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Original poster

To ask how much you owe on credit cards ?

569 replies

anxiousmotherof1 · 26/10/2018 15:49

Getting to the end of maternity leave and i just realized i owe quite a bit on credit cards ! Dont think is that much but my husband is of the opposite opinion !
So how much you currently owe ?

OP posts:
BackforGood · 27/10/2018 00:16

Another 'zero here.

I knew before I clicked on this thread that it would've started by an army of posters saying 'zero' 'nothing' 'don't have credit cards'

I'm glad you got more realistic view as the thread continued OP

It's not "more realistic" though Hmm. If people don't ow on credit cards, then they don't own on credit cards. Whether MN reflects the population as a whole on this question, is probably unlikely, but it doesn't invalidate all the posters who don't owe anything on a credit card.

OP The fact you can pay if all off in 11 months, and you are not being charged interest, even before you mentioned savings, means it is not a major concern. Once you told us you had almost the total amount in savings, then it becomes a bit of a non-issue.
However, to me £5500 does seem like a heck of a lot of debt to accrue on non-essential items at a time in your life when you are going to have a short period with no income and then a few years of great expense (childcare). If you'd had to replace a broken boiler and had to pay out for expensive repairs on car to get to work or income not covering expenditure wholst you were on mat leave, then the 'debt' would seem quite a different thing from continuing to spend that much on treats such as going out for meals, when you don't have income. So it is more the idea of spending on luxuries you can't afford, than the debt itself that would worry me.

abacucat · 27/10/2018 00:18

And the poorest people can't get credit cards. It is the middle class living beyond their means I find who tend to have the credit card debt.

Beansonapost · 27/10/2018 00:26

If your card is no longer on a 0%...

Change it! There is not point being loyal to a debtor 😐, there is so much competition out there and better deals... balance transfer and save yourselves the interest.

Zero... it's used as a debit card essentially and paid off in full at the end of the month. When we had them in Australia they were fab we racked up so many air miles!

BlueBug45 · 27/10/2018 01:12

I pay my cards off every month.

Credit cards are an expensive way to borrow unless you are a rate tart and that's hassle.

PurpleFlower1983 · 27/10/2018 01:19

I’m £55 in credit on mine randomly. I got a cashback payment from when I paid for my wedding venue on it over the phone. I’ll be treating myself next week Grin

MidniteScribbler · 27/10/2018 02:41

Zero. Don't owe anyone anything.

Unicyclethief · 27/10/2018 02:46

I am a bit surprised that people don’t have them. I use a credit card all the time, it offers more protection on purchases. I have considerably more savings than debt, so when the 0% runs out I can clear them. But then I will get another credit card, because it really does make sense.

WilyMinx · 27/10/2018 02:59

Zero. I use my credit card every day for the points but pay it off several times a month. The most I've owed was £2000+.

MidniteScribbler · 27/10/2018 03:03

Unicyclethief, I have a VISA Debit card, rather than a credit card. It offers me all the same protections for purchases, but only uses money that I already own.

smellsofelderberries · 27/10/2018 03:09

We have nothing, our CC's get paid off every month. I fly quite often so we mostly use it for the air miles.

When we bought our first flat a few years ago (and got married 2 months later) we had about £9k on a 0% interest card (I think it was 0% for 24 months), which was a little bit of paying for the wedding and a lot of our new furniture. We actually had the money in savings but figured it was better to spend the bank's money for the 2 years than lose the interest on our savings for those 2 years (small though the interest was). We paid the minimum monthly amount for 23 months then the lump sum at the end of the term. We are fortunate to have well paid jobs though, and to be good with money.

Before I married DH I got about £3k on a CC once and swore never again.

Unicyclethief · 27/10/2018 03:24

Is that a legal right though? Or chargeback? My savings make me more money in interest than any interest I pay on credit cards, and they build your credit score.

BadLad · 27/10/2018 03:29

About £4,000 as we've just bought flights with it.

It's all paid off at the end of the month though.

We put as much as we can on the credit card, to accumulate points, and for the protection.

Credit cards are great for the user if you don't pay interest. If you do, then they're great for the banks and disastrous for the user.

MidniteScribbler · 27/10/2018 05:01

I'm not in the UK @Unicyclethief, so not sure of your banking systems, but my card here is through Visa, so has the same protections as a Visa credit card, except it uses the money in my account, rather than credit. It's a personal preference for me, I know I found having credit cards too much of a temptation when I was younger and worked hard to get myself into a debt free position. I'm not too worried about credit score (although mine is fine) as I have managed to pay off two properties and that I now own outright. A credit card would make no difference to my score.

HereForTheLineEyes · 27/10/2018 06:36

I think it would make me uncomfortable having so much on a credit card for non-essentials. If life throws you a curve ball and your income significantly drops because you or your DH lose your job, you or your child get sick, or your house or car needs major repairs (for example my friends house was found to have dry rot in it that their survey didn't pick up) and your insurance doesn't cover it, you're in a bit of a pickle.

In the OPs case she would have had at least a £10k cushion to deal with this (£5k savings and at least £5k available on credit), where as now because she has spent a lot on luxuries she has a £5k cushion.

I know some might say that's a bit pessimistic, but you just have to RTFT to see how many people suddenly became single parents or parents to sick children and all of a sudden their circumstances and finances change.

Also these early childhood years are the years when a lot of income is eaten up with childcare costs (unless parents are offering free childcare?), and would certainly not be the years I would be choosing to pay back extra £500 a month.

BatsAreCool · 27/10/2018 07:14

In the uk credit cards do offer better protection than a debit card for certain purchases up to an amount. Whilst you may think you have the same protection with a debit card through charge back you do not have the full protection of using a credit card. For example if you put the deposit for a sofa on a credit card and pay the rest by another means you are completely protected for the 'full amount of the sofa' via the credit card.

I use my credit card for every single purchase no matter how small. That's because I claim the air miles and get a really cheap first class flight every couple of years. However, the only way that works to my advantage is that as soon as I have made that purchase I transfer the money to the credit card so it always stays as zero.

Unicyclethief · 27/10/2018 07:17

I’m also not in the UK, but I don’t know of any debit cards that offer quite the same protection. Also, surely credit cards offer better options for different currencies, although it doesn’t sound like you travel, but if you ever do, it may be an idea.

Youvegotafriendinme · 27/10/2018 07:20

About 3k

MidniteScribbler · 27/10/2018 07:22

Patronising much? Of course I bloody travel, probably more than you, considering I'm able to see outside my own experiences and realise that finances are not a one size fits all.

mrcharlie · 27/10/2018 07:27

ZERO
Once Bitten...

Xenia · 27/10/2018 07:32

Zero. I have 3 but don't use them. However how much people have on them is not the issue. It is more what is their income as what is huge for one couple is tiny for another.

At one stage I used Amex for points kind of systems but I decided the value i got from that was not sufficient compared with how much I preferred just to have the immediate sums coming out of my bank account. I know that is silly because you can go on line and check your credit card balance easily as well but that is what I did. That means I lose the UK s75 CCA protection you get for most purchases as a consumer buying using a credit but not a debit card however. I take that risk.

Sleephead1 · 27/10/2018 07:38

I don't have a credit card so zero

Unicyclethief · 27/10/2018 07:43

Oh. Midnite, I think you misunderstand, because you said “not sure of your banking system” but I am also not in the UK, although I am kinda aware of other banking systems because I travel, so just assumed you didn’t as you seemed so unaware. Sorry, not patronising you. But love how you say you travel more than me.. how would you ever know? 😂

littlelandlord7 · 27/10/2018 07:47

13k on 0% will clear it next year. Was used for a small flat reno

I build up about 2k a month on my Amex for work expenses which I pay in full.

Like another poster said it's relative to income & other factors too. It doesn't bother me in the slightest as I could pay it off in full if I needed to but would rather buy the next property so it can wait for now.

I think they can be great.

Hadenoughofallthis · 27/10/2018 07:50

Pay off credit card every month. Have a couple of thousand on a 0% transfer deal that we could pay off in one sum, but no real need to as it's not costing us anything to let run and pay off monthly.

But... why do you have cc debt (that your dh appears to be giving you grief about) when your baby and the corresponding maternity leave should surely be a joint expense for the two of you? I've never understood why some women take such a financial hit while their husbands swan around spending as before with no material change to their lifestyle.

CountFosco · 27/10/2018 07:50

It is the middle class living beyond their means I find who tend to have the credit card debt.

And the middle class who don't live beyond their means who don't bother with them. I haven't had one for years because I never spent on it because why put something on short term credit when you don't need to (this admittedly was before the explosion in internet shopping)? Think the bank stopped sending me one eventually. DH has one but never spends on it. And so they don't bother putting his credit up so it's not actually useful for, e.g. holidays.

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