Self Crediting Consumer: Give Credit Cards the Boot!

Kingswick

I made a sound decision not to have another credit card and simply turn myself into an SCC, or rather a 'Self-Crediting Consumer':A .

After settling my card debts, finally:j , I elected to pay into various personal savings accounts around 50% of the amount I used to waste servicing my Visa and whatever cards.

The result?:cool:

Each month I am putting away a good amount of cash and each month I always seem to have anough to cover those occasional needs - like a new TV or a holiday.:D

I am amazed at how much money I have saved.

Setting up standing orders to put away a set figure into each of my savings accounts was easy.

Presently I have a domestic savings account; car account; holiday account and animal account (for vet bills, etc.), and I have never looked back.

And it is me who gets the interest and who never needs to pay service charges, whatever.:T

I cannot recommend enough such a simple and self-affirming system, and I am sure many of you out there may be utilising a similar plan.

The truth is that we do not need credit cards: they need us.:money:

TIP: Open another current account with a bank debit card attached and use it by occasionally transferring sums to use when shopping or on holiday, etc. That way your main account is kept separate and relatively safe.

Nessa56

Hi

do you not find having no credit at all affects you if you want to say change your mortgage or wanted to get for instance %interest credit?

Kingswick

Nessa56 wrote: »

Hi

do you not find having no credit at all affects you if you want to say change your mortgage or wanted to get for instance %interest credit?

Good point. I own my house outright and aim to increase my annual savings to £10,000 per annum, making loans a thing of the past.:money:

The idea is to cease borrowing.

benf90

Not all debt is bad debt though.

For instance, I have a 0% overdraft (student account), that was transferred into an ISA so now I'm earning tax free interest on the banks money.

All my bills are paid with a cash back credit card, the balance is paid in full so I don't pay interest. As there is only one payment going from my bank account each month (different one from student account) I can have my money in a savings account earning a higher rate of interest until the card DD goes through.

So rather than getting rid of credit cards etc, the best thing to do is to make them work in your favour... which is exactly what this site helps to do. :j

Martinslovechild

Without being an advocate of the Credit Card industry, there are many advantages of making purchases using credit cards.

#1 Purchase Protection Insurance. Lots of credit card companies cover you if you've purchased an item which subsequently fails and the company you purchased from either won't refund or has gone bankrupt.

#2 Up to 56-days interest-free credit. When you pay your card in full each month, you're effectively borrowing at 0% for up to 56 days. The money therefore remains in your savings account a lot longer than using a debit card.

#3 Cashback. Cards such as Egg Money and Capital One Cashback offer 1% back on everything you buy.

#4 I wouldn't want to be clobbered over the head if I was carrying a pocket full of cash (or if I happened to be pickpocketed!). However, if someone steals a credit card, a phone call will cancel it and you're not out of pocket through potential fraudulent transactions.

#5 In an emergency, a credit card is invaluable for purchases of several thousands of pounds (e.g. medical emergency abroad). If your child/wife suddenly became sick on holiday in Namibia, for example, I certainly wouldn't want to go scuttling off looking for an internet cafe so that I could transfer funds from my savings account to my current account to allow their medical treatment to be charged to my debit card.

#6 Bizarrely, credit cards got a lot of people through the last recession. When lots of people lost their jobs, it was credit cards that bridged the gap between losing their jobs and finding new ones. For the majority of borrowers who don't have mortgage payment protection insurance or income insurance, a credit card provides a short-term lending mechanism for shocks such as job loss, divorce, death of a partner/child/relative.

#7 Stoozing. This one's allowed me (and many others) to earn lots of money over the years for very little effort.

#8 No Credit Cards = Sparse Credit History. It's simple - if you have credit cards, you're able to build a profile of your credit. This is used to determine if you're successful in getting a mortgage. Whilst you've paid your mortgage off (congratulations ), what's to say that at some point in the future you decide to purchase a holiday cottage, a villa abroad or several buy-to-lets?

Don't rule them out... At least not yet anyway.

Zebedee69

Martinslovechild wrote: »

Without being an advocate of the Credit Card industry, there are many advantages of making purchases using credit cards.

#1 Purchase Protection Insurance. Lots of credit card companies cover you if you've purchased an item which subsequently fails and the company you purchased from either won't refund or has gone bankrupt.

#2 Up to 56-days interest-free credit. When you pay your card in full each month, you're effectively borrowing at 0% for up to 56 days. The money therefore remains in your savings account a lot longer than using a debit card.

#3 Cashback. Cards such as Egg Money and Capital One Cashback offer 1% back on everything you buy.

#4 I wouldn't want to be clobbered over the head if I was carrying a pocket full of cash (or if I happened to be pickpocketed!). However, if someone steals a credit card, a phone call will cancel it and you're not out of pocket through potential fraudulent transactions.

#5 In an emergency, a credit card is invaluable for purchases of several thousands of pounds (e.g. medical emergency abroad). If your child/wife suddenly became sick on holiday in Namibia, for example, I certainly wouldn't want to go scuttling off looking for an internet cafe so that I could transfer funds from my savings account to my current account to allow their medical treatment to be charged to my debit card.

#6 Bizarrely, credit cards got a lot of people through the last recession. When lots of people lost their jobs, it was credit cards that bridged the gap between losing their jobs and finding new ones. For the majority of borrowers who don't have mortgage payment protection insurance or income insurance, a credit card provides a short-term lending mechanism for shocks such as job loss, divorce, death of a partner/child/relative.

#7 Stoozing. This one's allowed me (and many others) to earn lots of money over the years for very little effort.

#8 No Credit Cards = Sparse Credit History. It's simple - if you have credit cards, you're able to build a profile of your credit. This is used to determine if you're successful in getting a mortgage. Whilst you've paid your mortgage off (congratulations ), what's to say that at some point in the future you decide to purchase a holiday cottage, a villa abroad or several buy-to-lets?

Don't rule them out... At least not yet anyway.

Amem sister, cards are good and I cant help feeling the OP is spaming for some reason? im expecting an affiliate link to go up soon:rolleyes:

_Andy_

I doubt it - the other posts don't indicate spamming.
I think the thread is just the OP blowing their own trumpet

PBA

Kingswick wrote: »

The truth is that we do not need credit cards: they need us.:money:

Gotta say I find the use of the word "we" a bit offensive. You may have messed up on your cards in the past and choose not to use them, that's fair enough, but to come on a credit card forum and suggest that we don't need them is ridiculous. My credit cards make me money every month, I get to pay for stuff a month after I buy it and get cashback. I've also got elderly relatives on another continent, so having credit cards in my pocket gives me the ability to jump on a flight in an instant if necessary without the hassle of waiting to transfer money out of savings. Just because you misused cards in the past doesn't give you the right to suggest that everyone else will have the same problem.

Nessa56

I must admit I have messed up on cards in the past, but hopefully I have now learnt my lesson, apart from knowing how to make them work for me, still working on that one, cashback??

I agree with all the reasons for having them posted on here and just don't understand why you would not have one at all, far too convenient in an emergency not to.

Hey ho

Kingswick

PBA wrote: »

Gotta say I find the use of the word "we" a bit offensive. You may have messed up on your cards in the past and choose not to use them, that's fair enough, but to come on a credit card forum and suggest that we don't need them is ridiculous. My credit cards make me money every month, I get to pay for stuff a month after I buy it and get cashback. I've also got elderly relatives on another continent, so having credit cards in my pocket gives me the ability to jump on a flight in an instant if necessary without the hassle of waiting to transfer money out of savings. Just because you misused cards in the past doesn't give you the right to suggest that everyone else will have the same problem.

Offensive - give me a break! :rotfl: Did I say I had misused anything?

All I am saying is that it IS possible to live without credit cards: we did before them and we can afterwards. It's a fact. Accept it.

The humble debit card replaces the credit card and you just have to make sure you have transferred a suitable amount for travel emergencies. etc.,. into a current account - If you go on holiday, the emergency amount may well need may be several thousands - to be put back if not used.

You save your cash and then use it as you will. The credit cards are there to make money - our money remember!:eek:

It ain't rocket science mate!:j

Kingswick

Nessa56 wrote: »

I must admit I have messed up on cards in the past, but hopefully I have now learnt my lesson, apart from knowing how to make them work for me, still working on that one, cashback??

I agree with all the reasons for having them posted on here and just don't understand why you would not have one at all, far too convenient in an emergency not to.

Hey ho

It's totally possible to use your debit card for emergencies. With online banking you can access your bank accounts easily and transfer your cash around. If you have built up a useful reserve fund you can utilise it when needed. It is so easy to do its a dream.

Of course, this idea is anathema to the card companies. Well it would be.:p