Wasp needs a credit card

[Wasp]

im thinking that prepay visa that steam suggested (cheers dude) is the way to go to book my flight to new plymouth.

im a lazy cunt and hate filling out forms so applying for a credit card is definately out.

if i do get one i would only use it for things i need (like when i borrowed my brother's to buy a new rear set from a wrecker in aus) and would probably deposit cash into the account when i purchase something. all my everyday transactions would be by eftpos as i dont pay any fees.

[The_Dover]

all my everyday transactions would be by eftpos as i dont pay any fees.

dirty, unwashed student.

[Wasp]

not a friggin student, i work full time 40 hour weeks at proper pay

[magicfairy]

One thing to be aware of with a Credit Card. When applying for a loan from the bank -.e.g mortgage, personal then even if you dont owe anything on the credit cards you own, they will ask the maximum limit on your credit card and regard it as a money you owe under liabilities. The reasoning is "you could go into debt by that much so we have to take that into account"
Even if you always pay it off every month.

So it will affect your "balance sheet"

So keep the max as low as you can.

[Flyingpony]

One problem with a $500 credit limit, is that what you spent last month will still be sitting there this month until it's paid off. So if you spent $300 last month, then this month you can only spend $200. Therefore workout what you'll spend over two months, add a safety margin and that limit should put you sweet. Setup a direct debit system where by the credit card full due balance will automatically deducted from your cheque account - that way you never miss a payment and have one month to sort out your credit card budget blow out.

Like others have said, ignore interest rates since you should always pay the required balance off monthly. Look at membership fees and reward system options - this may also have a membership fee. Find a reward system that can pay you in cold hard cash so it's useful, not flybuys or airpoints. Some do AA points.

With the right management, you can actually make a profit off your credit card Not much but a $1 is a $1.

Don't do Amex or American Express, nobody accepts it. Stick to MasterCard or Visa.

One VERY good habit then would be to replace your eftpos card with your credit card and only use your eftpos card where credit card isn't accepted. That way you won't double spend your money.

[James Deuce]

How does that work? Last I heard, cc interest rates were in the ballpark of 20% per annum, not 20% per month ...

Richard (avoiding doing any visible multiplication)

Yeah, they say per anum. In retrospect the actual finance cost has never looked anything like that. More like 20% per month.

[SuperDave]

If you only require it for the convenience of shopping online then you'll be planning on paying the balance back in FULL each month before the due date. If you can do this then it'll only cost you a card/insurance fee which IIRC is 6 monthly and like $10 or something. If you're planning on paying it back in full each time then the interest rate doens't matter.

[Shadows]

I'm totally with Jim2 on this, don't do it.

I've never had a credit card, although I have been tempted for the same reasons as you. I've managed to resist the temptation for this long.

I'm totally with Jim2 on this, don't do it.

Cheques are useful for buying shit by mail and there's always direct deposit via that interweb thingy.

I'm totally with Jim2 on this, don't do it.

There's always another way, and because everybody else is after your money, they'd be disadvantaging themselves if they made it too hard for you to give it to them.

I'm totally with Jim2 on this, don't do it.