Do you have a credit card?

another question

Just wondering what the general consensus on credit cards is at the moment.

1) Do you keep miles away from them or

2) Have you got one for emergencies or

3) To increase spending power or

4) Do you treat in like the Americans and buy every single thing on them, even down to a packet of chewing gum and then use your salary at the end of the month to pay it off and start all over again?

vicwatson

Number 4

maximoose

I have two at the minute

One that is cancelled and has a balance of €600 that I'll have gone shortly

One with a limit of €2k that I got for emergency spending or big purchases, it's floating around the limit mark

homer911

With the almost 100% implementation of Current Account Fees across the board, a Credit Card can be a good way of keeping these fees to a minimum

NIMAN

Got one for emergency only. Rarely use it.

galwayjohn89

Have one that I try and use as much as possible. I keep the bare minimum in my current account and try put as much in savings account as possible. This way I earn interest and get clubcard points which has paid for my Ferry to England 4-5 times so far.

I alway pay it off in full each month.

another question

@Vuzuggu Has this worked out as a good financial plan for you? Are you always sure that you are able to pay it off in full every month...is that like all your grocery shopping, bills, meals out etc....is it not the same difference if you know how much you spend and save every month to do it from the one salary payment? Just curious.

galwayjohn89

another question wrote: »

@Vuzuggu Has this worked out as a good financial plan for you? Are you always sure that you are able to pay it off in full every month...is that like all your grocery shopping, bills, meals out etc....is it not the same difference if you know how much you spend and save every month to do it from the one salary payment? Just curious.

Yup, It works out perfectly. Money comes into my current and goes straight to the Savings account. I then pay off the credit card directly from savings account 7 days before it's due.

Yes I am always sure I can pay it off except this month as I was taken to hospital in America and had to pay upfront. But that will be paid of soon once I get the cheque from insurance.

I try to put everything on my card, shopping, bills, take aways, dart tickets, flights, clothes everything.

Because the money is sitting in my saving account roughly 20 days I make roughly €60 interest a year and €480 Irish Ferries Vouchers for my regular spending not including holidays and stuff.

tony81

I'd be lost without mine. Very handy for booking flights, hotel rooms, and to stop loads of fiddly laser card transactions appearing on current acc statements (and also bank charges).

danthefan

I have one, I use it basically for online purchases only. Like flights, hotels, various things I'd shop for online (mostly computer games tbh). I've never had any sort of issue with spending getting out of control on it and I always pay it off ASAP, balance is currently zero.

SCOOP 64

Dint use my as much now that bank of Ireland issue me with a visa debit card
most internet sites except this, paypal, amazon etc...

The Rooster

I have a credit card, use it for all bills and all shopping.

Pay it off in full every month, so never pay a cent of interest.

Its very handy, but not for everyone.

If you are not disciplined enough to pay it off, in full, every month, then you should not get a credit card. Anyone who just pays off the "minimum payment" is basically throwing money down the jacks in extortionate interest charges.

another question

The Rooster wrote: »

I have a credit card, use it for all bills and all shopping.

Pay it off in full every month, so never pay a cent of interest.

Its very handy, but not for everyone.

If you are not disciplined enough to pay it off, in full, every month, then you should not get a credit card. Anyone who just pays off the "minimum payment" is basically throwing money down the jacks in extortionate interest charges.

What is your purpose for doing this? Is it handiness, for having cash available all month, having a sitting balance in your current account etc..Not nosey just interested in the why's?

Citizen2011

Have one for Car Hire only. Impossible to hire a car here or abroad without one.

daenerysstormborn3

Haven't had one in over 5 years. The only time I'd like to have one is when shopping online but if the website doesn't accept paypal I tend not to use that website.

coylemj

The Rooster wrote: »

I have a credit card, use it for all bills and all shopping.

Pay it off in full every month, so never pay a cent of interest.

Its very handy, but not for everyone.

If you are not disciplined enough to pay it off, in full, every month, then you should not get a credit card. Anyone who just pays off the "minimum payment" is basically throwing money down the jacks in extortionate interest charges.

+1 If you have a credit card, you need to know when the current billing period will expire, when the bill will arrive and the payment date after that.

That means that if the cutoff for your CC is (say) the 11th of the month, the bill will probably arrive by the 18th and you''ll have to pay at least the minimum payment by about the 5th of the following month.

Today is Sept 20th, that means that what you buy today will be in the bill that arrives in the middle of October and should be paid for in full (to avoid punitive interest) by Nov 5th. So if you are thinking of buying something in the shops or online, you need to ask yourself if you can come up with the money to pay for it by Nov 5th.

If you can't and you buy it anyway, you should not have a credit card.

The Cool

I have one, I got it 3 years ago prior to my year abroad, for booking flights and the likes. Have kept it since but am a very light user - I only use it for online purchases, and that'll be a book or DVD that's cheaper on Amazon than the shops, or a dress off Asos that I can't afford now but know I will have the money to by billing date. I purposely don't know the pin, to save me from myself!

LAst night however, it got hacked. Somebody tried to rake up about €1000 on it including a hotel room and stuff in the States. Luckily, Bank of Ireland were on the ball and were flat out trying to get me on the phone straight away. They cancelled all transactions that were attempted, cancelled the card and are sending me out a new one, so I'm not a cent out of pocket. Scary that it happens, but I was delighted to see that my bank are on top of things regarding security!