MSE Poll: Do you use credit cards?

MSE_Georgia-May

Poll started 20 December 2022

Credit cards are like fire. Used right they're a useful tool, but get it wrong and they burn. Many use them to collect points or cashback on spending they'd do anyway, but for others they're just another debt that needs to be paid. So this week, we want to know if you have a credit card and if so, whether you've debt on it and how much?

Click here to vote in the poll. 

Did you vote? Are you surprised at the results so far? Have your say below.
If you haven't already, join the forum to reply.

Thanks!

Kernowshep

Surprised MSE didn't add the option to specify stoozing.

I have a large amount on 0% paying the minimum each month but have balance transferred it off my 1% cashback card which I use for daily spending (usually paying off in full each month). I then earn interest on the money saved by not having to pay off the daily spend card for a few months.  Once the 0% term finishes I'll pay it off and pocket the difference (or if there are any left repeat the process).

ducatidemon100

It was in about 2005 on MSE that I found out about stoozing, and used credit cards to pay my daughter's fees for her Vet Degree (5 years, starting at over £15k pa and ending at about £18.5k - she had already completed a 3 yr degree). Each terms' fees went on to a 0% interest card and when that period ended they were switched to fee-free, 0% interest BT card (both my wife and myself getting cards as required). Then some more cards were needed when she was married and more when 1 of our sons married, plus trips to China (he married a Chinese girl). There is still about £13.6k debt, a small amount due next May and then 3 cards expire in Jan to March 2024. There have been a few mistakes and transfer fees along the way, but the total cost is about £1.7k for borrowing of about £25k over 17 years. I do not suggest everyone tries this!
At the beginning, savings rates were 5-7%, so we earned money too.
Even before this started, we had 3 cashback cards (AmEx, Santander and Nationwide), all cleared in full each month; Nationwide has gone, but Chase has filled the gap for a year.
So, Martin Lewis - many thanks for helping our daughter qualify as a vet.

PipneyJane

I pay off each charge on the day it hits my credit card, so that I never carry a balance.   It's a matter of moments, when I get home, to log into the bank's app and make the transfer.  That way, I'll never spend the same money twice and then find myself struggling to pay the credit card bill when it hits. 

I mainly use my credit card to accumulate points for a well-known supermarket loyalty scheme.

- Pip

RobM99

Rarely, I see no point personally.

MalMonroe

Kernowshep said:

Surprised MSE didn't add the option to specify stoozing.

I have a large amount on 0% paying the minimum each month but have balance transferred it off my 1% cashback card which I use for daily spending (usually paying off in full each month). I then earn interest on the money saved by not having to pay off the daily spend card for a few months.  Once the 0% term finishes I'll pay it off and pocket the difference (or if there are any left repeat the process).

Stoozing is a whole new ball game. As outlined by Martin in this article from October 2022.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/stooze-cash-credit-cards/

Stoozing isn't for the faint-hearted or those who can easily end up in debt, so that's probably why there's no option to specify it. 

MalMonroe

Yes I use mine all the time because I pay off the balance every month in full and it offers greater security when buying items over £100. Some CCs even offer cashback but I've not been promoted to that advanced state yet! Although it has been offered . . . maybe I need to investigate further. 

I have in the past used credit cards most unwisely and ended up in terrible debt because of a dramatic change in my life circumstances. After having been through a DRO and all that entails, I'm a lot wiser. And feel proud that I can not only budget properly now but can also use my credit card to my advantage, rather than to the credit card company's advantage.

MalMonroe

RobM99 said:

Rarely, I see no point personally.

Handy to use if you are buying something large and need to use a Section 75 claim. (Which I've done successfully in the past) Or even just to show off about how you can clear the balance every month. . . like me. There was a time when I was completely unable to do that so I do feel a certain kind of pride now that I am a reformed character. And it doesn't hurt your credit report either to show that you can use credit wisely and responsibly. 

pete-20-11

£50 cash back in the first month of my new card. 😃

great to see IN FULL!!! winning the poll. 😃