Credit Card for Spending Discussion Area

misti

Hi,

I posted before, self-employed artist, low income, buying mac for work.

Had some extra work, now looking for another card to borrow the final £500.

Ideally where i'm not going to get ripped off, low payback over long time, but to not get penalised for paying back early if i get more work.

I have 1 credit card (rbs, limit £650, apr 13.9%, current min repayment approx £12 2.25%).

Hoping to keep payments for both to around £20 per month.

May need more than 1 option.

Thanks.

the_ginger_prince

Hi,

My interest free period on my first credit card is about to run out. If I do a balance transferI can pay the balance off within a few months, but if I spend on the new card I will be paying a lot of interest on purchases, correct?

Would I be better off getting a completely new card with say, a years interest free spending and use that to pay off the old card? Is this allowed?

Thanks

Ginge

rickyd

Hi, i'm new to all this but i got a good head on my shoulders lol..
-right i gotta question.. I'm 18, i'm a singer in pubs and stuff...so basically self-imployed, but i'm not paying tax or anything,its all cash in hand..i haven't got a bank account yet, but i can save up roughly £200/£300 per month.. depending on nights out and that lol.. but i'm always buying concert tickets and i sometimes need some extra cash,..so i run out of 'spending' money...
I have NO debts or anything, just paid for a holiday, but i'm just above water atm, so just wondering wether i can get a card or something just so i can dip in to it when i need it, i can pay like £50 a week to pay it off if needed, -but how does the intrest work.. i dont really want to pay more than what i borrowed, so if i get 0% for say 12 months..( can i get 0% ?? ) but payed my debt off in that 12 months.. would i have to pay more than what i borrowed. I'm not too sure exactly how it works... am i right or wrong..??

ThankYou if you could give me any help or advice . Ricky.

wwwd

I have read the credit cards section of the website, and just wondered if anyone could advise and see whether I've understood this correctly.

According to the information provided, I should do the following:

Apply for a Tesco Credit Card, and spent on it for 12 months. All the while, paying off the minimum payments.

Then, once it's 6 weeks before the 12 months are up, apply for a Virgin Credit Card, and transfer the balance. Once that is done, again, pay off the minimum payments every month.

And that will give me 0% borrowing?

CannyJock

wwwd wrote: »

Apply for a Tesco Credit Card, and spent on it for 12 months. All the while, paying off the minimum payments.

Then, once it's 6 weeks before the 12 months are up, apply for a Virgin Credit Card, and transfer the balance. Once that is done, again, pay off the minimum payments every month.

And that will give me 0% borrowing?

Nearly. There's a balance transfer fee with MBNA that's rising to 5% on Monday.

You also need a plan for being able to clear the balance in full if you can't get a 0% balance transfer card. Like taking the money you would have spent on the 0% purchase card and sticking it in a high interest savings account.

nikki2804

rickyd wrote: »

Hi, i'm new to all this but i got a good head on my shoulders lol..
-right i gotta question.. I'm 18, i'm a singer in pubs and stuff...so basically self-imployed, but i'm not paying tax or anything,its all cash in hand..i haven't got a bank account yet, but i can save up roughly £200/£300 per month.. depending on nights out and that lol.. but i'm always buying concert tickets and i sometimes need some extra cash,..so i run out of 'spending' money...
I have NO debts or anything, just paid for a holiday, but i'm just above water atm, so just wondering wether i can get a card or something just so i can dip in to it when i need it, i can pay like £50 a week to pay it off if needed, -but how does the intrest work.. i dont really want to pay more than what i borrowed, so if i get 0% for say 12 months..( can i get 0% ?? ) but payed my debt off in that 12 months.. would i have to pay more than what i borrowed. I'm not too sure exactly how it works... am i right or wrong..??

ThankYou if you could give me any help or advice . Ricky.

1. Any income you are making should be declared to HMRC if you are self employed. Cash in hand work is illegal and you will have a hefty fine when your caught.

2. Yes, as long as the balance is paid by the date the promotion ends then you will pay no interest. If you go over this date you will accrue interest.

izools

nikki2804 wrote: »

1. Any income you are making should be declared to HMRC if you are self employed. Cash in hand work is illegal and you will have a hefty fine when your caught.

2. Yes, as long as the balance is paid by the date the promotion ends then you will pay no interest. If you go over this date you will accrue interest.

Further to this, you a) won't get a credit card if you don't have a bank account and b) won't get a 0% deal if you have no previous credit history.

CannyJock

rickyd wrote: »

Hi, i'm new to all this but i got a good head on my shoulders lol..

< snip >

ThankYou if you could give me any help or advice . Ricky.

Disaster waiting to happen.

My crystal balls tell me that you'll have some incident or misfortune through no fault of your own, you'll use the card because it's easy to do (and you've not monumentally screwed up yet so you don't know how deep a hole you can get yourself into) and it'll all go pear shaped.

If you're living on cash and have no plans to change that for the forseeable then stay on cash and forget about cards.

sp00d

Hi,

I want to get a credit card to give my girlfriend (who is a fulltime student with no income). I don't NEED a card because I have debts (my only debt is a student loan), I have never been overdrawn and always pay bills ontime without exception.

The reason I want a card is because, as my girlfriend has no income, if she needs to go shopping/buy a new appliance/whatever, we always have to plan in advance so I can go to the bank, draw cash out and give it to her. This is becoming annoying as I work away 2/3days a week and she is sometimes stuck with no money.

I am not interested in balance transfers, and the rate does not matter to me as I will always pay the card off at the end of each month without exception. Fraud protection would be nice, purely because I buy a lot of stuff online. Also, if she could draw cash out of a cash-machine without incurring a charge tha would be useful also.

I have never had a credit card before because I always live within my means (and still do), so am not really sure what I should be looking at or what to watch out for. Some background on my finances:

- Higher rate tax payer
- Renting at the moment privately (sold home a few years ago and moved down south while girlfriend attended uni, will buy again once we know what our future plans are after she graduates)
- Never missed bill payment/been overdrawn
- Both on electoral register
- No debts/outstanding finance apart from student loan (haven't paid it off because interest rate is so low and i earn more money than they take through investments/savings)
- Card will be solely in my name, so only my credit worthiness will be assessed.

I realise I may have problems getting a card as, after reading your guide, I am the worst type of customer for them as they will make no money from me. However, I am hoping my decent credit score means they will take a chance on me.

Thanks for any advice.

CannyJock

sp00d wrote: »

However, I am hoping my decent credit score means they will take a chance on me.

Student loans don't appear on your credit report - so effectively what a lender will see is that you have no credit history.

Start with your own bank, as they at least have some behaviour history with you and can confirm throughput on your account.

After 12 months, you can look at the "best reward" cards, but for now, getting any card would be a good result.

You would apply for a card in your own name, then add her as an additional card holder. Be aware that you'll be solely responsible for the debt on the account regardless of which card is used to actually make the purchase.

EDIT: There have been some recent reports on additional card holders being credit searched and a financial association created on your credit report. Check with your bank if this is how they will treat additional card holders just so you know.