How to pay off loans

ent_moot

The trouble is that, no matter how well educated and disciplined you are, things can slip badly in a crisis.

BrassicWoman

ViolaLass wrote: »

I prefer to educate my friends on how to use cards etc properly/sensibly (if they ask me for advice) rather than telling them to avoid them, which is, I think, less practical and unnecessary.

And if they don't ask for advice, keeping quiet is always an option

dresdendave

ent_moot wrote: »

Gosh, you misunderstood me entirely. The reason why it is valuable to me is because I have convinced multiple people to get rid of their credit cards and they are much better for it. By having no credit card, I am therefore in a position to provide meaningful and credible (excuse the pun) advice to those who do.

I have several credit cards. I never pay a penny in interest, I get cashback, can obtain foreign currency at the best rate, have no problem hiring cars or staying in upmarket hotels, can often claim work related expenses before I actually pay for them and have S75 protection to fall back on. Please can you convince me how my life would so much better if I were to get rid of my cards.

sourcrates

dresdendave wrote: »

I have several credit cards. I never pay a penny in interest, I get cashback, can obtain foreign currency at the best rate, have no problem hiring cars or staying in upmarket hotels, can often claim work related expenses before I actually pay for them and have S75 protection to fall back on. Please can you convince me how my life would so much better if I were to get rid of my cards.

Then you are using those cards to your own best advantage and been extremely savvy about it.

But there are people in this world who dont possess those kind of skills and end up in horrendous debt because of it, or as with me, your marriage can end, and that unleashes a sh**storm you would not believe, and before you know it, your borderline alcoholic, gambling all night, all funded by those cards................of course thats an extreme example, but a good one of how things can go wrong very quickly.

ViolaLass

ent_moot wrote: »

The trouble is that, no matter how well educated and disciplined you are, things can slip badly in a crisis.

You can also get hit by a car every time you go near a road.

Grzegorz_Kowalski

ent_moot wrote: »

That is my judgement, yes. If I've come across as smug about it, I apologise.

Actually, I quite like your approach to the finances.

Destroying the two, high APR CC last month gave me a lot of satisfaction. I can't wait to put the rest into the shredder.

badmemory

But the APR on a credit card is only of any relevance if you ever actually pay any interest.

Pixie5740

This is your 5th thread about sorting out your parents' finances. Do your parents actually want your help?

System

ent_moot wrote: »

Gosh, you misunderstood me entirely. The reason why it is valuable to me is because I have convinced multiple people to get rid of their credit cards and they are much better for it.

Oh deary deary me. Had you done that to me you would have COST ME MONEY. Why?

My main credit card is a Barclaycard that gives cash back on all purchases and I do all my spending on. I make £180-£200 a year from that on the cashback plus whatever interest I gain on a monthly basis by the money being in my bank account.

I have a Santander Zero card. I use that when I go abroad because it has zero fees for cash withdrawls, no ATM charges abroad and offers an excellent exchange rate. Checking online, the best currency conversion rate for Euros as I'm going abroad in the next day is over a cent worse than my credit card. And also by using this card I don't get the double whammy of being shafted when turning my unused Euros back to GBP.

I have another card which was 0% on purchases which I used to fund the purchase of a "new" car and will be paying off by the time the deal ends which has allowed me to make another £150 on interest the money I would have spent buying the car outright in cash has made being sat in my bank during that time.

And the one thing you've missed is Section 75 protection where if you buy goods £100 or more and put any of that on the credit card then the credit card company shares joint liability with the retailer if anything goes wrong.

So before you get on your high horse and just tell people to ditch their credit cards willy nilly perhaps you might at least do some research and find out exactly why they have them. Not everyone uses them because they're wanting to buy things they can't afford.

Nearlyold

Westminster wrote: »

If you are really concerned about their access to further finance then I would consider their agreement to a Power of Attorney a condition to your continued assistance.

I've never had to use it so not 100% certain it's right for you but could be worth looking at?

A Power of Attorney would not prevent the parents from approaching a lender and getting a loan.