To think my family are being weird trying to encourage me to buy things on credit?

[AwfulMaureen]

We have a new flat...we don't have a lot of money and we're moving in this week. Our old sofa was awful so we left it behind with the idea to buy a "new" one second hand.

My Mum and sister keep saying "What are you going to SIT on??" in a sort of panicky fashion...quite honestly I had thought we;d use our beanbags and the kitchen chairs until we found a decent second hand suite....they keep on about the sale at DFS...I've had a look and don't think any of them are very good quality and I don't like getting into debt and paying things off....I think "If you can't afford it you can't have it" sort of thing but they keep on and on.

Why? Why do they keep on about it? I feel judged for not wanting to get into debt! I could get the sofas from DFS ...take 4 years to pay them off and then find it's worn out!

[ouryve]

In general, you're being sensible, particularly when it comes to something that kids can trash so easily.

Paying for something by card then paying it off immediately doesn't do much to build a credit history, either, it turns out.

The general rule with credit for a credit history is to only use it to buy something that you could save up for in a few months, anyhow, and look out for opportunities where the interest rates aren't exorbitant, the term is fairly short (months, rather than years) and the price is still competitive, as some places offering cheap credit put one hell of a mark up on the products they sell in the first place.

[IckleBird]

2nd hand all the way iv seen some beautiful 2nd hand going very cheap for there age..
Paying £100's for a sofa just seems wrong.

[specialsubject]

you can get a credit history by economic activity, not by building up stupid debt.

it is obvious that 'x years free credit' means 'grossly overpriced'.

decent second-hand furniture goes for peanuts precisely because others believe this.

just because others are financial fools does not mean that you have to do the same.

(settles comfortably on second-hand sofa...)

[JuniperTisane]

Sounds sensible to me. When we first set up home we lived for more than a year with just two ikea poang chairs in the living room, (we both owned one prior to moving in). It was lovely to buy a new sofa (from Next, actually) but we bought it for ourselves the following Christmas instead of taking credit.

Its still going strong 13 years later.

I do agree with having a credit card though. Nowadays in the same situation I would still wait til we could afford it but I would use the credit card and pay it off all at once.

[DoctorTwo]

People I know think I'm a bit weird for not buying things on credit, but I refuse to take part in the debt based economy. If I can't afford something I save up little by little until I can. I'm not cash rich by any means, but everything I have is paid for.

[AwfulMaureen]

I think I'll pop and look on Ebay now! There is also a very good second hand shop or two near here...I just can't bring myself to do it. I can SEE the quality is poor...the cushions will be flat in a month!

[Sallyingforth]

What a refreshingly sensible post Maureen!
Definitely don't go into debt just to satisfy someone else.

[BerniesBurneze]

Facebook selling is even better than ebay, people often post a bargain because they want it to go very quickly. Type your local area + buy sell and see what pages pop up.

[LookHowTheyShineForYou]

You sound sensible. I'm from another country where there is no such culture of credit cards. People here are sometimes surprised when we say we don't have credit cards, because they think we can't get one.

We shredded the ones we got sent repeatedly. We also heard "but what about your credit rating?" Well, we never had any problems with it, have had mortgages with 3 different banks so far.

We have 2 Ikea Sofas, big Ektorps. We love them, one of them I bought off a friend for £50. The other is 10 years old. We will invest in two sets of new covers maybe next year.

[pianodoodle]

We got our suite for £50 from a lady who only ever used it for guests so it was immaculate.

Most of our furniture is from gumtree or similar - but at least it's our furniture :)

Imagine the rage if say, a dog chewed a hole in the sofa you still had 3 years left to pay for!

With a toddler running about I prefer good sturdy second hand stuff I don't have to be too precious about.

You're not unreasonable at all :D

[Suzannewithaplan]

Yes interest free credit just means that the actual cost of borrowing is included in the price of the item!

[brightspark2]

My Mum was horrified too - she is a bit of a Hyacinth and I had a VERY small front room - so I went to an auction and bought a piano with stool for a tenner and Argos for a small inflatable bouncy castle - my 2yo son, me and my mates sat on the castle! he loved it, she went spare! Bonus!

[MrsMoon76]

We got our suite from a lady selling it second hand for £150. She was redecorating but the furniture is perfect - high backs, great condition even though 15 years old. At some point we may just recover it rather than replace it as to get the same again would cost £2500 at least. Do look at second hand, charity and gumtree for stuff.

On the issue of credit things have changed. We don't own our own home yet but plan to buy next year. DH never had a loan, credit card or bought on credit and so has no credit history. He was able to buy cars outright with savings, has substantial savings but would not get a mortgage. He now has a credit card and phone contract to help build a history. Some credit history is necessary these days. I work in savings and loans myself but of course he wouldn't listen to me......

[AwfulMaureen]

Suzanne exactly! And you can see that by the quality...it's poor at best.

[jeanmiguelfangio]

You sound really sensible, if you were my daughter id be really proud of you. I only buy on credit if it is 0%, and that was our last car. They are thinking about themselves not you, ask me how I know....

[JulietBravoJuliet]

I got a gorgeous oxblood red leather chesterfield sofa for £30 off a local Facebook selling group, from someone who had had it in their conservatory for their dogs! Yes it was ditched, but nothing a good clean and a bit of neatsfoot oil couldn't sort out. A few months later, I bid on a matching chair on eBay for £10 and have now got a lovely, sturdy suite for a grand total of £40!

Apart from my bed, which was a present from my mum 8 years ago, I have no new furniture in my house. My kitchen table - a huge, extendable oak thing - was 99p off eBay, the chairs were £10 for 4 and I spent about £20 on paint to tidy them all up. My wardrobe is a 4 door Schreiber thing that I got for £5 and ds has two wardrobes, a desk, a bedside cabinet and a laundry bin/ottoman, all from the same range, that have cost me £50 in total, yet his room looks great!

I have all sheesham/Indian wood furniture in my living room, which was all second hand and which I love as it's solid and will last years. My most expensive purchase was my sideboard which cost £150 but was a slightly damaged ex-Harvey's piece which was in store for £600. Had it 10 years now and it still looks like new.

I get very excited about buying second hand stuff! I love cleaning and painting bits of furniture and making it my own. Can't see the point in spending more on new stuff which is often lower quality.

[pianodoodle]

One of my favourites was getting a Dyson (had never had a good vacuum cleaner but moved to a bigger house and needed something decent) for £25 on gumtree

The reason was because it was cutting out after a minute although it worked well.

Took it home and took it apart. Looked like it had never been cleaned - sat for ages with a wire coat hanger clearing it out and it works for much longer now. Still cuts out now and then but for £25 can't complain :D

[MaryWestmacott]

I have a credit card for on-line purchases and emergancies only.

I have never had an emergancy in DFS - I find it hard to believe anyone has ever had an emergancy in DFS.

No bag and therefore no clean pants in a country where your only sentance is the local language is "where is the train station?" = emergancy.

No working car and needing the repair done so you can go to work the next day, but not having the cash to pay for it until you get paid the following week = emergancy

Having to sit on a bean bag or dining chair rather than a sofa for a fortnight or so = not an emergancy.

[Lottiedoubtie]

Yes... You have a credit card for emergencies. Not that difficult to comprehend that others have a different opinion on them though?

There is an awful lot of self righteous judging on this thread.

[pianodoodle]

There is an awful lot of self righteous judging on this thread.

where?

[JennyCalendar]

YANBU

I think pp are right when they say that people who buy everything on credit try to pressurise others into doing so to justify their lifestyle. There is a time and a place for credit, but a new sofa when you're happy to make do or buy second-hand isn't it.

I've never had a credit card (DH does though) and didn't find it difficult to get a mortgage this year with me as the main person. In fact we borrowed a little more than required to pay off DH's credit card. Nothing had been put on it for years and although we paid more than the interest each month, it was going too slowly.

Both studying 'Death of a Salesman' at school and seeing my brother go bankrupt had a huge impact on my attitude towards credit. People being sold a dream of what they should have, even though they can't afford it, and ending up chained in debt to broken appliances that they are still paying for makes for misery long-term. Likewise we don't have a dishwasher or tumble dryer as we can't afford them at the moment.

It can be hard for others to understand this (my brother has just bought an £1800 shower on his credit card!), but I don't want to end up paying over the odds via interest and although we may be able to afford repayments now, who knows what will happen 6 months down the line.

[liquidstate]

when we moved into our house we got everything off freecycle and ebay and are replacing as we can afford. People were divided into two camps - those that thought we were weird and thouse that thought we were savvy/prudent.

I believe you have to live in a house for a while before you decorate anyhow as you may have ideas but find the colours won't work.

I agree with the comment by jennyC that people are being sold a dream.

Finally, I am currently lying on my sofa which was from freecycle, cost £1500 new and was only a year old when we got it free as the owners had to move country and it couldn't sell on ebay. Its very comfy!

[RedFocus]

Ebay! I am getting 3+2 sofas for £365 with free delivery and brand new!

[deakymom]

we have just got a two seater and a three for fifty quid including delivery i know what you mean about easy credit my husbands friends are trying to get him on xbox one we cant afford it and they are forever telling him this one is on credit get that one on buy now pay later etc he has said no to the point they are not speaking to him now he is now refusing to save up for one because if they cant talk to us when we are poor etc............

[Catflap1]

I got my sofa off eBay, huge 4 seater sofa and massive snuggle chair, was 8 months old (sellers had to move xmd wouldn't fit in new property) comes with full 4 year guarantee covers spills, sun damaged etc, all for £104 bloody bargin