0% interest Credit Card

Out of interest, has anyone on here even gone mental on credit cards..

I mean taking out multiple cards in the same day and just blasting them all without a care in the world?
 
Further to my post above I was just trying to answer a question posted by the OP and not give financial advice seeing as I'm not qualified to do so. I'm on quite a low income but manage my finances to the best of my abilities, I do owe a little money here and there such as a bank loan, also some furniture bought last year and will be paid for by summer next year at very little interest.

I did not take up the offer from the CC company simply because the £500 I owe will be paid off in 3 equal instalments over the next 3 months and the 'Reasonable interest rate' I informed her of is only 5.5% anyway, though I didn't tell her what rate I was paying.

I have 2 C/C and often buy on one then transfer the amount to the other card at a much lower rate or even interest free for 6 or 9 months so being careful I don't pay much interest on any of my purchases and sometimes none at all.

I keep my current account in good order and always have 3 months of money required to live on in the account as advised by 'The motley Fool' This is a financial forum I belong to and try to follow their advice. The rest of my small income is transfered into a savings account each month and a couple of ISAS we have.

So although I do have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle with funds to spare, because my income is low I have to be careful not to spend too much at any one time as it would take a considerable time to replace same. My C/C limits are very high and I promise you I have to be very strong willed not to be tempted to spend more than I can afford to over a set time.

One example I can give and maybe you will be able to tell me if I am right or wrong in my way of thinking. Some 3 years back I wished to buy a new camera at some £600 and though I could have paid cash for it, it would have obviously lowered my capital.

I checked round the Internet and could not find the same camera any cheaper except by maybe £5 to £10. I bought from my local supplier on a 12 month interest free scheme, [Remember I could not find it for much less no matter how I paid]. I transfered the £600 into a separate savings account at, [I think it was 8% at the time]. then after earning 12 months interest on this account I paid for the camera in full to the finance company with no interest paid to them, and I made a few pounds interest on my saving account.

I asked the finance company how they could afford to do this and they explained they charged the suppling company a fee which was paid to them when I bought the camera. This gave the finance company its interest and allowed the company to sell far more cameras than it would have been able to if it could not offer these deals. Also there will always be a % of people who do not pay in full at 12 months then they have to pay over 3 years at 25% interest or more.

Sorry for the long post and not trying to appear knowledgeable in these things and I certainly would not have transfered a sum of £1,000 to my card then £500 to the bank, but if I had needed say £10,000 or more I would certainly have looked into it. :confused:
 
MSE supplies LOADS of information on how to maximise your profit from credit cards.

For example;

The best way to make CC work for you is to start with a interest free card and buy everything on it (if your rating allows), don't spend more than you normally would. Put all your money that you would normally spend in a high interest savings account. Pay off the minimum payments until your introductory offer has expired.

When the introductory offer expires pay the credit card off in full and pocket the interest from the savings account.

OR if you can balance transfer the lot to another interest free card and let the savings account interest grow for however long that balance transfer introductory offer lasts for.

Some really intesting reading on things like stoozing on MSE.
 
daniel_owen_uk said:
MSE supplies LOADS of information on how to maximise your profit from credit cards.

For example;

The best way to make CC work for you is to start with a interest free card and buy everything on it (if your rating allows), don't spend more than you normally would. Put all your money that you would normally spend in a high interest savings account. Pay off the minimum payments until your introductory offer has expired.

When the introductory offer expires pay the credit card off in full and pocket the interest from the savings account.

OR if you can balance transfer the lot to another interest free card and let the savings account interest grow for however long that balance transfer introductory offer lasts for.

Some really intesting reading on things like stoozing on MSE.
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Thanks Daniel, I will look into that. Before anyone ask why I don't lower my C/C limits so I won't be tempted to spend, well it's because they are quite high, insanely so for me. £15,000 and £10,000 that along with never missing a payment or even being a day late on any payment in my life that helps to give me a good credit record.

This in turn means that I'm always offered one deal or another whenever I get in touch with the C/C companies or my bank. Most of the time I make payments or adjust funds over the Internet but occasionally I phone them and this is when I'm offered these deals. I'm retired now but wish I was still in work earning excellent money and able to take advantage of these deals, but then maybe not, things might go wrong and I would find myself in financial trouble to an extent I could not correct it. :confused:
 
One of the bits of advice is whilst you should use a high interest savings account, don't put it in an account that the money is not readily available, for this very reason.

If you get made redundant for example you should (if doing this correctly) have the money to just pay off the debt straight away.
 
I work for mbna/virgin credit cards. The advice given above is spot on regarding the transfer into the current account. It's 16months 0% with a 4% handling fee.

When stoozing you really need to be clued up. One simply mistake with dates or payments and it can spiral out of control.

Re. bledd. I've seen some shocking accounts and I work in the loyalty team with the "best" accounts. I daren't imagine the accounts which are the opposite end of the scale.
 
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