Credit Cards + Overdrafts

[Laurafoster]

Ive just signed up to get another credit card today - a nationwide one to use in Disney.

I now have 4 credit cards and a huge interest free overdraft (i used to work for barclays ) and i just realised if i went out and maxed out all my cards and all over my over draft i could spend in excess of £35k!!!

Im going to be cancelling 2 credit cards today as i was only waiting to get ones that give me better benefits but its pretty scary that they are willing to give me that amount of credit considering im only 21 and how much i earn etc!!

No wonder people find is soooo easy to get into debt!

 

[higgy66]

I agree. I have 2 credit cards for the benfits and pay them off every month.

We get offered credit cards constantly and if we were to take them all up and use them to the max I dread to think where we'd be - well the bahamas running a bar with no mail address....

It's so easy to get into debt now and then with all the adverts about writingg 90% of the debt off doesn't help.

I also used to work for Barclays (many moons ago) and I think this made me realise to use credit cards to my advantage and not to get in debt.

 

[wilma-bride]

I was saying this to my SIL only last night. Considering I probably have one of the worst credit histories ever, I was really surprised when I applied for a VA credit card and was given not only an instant approval but a credit limit of £6500 straight away - it's utter madness.

Unfortunately, I have been that person they talk about on the adverts who doesn't know exactly how much debt they have and it's not a nice way to be. I consider myself to be pretty sensible with money now, having learned the hard way, but even I am sorely tempted sometimes to buy things i know I can't afford and shove it on the credit card.

Sorry, that went on a bit - didn't mean to

 

[Chilly]

That is so true, it is madness. I don't have a credit card at all. DBF has one that we use to buy big things but it gets paid off every month automatically. If I can't afford it I don't buy it. My mortgage and student loan is enough debt for me.

 

[wils]

When my DH was a student his housemate had over 20 cards. I dread to think what kind of situation that could get un undergrad into!

 

[jen_uk]

I got into loads of debt when I was at uni and Im still paying it off now. The bank kept encouraging me to take out loans to pay off credit cards etc, I wish I had never listened now!

 

[carolfoy]

I have a 45k mortgage (Bear in mind I'm a single mum and work for practically minimum wage!) my lender will automatically lend me another 20k with one phone call, I also have a 'reserve' account (not used!) up to 10k.
I have a lloyds tsb credit card that I've had since 18 and this limit has crept up over the years to 10k, My virgin c/c has 10k limit, I have egg and morgan stanley cards I used when I needed 0% interest, they both have limits of around 7K.
My next account will give me around 1k, I can get debenhams, m&S, New look aqnd house of fraser cards limited to 1k each within minutes. I bet I can walk into any dixons/pc world etc and get a couple of thousand credit.
all in all I can put my hands on around 70k with little effort!


hmmm. DVC here we come

 

[wilma-bride]

all in all I can put my hands on around 70k with little effort!


hmmm. DVC here we come

You don't even need anywhere near £70K for DVC Carol - c'mon you know you want to

 

[carolfoy]

I really wish I could Joh, I'd be next door to you in saratoga springs before you knew it
I looked into it seriously a little while ago, I was really about to dip into that mortgage reserve but the annual dues put me offa bit, its ok when the rates good like now, but they are very pretty high compared to other timeshares

 

[CustardTart]

...Unfortunately, I have been that person they talk about on the adverts who doesn't know exactly how much debt they have and it's not a nice way to be. I consider myself to be pretty sensible with money now, having learned the hard way, but even I am sorely tempted sometimes to buy things i know I can't afford and shove it on the credit card...

Same here. I got into loads of debt when I was a student back in the 80's and it took me forever to pay it off. Then, when we first bought a house, I had a few store cards - another bad move! Nowadays, I have one credit card and pay it off monthly - I find that works best for me. I have a friend who uses credit cards to her advantage but it seems very complicated and I prefer the simple life...

 

[Chilly]

I have a friend who uses credit cards to her advantage but it seems very complicated and I prefer the simple life...

 

[Laurafoster]

Same here. I got into loads of debt when I was a student back in the 80's and it took me forever to pay it off. Then, when we first bought a house, I had a few store cards - another bad move! Nowadays, I have one credit card and pay it off monthly - I find that works best for me. I have a friend who uses credit cards to her advantage but it seems very complicated and I prefer the simple life...

I agree - several of my friends buy things on 0% APR and transfer it around every 6 months to save them money. Now (when i finally cancel the others) i will just have my Nationwide card!!

 

[carolfoy]

I've done the 0% thing a few times, its really not that complicated, for instance when I bought a car at £10,000 and had £8,000 to put towards it already I kept the £8,000 in a higher rate account and just paid the minimum payment off the original 10k for 6 months then the last payment I only had to pay around £1000 because of the increased interest on the savings and the minimum payment I'd already paid. I probably only saved around £200-£300 but would have paid out a heck of a lot more than that in interest if I'd haveused finance.

 

[angel659]

Hi

I have 1 credit card and will only stick to that. We only use for overseas transactions and for security deposits. If I cant see the cash in my bank then I wont buy it.

 

[Tron[ADS]]

The amount of credit available is just crazy, its no wonder people with less contol over their spending get into trouble with it all.

A couple of years back, some of you may recall I was exploiting a loophole in one of my cards which earnt me cashback on balance transfers....I had no less than seven 0% cards on the go, bouncing around thousands between them over 12 weeks before they closed the loophole (by introducing balance transfer fees). The amounts I could obtain on these cards ranged between 4k on the lowest and 8k on the highest....considering I only just earn over 20k, this is madness....Had I been spending rather than scamming, I could have got myself into real bother.

 

[carolfoy]

following on to add how scary it is to be able to borrow money - I need to do quite a lot of work on my house (new roof, new render etc) so 1 phone call to the bank at the end part of last week and the moneys in my account already.
now I just have to find a builder

 

[natalielongstaff]

dh applied for a loan for our new car and was told he could have £20000
tempting but you still have to pay it back

 

[alisonbestford]

I haven't been able to go out to work for 7 years now (full time carer for DH), DH is classed as disabled, and our main income is disability benefits

Despite this we have around 15 credit cards (applied for to make the full use of 0% offers) and could, if we were irresponsible enough, tot up around 50k worth of debt

We only use one of them, which we pay off straight away, but it really does seem silly that we're offered so much credit, given the circumstances

Many years ago an acquaintance applied for a cc, knowing that she would be totally unable to ever make the payments, 'racked up' the debt and then took the cc company to court for 'irresponsible lending' and got the entire debt written off!
Something I'd never be able to do but I did have to admire her nerve

 

[CarolynU]

What actually also sickens me is when I see those adverts early in the evening for the loans which consolidate the debt for householders. In other words it all seems so happy, and jolly to place your home as security for a loan which decreases your monthly payments, except when you really think about it the term is often 180 months or less nicely put 15 years!!!!!
Wow that's attractive! Take out a loan on the telephone for 15 years of your life, and default and they take your home, but in the advert they make it seem so simple, and no doubt it is.

 

[fizz13]

Oh wow, this thread has hit a deep nerve with me, I am one of those people who is now in the process of re-financing because of the debt I have accumulated. In 10 years (I am 28) I have accumulated ............£90,000!! And this is how you do it children:
You start with a credit card, then another until you can't pay the debts. You conmsolidate those debts with a small loan (I think it was £5k the first time), then you do it all over again, except this then turns into mortgages. The stress destroyed my marriage (he did help accumulate this problem though) and nearly my health, and believe me there is a line you reach which is your personal limit, and i have reached it about a year ago. All I can say now is to anybody that thinks they may not be able to resist the will to spend, please please don't even apply. i thought my credit was shocking and wouldn't get any more credit and sure enough, another card came through the door, it is stupid how easy it really is to get in this debt, and even more nieve to think that it is monopoly money, and not take responsibility for your actions. I really learnt my lesson the hard way and it is a miracle that i still have a house to sit in and type this to you now.
My re-finance completes next Thursday and so does that phase of my life. Sorry if I brought anyone down and I do know how stupid I have been.