which credit card to use?

Late_To_Bed

i've been in persistent and deep debt for a number of years... Well over a decade.

I have just received a decent sized bequest and I'm relieved to say for almost the first time in my adult life I'll be out of debt.

I have six credit cards I'm going to pay off in full. My question is, which of these is the best to keep using for the benefits they offer for day to payments and one off large payments like a holiday or a car (we need a new car desperately)

Tescobank Credit card
Santander 123 credit card
Creation Marriott Bonvoy
m and s bank Credit Card
Nationwide Select Credit Card
Barclaycard Platinum Visa

my intention is not to get into debt again and pay off my credit cards in full every month from now onwards and never get into debt again

Thanks in advance for any help

LtB

Marchitiello

A lot depend on your individual circumstances, for example where you do most of your shopping. If it was at Tesco, the Tesco card may offer you addition benefits. M&S cards may be similar if you shop a lot at M&S etc.

Creation Marriott Bonvoy is also a closed products, not open to new customers, so could be worth keeping open if you do travel and use Marriott Bonvoy hotels (I have actually found myself using it more and more as they have a very good price guarantee scheme and managed to bag best deals in many of my travel destinations, accruing a lot of points in the process). However if you do not travel and/or do not use the benefits, and cannot see yourself doing so in the future.

another consideration would be to keep your oldest account as well if it is not the actual card you plan on retaining.

anyway, if you can share more information about shopping and travel habits we may be able to advice you better. Amex Cashback, plus a MasterCard and Visa rewards card (could swap your existing Barclaycard Platinum for the rewards version giving you some cashback as well as forex fee free spending) would be the three cards to have going forward. 

NB: it is generally difficult buying a car wholly ok a Credit Card. Most dealers / car garages will only accept a deposit on a CC and would insist on a different payment method for the balance. 

Emmia

If you have been in persistent and deep debt on credit cards for a decade (or more) I would close all of them and avoid the use of credit cards completely. 

Yes, they offer benefits like S.75, but your post indicates you're planning to pay off the cards, and then make a large purchase (a car). The legacy that's bailing you out now, probably won't get repeated, and by using the legacy, you're not really tackling the reason you've got yourself into debt... so it could happen again.

If you must keep one, then I'd ask the credit card company to reduce the limit to a level you can afford to pay every month from your income, even if you get close to the limit. That limit might just be £1,000.

Edit: the legacy was probably intended to benefit your future, instead you're paying off your past.

WillPS

So long as you are comfortable that you won't get in to debt again, I would say:

>Tescobank Credit card

Depends which exactly but probably look to get rid. 1 pt in every 4 at Tesco, 1 in every 8 elsewhere. Max pt value from June is 2p. Not that good.

>Santander 123 credit card

I'd hold on to this one personally. 1% at supermarkets and 3% at filling stations is not to be sniffed at.

>Creation Marriott Bonvoy

I'm not too familiar with this scheme, but if you stay at Marriotts even ocassionally then it's probably worth holding on to so long as there's no fee. If you do use Marriotts then maybe consider this your 'everywhere else' on top of the Santander 123?

>m and s bank Credit Card

Like Tesco Bank, probably depends a lot on which particular one and whether you use any of the benefits (if any).

>Nationwide Select Credit Card

These won't offer any rewards at all, so get rid.

>Barclaycard Platinum Visa

Similar, but you might want to see if Barclays will move you either to their free Avios card (pays 1 Avios per £, which is transferable to Nectar at an equivalent rate of 0.66p per £, which can be spent at Sainsburys, Argos or Ebay) or Rewards card (which has a flat 0.25% cashback and 0 FX).

In short, I would keep Santander 123 for Supermarkets and Fuel, and then either the Marriott card or the Avios card as my 'everywhere else'.

MEM62

You keep the one with the benefits that suit you most.  Only you can decide that.  

emperormessia

Since you have intentions to pay in full and won’t be in debt, I would say Keep all this cards open re assess which card you use more often and fulfils your needs, and start cutting from there personally I would keep Legacy card like Nationwide card and Barclays no matter what can lock the card in app to be safe 

cymruchris

When you've cleared your cards - what are your future intentions finance wise? (Aside from not getting yourself back into the same situation).

Do you currently have a mortgage? Are there plans for a mortgage? Are you renting?

A clean, well-managed credit file over the space of a couple of years could be to  your benefit if there's a larger financial transaction further down the line. I wouldn't hastily make any decisions around card closures just yet if there was.

Londoner_1

I have 3 cards and never been in debt, a grand total of £22 i son one of them.

MalMonroe

Late_To_Bed said:

i've been in persistent and deep debt for a number of years... Well over a decade.

I have just received a decent sized bequest and I'm relieved to say for almost the first time in my adult life I'll be out of debt.

I have six credit cards I'm going to pay off in full. My question is, which of these is the best to keep using for the benefits they offer for day to payments and one off large payments like a holiday or a car (we need a new car desperately)

Tescobank Credit card
Santander 123 credit card
Creation Marriott Bonvoy
m and s bank Credit Card
Nationwide Select Credit Card
Barclaycard Platinum Visa

my intention is not to get into debt again and pay off my credit cards in full every month from now onwards and never get into debt again

Thanks in advance for any help

LtB

Hi, I'd just like to add that, if you have been in persistent and deep debt for a number of years and are about to be in receipt of a decent size bequest, before you do anything at all it might be a really good idea to speak to someone at one of the free and trusted debt help organisations such as StepChange, National Debtline or Citizens Advice. 

I say this in an effort to help you to learn from my mistakes - because when I retired 13 years ago, I was in a similar position to you. I was in deep and persistent debt that had been following me (my fault obvs) for a number of years. When I retired I also sold my property and moved to a council one - I couldn't afford the upkeep and had been on the council list for 20 years. Anyhoo, long story short and with some lump sums also from my private pension plans, I thought I was the bees knees, I felt like a millionaire! My bounty was over £50k which did feel like millions to me. Great, I thought, debts begone forever!!

I promised myself, as you have, that I would never, ever be in debt ever again. I now had the money to sort everything out and, worst thing ever - biggest mistake of all - I trusted myself.

I paid off all the debts and spent some money on the new flat (furniture, etc, not the building as it's not mine) - oh yes, I thought, I can do this, I can manage. I could not manage.

Three years later I was in terrible debt again and couldn't see any way out. I turned to StepChange after seeing an ad on TV. Things looked up from there. I ended up with a Debt Relief Order but also I gained knowledge and experience of how to budget and what to do with money. It was my experience that, even if you have a big lump sum, if you don't know how to manage your money, you will end up in the same or similar situation again. 

With the best will in the world, I do believe you mean to pay off debt and never be in the same situation again. But sometimes I could just sit and cry when I think of the money I had and which has just slipped through my fingers, like sand. Or water. One of those sayings. I know I have to put it behind me and carry on but what on earth was I doing?

I know you will be reading this and thinking 'oh but that won't happen to me' (because that's exactly what I was like) and I really hope you are right. But if you don't know how to manage and budget your money, then it could happen to you.

What Emmia said, above, really struck me, almost like a slap in the face since that was my story too.

"the legacy was probably intended to benefit your future, instead you're paying off your past."

If you can take one thing from my sad story, it is - please do just have a chat with one of the advisers who can help you. You're in what I consider to be a fortunate but very dangerous position right now. Laugh at me if you like but I've been there. I know how it feels to have a bunch of money thrust at you, whatever the source. And I know how to dispense of it at a rate of knots. Don't be like me. Please! I could not be trusted. Do you think you can?

Obviously these are all my own experiences but you could learn from them and I hope that's the case. If only I'd known sooner about the debt help agencies. Those advisers give free and non-judgemental help. You would have nothing to lose.

I'm debt free now but I could have been in a much stronger financial position now than I am. You still can be. Okay, I'll shut up now! 

All the best to you.     

martinbainbridge1975

I would keep Barclaycard or Tesco if not both, keep the limits sensible and create the habit of settling every month.

Have been there myself with credit card debt and it can get expensive quickly, the most important thing is learn from previous errors.  Nationwide and M&S do you no favours, I had offers in my files to do debt shifts to save interest I was unaware of that could have saved me plenty.

Barclaycard helped me get out of the mire, I will never forget that hence I have had one of their cards for 7 years now.  Easy to manage and decent offers too

hope this helps

lr1277

Say you get rid of the credit cards you deem unnecessary, then of the remaining ones, one or more cards are closed, which is out of your control, what do you do then? Can you get more credit if required? Do you have a salary that will support a credit card? Will you continue to have a regular salary for the forseeable?

My recent experiences are that co-branded cards can be closed down and there is nothing you can do about it. Cards provided by banks/building societies are less likely to close down, but not impossible.Think of the Norwich and Peterborough credit card.

I am saying if you want rid of some cards, that is fine. Feel free to look at where you spend, or whatever rewards are most useful to you. But rewards style cards tend to be co-branded.

So if you are keeping one or more cards, you might be better off keeping one card that is provided by a bank or building society. I won't say it will never close, but it is best to have some options, if you can manage them.

Hope that makes sense.