensure your credit limit is no higher than the amount of spare money (after all bills) you have in a month.

molerat

My total credit limit is 16 times my monthly free money (just voluntarily reduced by 6 times my free money) and 1.1 times my annual income (from 1.6).

Dobbibill

Like others I allocate from the same month's pay then leave it in an interest bearing account until the DD takes it 'in full'.

guesswho2000

Depends when the due date is, which also dictates whether it's my, or the OH's, salary which pays it. This varies depending on what signup bonus we're trying to hit and when the card was applied for!

Either way it doesn't matter, if it was an issue (if there was an overlap, for example), I'd have to suck it up and use savings to cover the shortfall for a month, which would reduce the outgoing next month accordingly.

2gorgeousgirls

My statement issues 29 July with payment taken about 19 August so I will be allocating money from July salary to cover it.

chattychappy

cakeforbrains wrote: »

pays it off, in full, the following month, which month's paypacket do you allocate

I pay my CC in full each month. But I don't have a monthly paypacket...

In fact I lie. I tend to use 0% purchase cards and pay minimums (+£1) only until just before expiry.

The exception is foreign spend on Clarity/Zero/Nationwide Select/Post Office Mastercard which I do pay in full each month. But there again, with ATM withdrawals I pay a few days later - so might make multiple payments in a month.

So it's never simple with me!

20aday

In my case (I'm paid weekly) I allocate myself a budget and go from there.

I save it aside in my Club Lloyds a/c and then pay it off the day after the statement's available.

boo_star

cakeforbrains wrote: »

BIB: This is what I am worried about. We have done it this way for a while, but we've suddenly been able to pay off all our debts and therefore start from scratch. I'm thinking it's definitely better to only spend it if we've already got it. So putting the purchase on the CC, but having the money in the bank to pay for it and not going over what we have in the bank even though the bill won't come out until the following month (and even if next month's pay check is due to be a big one!)

Seems more MSE. I just wondered if other people do that or if I am overthinking it.

You should always treat CC purchases as if they're coming off your current bank balance, not next months.

Things can happen outside of your control to affect next months income, this month's is safe.

Anthorn

I have the advantage if I may call it that, of having to rebuild my finances after I crashed along with several banks and my employer and lost my house and everything in it during 2007/8. I call it an advantage because in rebuilding my finances over a comparatively medium term I built-in a number of safeguards. One of them is that I now leap-frog over a month: What I spend this month is last month's income so I always have a month's income in savings for a month. My goal was actually to leap-frog over two months but I never got there.

SuperHan

I have separate savings account that I transfer money to so I have a balance that offsets anything I owe on CC. Then I transfer the money to the right place for the DD prior to it debiting. So it's always this months wages.