To think most people don’t actually pay off their credit cards in full each month?

[PoliteCyanViewer]

I always hear advice about clearing your balance each month to avoid interest but how many people actually do it? With the cost of living, unexpected expenses, and temptations everywhere, is it realistic? Do you pay yours off in full or do you carry a balance?

Always. I have it set up to pay at the end of the month - if I'm anticipating a bigger spend than that account can cover I shunt a little extra into it. I appreciate that I am lucky to be able to save a little regularly, but if I couldn't do that I probably wouldn't use a credit card at all. This is reminding me that I ought to open a Credit Union account to give me another source for emergency borrowing, at lower interest than a credit card.

I only use it for bigger purchases on zero pefcent credit so for example I bought a tent box and paid it off over a fre months, or put holiday on it and paid off in a few months too.

I also keep zero credit incase pets are ill and can't claim back from insurance straigtr away, or van or car has an expensive fix. I can pay it off though in a few months.
Once uused zero credit time up, I get a new one n close the old account

I wouldn't use it for day to day essentials or bills as it seems a slippery slope.

We always way ours off-I use it for points. Talking to someone at work recently though who said they have 4/5 and juggle between them-paying off what they can and when they can. It's not the sort of thing people talk about (with me) really.

We pay for nearly everything on the credit card and pay off each month. We get points for spending so it’s been worth it.

We do.......always have and always will! Only reason we use the credit card is because it's a Tesco Bank CC and we get extra points for having it. Win win!

Always have paid in full, I don’t buy things that I can’t afford. I’m not rich, i just go without until I can afford it

We do, But I only use my credit card for groceries and household necessities and have a £600 budget per month.
I keep the card limit at £1000 to allow a buffer.

Amazon Sainsbury's Waitrose many local restaurants.paypal for eBay etc

We do, it doesn’t make sense not to if you can. We use a particular card for everything because it gets us airmiles.

I don't use a credit card for day to day spending, I use it for larger purchases online for the additional protections, then pay it off straight away. I also just if if I need to do a big clothes order knowing I've got to send a lot back eg school uniform when didn't sizes need to be tried.
I do currently put all m&S shopping on mine because it's an m&S cards and I get rewards for that, but I pay it straight away.
I also don't do finance or monthly payments for insurance. If I can't afford it I save until I can. We're comfortable but I grew up poor and am very debt averse

Oh I do also have another one for travel, the points/airmiles are good but I pay that off after each trip

Slightly different to everyone else but I had credit cards and built up loads of debt on just basics like food gas ele etc... when I had one I didn't have to worry to get up early to take kids to free breakfast club i was able to buy milk cereal etc but then next month wasn't able to cover so each month went up and up.... you think overspending 30 or 40 pcm is nothing but do it every month with interest and soon you have thousands of pounds of debt.
I have no credit now and its hard some times but at least im not building up more debt if that makes sense.

I do

This but a different card for different rewards. Everything goes on it and then paid in full.

Well, this kind of question is going be more readily answered by people who have their credit cards and their debt under control isn't it? People who have high credit card debt or other debt that spiral out of control are going to be less willing to answer it..

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@PoliteCyanViewer yes I'm another one who pays it off monthly. I put most things on it for the security inconvenience and then pay it off each month

I need to buy some furniture shortly, and I'll probably put that on a 0% card and pay a chunk off for each month, it's better than taking it out of savings when savings are interest earning.

I don't think there's any harm in putting something on a credit card that you want to pay off if you know you're paying interest on it and have factored that into the overall cost. The people that really worry me are the ones who seem to think it's free money?!?!

All this "we" stuff fascinates me. My husband (of 35 years) has credit cards, as do I. But I have no idea whether or not he clears his monthly, and vice versa. I can't imagine having to constantly tell the other half what I am spending, repaying etc. Keeping things totally separate means that we manage our own finances and hardly ever have to discuss money. It's just very straightforward.

We don't. In Dec / Jan for example we have Christmas, house insurance due, and we usually book our summer holiday before all the good campsites sell out. It takes us until March to pay those off.

Same logic for booking any holidays or large purchases like furniture really we tend to book them then pay it off over the next few months.

We do have savings but they're in premium bonds and I'm always convinced if I withdraw the money, that's the month we would have won £1m 😅I also find it more motivating to be paying off a credit card rather than replenishing savings, it tends to happen faster.

I think many people do pay them off, I certainly do because there is no way I'm giving my hard earned cash away in interest to some finance company! But of course many people don't do that maybe someone has hit hard times and needed to spread cost, maybe things got out of control, or perhaps they have taken a 0% deal to pay off a small loan. Credit card companies make a lot of money so it stands to reason that a sufficient number of people don't pay their balance off each money and have to pay interest.

I don't, but I only use 0% rate cards and I absolutely could pay off any balance, as I am saving more than the balance at any one time. Worst debt I ever had was £6k but I cleared it right at the end of the 0% period as had the money saved. Have been caught out very occasionally if I haven't properly set up the minimum payment, e.g. the odd £15 fee which has been annoying when I've realised. But in general it's under control.

We only have one joint credit card. It sounds far more confusing to me to have multiple individual ones!

So can anybody recommend me a good credit card that would enable me to acrue points, that I can spend on everyday items and that I can pay off with a direct debit? Thanks.

I don’t. But it’s a 0% one and I’m on track to repay it before transfer period ends.

I have 6 credit cards all with balances on but I don't pay interest. 2 are spending cards that are paid in full monthly (for cashback and S75 protection). The other 4 are stoozing cards that have £19k of debt at 0% paying the minimum balance whilst the cash is in an ISA at 4.5%.

So yes, I do normally pay off my spending in full but I am also holding balances to earn interest but not pay it.

I do, all payments go on the credit card to get the points for day trips then I pay it off in full. Haven't ever paid interest on a credit card.

Always been set up to automatically pay off the full amount every month, everything goes on it. Used to get much better M&S points and one Christmas we bought most of our presents using the points. Now it's quite miserable but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick as they saying goes