Using a CC and the fear

MovingForwards

I honestly did not know where to post this but thought I hang out on this board often enough

My credit card arrived, as did my pin, and the card has sat in my purse since arrival. I havent had a CC for at least 8 years.

I have had many a chance this week to put shopping or go to the garage and fill my car up but havent, until today. I made a decision I would go to the petrol station, fill her up and pay with my CC.

Only when I got to the front of the queue I nearly bottled it and pulled my debit card out. Gave myself a damn good talking to about showing I am responsible with credit and paid my bill with the CC.

After having an afternoon on the beach, popped into the supermarket for some bits, CC in hand but I paid by cash.

I have been sat at home for a few hours, mentally sitting on my hands and not send the money from my bank to my CC as I know it doesnt show I am a responsible borrower.

Tomorrow I am setting up my online CC account and marking the diary to show when the payment / statement is due.

It's so daft as I have my savings, my debts are going down, my history is getting cleaned up, I have cash in my purse, money in a pot for food shopping and even started a cash savings pot.

I guess it just I have got so used to not having credit (I even pay my car insurance off in a lump sum in my new life), it just feels so wrong and alien to me.

Tomorrow is food shopping and is going on the CC.

Did anyone else experience this? Or anything similar

sourcrates

Yes, I simply don’t use credit at all now, that bubble has burst for me.......never again.

theoretica

You can also set up a direct debit to pay your credit card off in full each month. Then no need for the diary, and gives you the confidence that you would need to make a definite decision not to pay it in full and organise changing the payment, rather than fearing you might just decide life would be easier one month if you didn't.

MovingForwards

I will be setting up a DD, that is the reason for doing on online thing tomorrow. I just kinda obsess about dates and payments.

All manual bills (rent / debt) is paid out on payday, as are the savings moved around, and DD are the 1st of each month.

I know it is a good thing I think like this as it shows I have grown up, respect money and appreciate it doesnt grow on trees

Sourcrates I wouldnt have even gone for a CC if I wasnt chasing the mortgage dream.

Just wanted to know if it was a natural feeling? Or am I odd lol

GDB2222

If you got into deep trouble over CC debt in the past, no wonder it's frightening. It's good that you've dug yourself out of the rubble, so to speak, and can move on.

zippygeorgeandben

I can understand the OPs point of view here.
I have just got an Amazon CC purely because I wanted FIFA19 and you got £20 off using the Amazon CC. I've set it up to pay it all off in full each month. I buy other stuff from Amazon so I can sleep easy, knowing that it'll be paid off in full. I also paid £20 less for the game I wanted!
Don't worry about it.

Simmo71

I know what you mean, MovingForward. I'm not in a position to have another credit card yet but I do have an overdraft/reserve facility as part of my mortgage which has a debit card. It's sat in a tin at home for a LONG time, but I put it in my wallet as a back up when we went on holiday in the summer. It just felt odd; having lived for the last 4 years on my salary only, never borrowing a penny, the thought of having a way of instant credit in my wallet felt like I was cheating. Thankfully I didn't need to use it, but it did remind me of the bad old days where I had no choice other than to pay for a lot of basic living costs on a CC. I'm really not sure I'll ever want one again even when the IVA is history and my credit file is back from the dead. A sobering experience.

rancid-a

MovingForwards wrote: »

Only when I got to the front of the queue I nearly bottled it and pulled my debit card out. Gave myself a damn good talking to about showing I am responsible with credit and paid my bill with the CC.

Hi MovingForwards.
Was there any particular reason you couldn't use the debit card?

I haven't used my CC for months and don't intend too unless there's some emergency.

One thing you might want to watch (depending on your provider) is the credit limit they give you. If you are a 'good customer', they might gradually increase your limit - mine started at around £2000 but made it's way up to £8500. I recently went online and dropped it down to £1000 which I don't think I would ever use.

Good luck with your new card

[Deleted User]

MovingForwards wrote: »

I honestly did not know where to post this but thought I hang out on this board often enough

My credit card arrived, as did my pin, and the card has sat in my purse since arrival. I havent had a CC for at least 8 years.

I have had many a chance this week to put shopping or go to the garage and fill my car up but havent, until today. I made a decision I would go to the petrol station, fill her up and pay with my CC.

Only when I got to the front of the queue I nearly bottled it and pulled my debit card out. Gave myself a damn good talking to about showing I am responsible with credit and paid my bill with the CC.

After having an afternoon on the beach, popped into the supermarket for some bits, CC in hand but I paid by cash.

I have been sat at home for a few hours, mentally sitting on my hands and not send the money from my bank to my CC as I know it doesnt show I am a responsible borrower.

Tomorrow I am setting up my online CC account and marking the diary to show when the payment / statement is due.

It's so daft as I have my savings, my debts are going down, my history is getting cleaned up, I have cash in my purse, money in a pot for food shopping and even started a cash savings pot.

I guess it just I have got so used to not having credit (I even pay my car insurance off in a lump sum in my new life), it just feels so wrong and alien to me.

Tomorrow is food shopping and is going on the CC.

Did anyone else experience this? Or anything similar

Yes indeed !


I would guess that most people (myself included, and a lot of members here) who have ever experienced debt problems at some point has suffered from this extreme angst about reusing their card.
Restarting a 'habit' that you have 'recovered' from needs tremendous willpower and strength to not fall down that same hole again.


All power to you ! :grouphug:

sunday_girl

I feel like this too! Haven't used any credit cards for a similar amount of time. We are debt free now but need to build our credit rating back up and I know I need to apply for a credit card so we can do that. I don't want to! I have been putting it off because I really don't want a credit card again but if we want to improve our chances of getting a new mortgage, it seems to be the only way...

poppasmurf_bewdley

In the years when I was married, had two young children, and wasn't well off financially, I finished up with a £4k debit balance on my credit cards, paying 29% APR on the balance.

Now I'm single again, just past my 70th birthday, and just returned from a two week trip to France with my girlfriend. My credit card statement says I owe Barclaycard £1.4k.

The difference now is that the balance will be paid out of my current account, which will be topped up to meet the payment all in one go on the 15th of this month.

When you have the money to meet your CC bills in full, then you can spend on the CC without fear or favour. Always ensuring you can meet your CC bills without incurring those astronomically high interest charges.

It's when you start paying those sky high and cruel credit charges that you need to wind in spending on the card.