Too many credit cards? aka "The Credit Card thread"
- Thread starter robfosters
- Start date
Soldato
- Purchasing Protection
- Stops my bank statement looking like a shopping receipt (one CC Payment vs 50 things bought at various places)
- Cashback on purchases
- Occasional offers/deals that are good
- Backup purchase method to debit card in case bank has issues?
- Can purchase ahead by about a month at the most, as I pay mine off fully each month automatically, I treat it like a debit card but the statement dates are a month apart
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Soldato
Getting into stoozing for the first time so just signed up for an M&S card with 20 months 0%.
Planning to put the equivalent payments into T212 Cash ISA, currently at 4.9% or maybe premium bonds.
Even if that drops it should be easy to beat my current Amex with 1.25% cashback!
Planning to put the equivalent payments into T212 Cash ISA, currently at 4.9% or maybe premium bonds.
Even if that drops it should be easy to beat my current Amex with 1.25% cashback!
Yep. Don't forget you have to pay minimum payment. So keep a log of how many months left, how much you have offset. Spend as much as possible as soon as possible to keep your monthlies low
you certainly made big purchases in that time but never used your CC for what ever reason.
Think of the buyer protection like free insurance. You never want to use your insurance but the day you need it you’ll be thankful you have it.
Not that much, no, only when I need to, and often second-hand. Like I said, I'm not much of a consumer.
I was literally replying to your post about ways to improve your credit score. If it's irrelevant why do you care about improving it?
You don't buy food and groceries?
Soldato
I'm struggling to see how stoozing is worth it now for me but if I'm missing something please say so.
My spending is quite low because I pay all the big bills and my missus pays for the food shopping.
Mortgage, energy, my car, other bills - none of that could be put on a 0% card.
I spend around £500 a month of stuff that could be put on 0% purchases card. So £6000 a year.
It will take me a year to build up the first £6k debt so in a 5% savings account I'll earn around £150 interest.
But then when I have to balance transfer that in 12 months time, if the fee is 1% then that is £60, if it's 2% that's £120. So at best I'm making £90 in the first year, and in subsequent years about £210 a year.
It's not a lot for the effort involved.
My spending is quite low because I pay all the big bills and my missus pays for the food shopping.
Mortgage, energy, my car, other bills - none of that could be put on a 0% card.
I spend around £500 a month of stuff that could be put on 0% purchases card. So £6000 a year.
It will take me a year to build up the first £6k debt so in a 5% savings account I'll earn around £150 interest.
But then when I have to balance transfer that in 12 months time, if the fee is 1% then that is £60, if it's 2% that's £120. So at best I'm making £90 in the first year, and in subsequent years about £210 a year.
It's not a lot for the effort involved.
Soldato
- Joined
- 21 Sep 2020
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- 4,335
Santander edge - link via MSE
As well as the free cash, for a £3/month fee, switching to the Santander Edge account* can net you a total of £20/month cashback:
- 1% back on energy, council tax, broadband, TV, mobile & water bills (max £10/month).
- 1% on supermarket, fuel and train spending (max £10/month).
There's also a linked saver that pays 6% on up to £4,000 for the first year – maxed out, this pays around £240/year interest.
Could work well for you.
Effort? What effort? Literally the only thing you have to remember is to pay the CC off just before the 0% ends...
And as with most things, it's not a get rich quick scheme. A little bit here and there adds up eventually.
Soldato
I pay my gas and electric on amex with Octopus Energy, just set your monthly payment to £1 and top up monthly by card
I guess I'm just fortunate enough to not have to worry about 'opportunities' to buy groceries. Wasting neurons on credit card deals sounds some kind of nightmarish suburban hellscape to honest
Associate
- Joined
- 28 Mar 2006
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- 139
Tempted to get an Amex card just after christmas. Got a fairly large family holiday to pay for (I have the money sat in savings already) and considering using the free airport lounge access and also using the points to pay off some money from the holiday (Virgin atlantic reward) - I know it's not the most optimal use of the amex points but given I don't travel an awful lot anyhow I just see it as "Free" money which I can further use to get off the holiday. Would only look at keeping the card for the 1 year anyhow and not paying the renewal cost.
Get the Nectar one then.
Soldato
Transfer it you mean. So it is effort to keep looking for new deals. There's only a handful of cards where BT deals are low fee now. If it gets to a 3% fee I'd say it's not viable.
I already have 123 lite account which I think was the predecessor to edge.
I guess if you don't have enough to go around you must prioritise. It isn't hard having an AMEX and earning free money.I guess I'm just fortunate enough to not have to worry about 'opportunities' to buy groceries. Wasting neurons on credit card deals sounds some kind of nightmarish suburban hellscape to honest
^ membership to date.
YTD.
The lounge access isn't all its cracked up to be - good novelty but can be a big disappointed if you get there and its full. Adds more stress to the whole thing in my personal opinion. The points I've never bothered with - the Platinum card (£25/yr) is the daddy.
I never used them due to hearing of people getting into debt due to them and that credit cards also meant to have very high interest rates.
Maybe i wrong on this but i thought they allowed you to spend money you no have (Kind of like a far easier version of a bank loan)
Saw the limit on mine keep rising. It started at around £3,500 then £6,500 then god knows what it ended up at
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You just pay the balance in full and it's interest free. If you have a problem controlling yourself/your spending it is a bad idea as it is essentially a loan.