Tuesday 11 June 2013

Opps! How to use creditcards correctly.

I forgot to take pictures of my shopping to show you all, not much anyway just some milk, bread, fruit, salad and veggies. I will try again next month to show you my shopping for a month.

Well i've been MIA for abit and the main reason is i havent felt like posting as i've been spending money like no-ones business....new clothes....home gym equipment....weddings.....birthdays. You name it, I've spent it and yesterday i got a shock when for the first time even my creditcard is over £1k.




Now i know many blogs you read will say cut your creditcard up and never use it, however this is not one of them.

A few years ago dispite having no bad credit, a regular income and savings we got declined for a phone contract, when we looked into it the reason wasn't that we had bad credit it was that we had none at all, proving you can use credit wisely goes in your favor. So we now have a capital one creditcard and a next account.

Next account is only used for sale items for the kids usually stuff that ends up being birthday or xmas pressies.

Our creditcard is used for everywhere that will take it then paid in full every month. I refuse to pay interest on my creditcard but thankfully i only need to pay around £550 this month and the rest next month.

We both now have good credit ratings, when we decided to get a creditcard we were still considering a mortgage or a loan, we now know thats not an option but it is good to have a good credit rating anyway.

Another good use of a creditcard is spending money on holiday (check your provider doesn't charge you to use your card abroad or for different currency) it means your not paying for a preloaded cards or carrying money around with you.

Now heres the golden rule of creditcards...

Don't spend more than you have.

If you can't pay your creditcard in full each month you will have interest added, only spend what you already have in the bank to cover it, don't spend on your creditcard thinking you'll have x amount in next week because until it's in your hand you might not have it. Sometimes companys go bust and staff aren't paid or benefits make mistakes or suspend payments. If this happens don't reach for your creditcard straight away, go dig down the back of your sofa for money for electric and make a list of all food you have in and eat that rather than buying stuff in. Over the next few weeks i won't be spending much on food however i will have the £550 my creditcard wants for the 25th and i will have the other £500 for the end of the month to pay next months balance in advance without touching my savings. We won't starve and will still stick to our diet. I will still pay me rent and get desil but every penny leaving my purse will be carefully watched.

Remeber if you can't afford to pay the bill you can't afford the item.

So over to you, does anyone have any advice about creditcards or any good or bad experiences? Do you like or loath them?

6 comments:

  1. loving the credit card tips my top one is to leave the dam thing a home stops me spending anymore on it and have a target of when you want to clear the balance by and overpay as much as you can to reduce the interest applied thats if its not possible to clear it in one go like you have said x

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    1. I just leave my whole purse at home!! i usually only have my phone and car keys with me.

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    2. have mentioned your blog in mine hope that was okay x

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    3. Ofcourse thats fine, i'm glad you think so highly of me but really i'm no different to you saving as many pennies as i can as i go :)

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  2. Hi Sian, welcome to blogland. Sensible advice. We only use our credit card for major purchases and pay it off immediately, it means you get extra cover if anything happens. We had a big claim a few years ago when MFI went bust and didn't loose a penny :-) I agree totally that if you can't afford to pay the bill then don't buy the goods.

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    1. Hi karen thank you and welcome to my blog :)

      We also use our creditcard for big purchases for the extra protection. Our friends creditcard gives them an extra years warranty if they buy electricials from certain shops aswell so it is worth seeing what perks your creditcard will give you.

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