Should I have a credit card?

[cheesebubble]

I used to have one but don't buy anything on credit anymore. If I do, my husband has one so if we do buy flights / high value items etc it goes on his but we pay off the full amount when due. Both our salaries go into the same account but I have an app and I noticed my credit score is now a lot lower than it used to be.

We own a house, have one child, second due in 5 weeks. Is it important to have a good credit score?

Your credit score is a meaningless figure arbitrarily made up by the credit agency. No one sees it but you and the credit agency. I do all my spending on my credit card as it means I have only one bill every month, apart from direct debits etic, which means I know to the penny how much will leave my account the following month. Always pay the full balance off, never carry it forward.

Posted to soon! Lenders act are only interested in how you conduct your finances, are you up to date with your payments, are you routinely near your credit limits etc. Using a credit card will certainly help.

Do you want 15-45 days of free money?
Do you want insurance on the goods you buy?
If your purse gets stolen do you want to stop the thief spending your money?
Do you want a way to avoid high safety deposits when renting a car?
(Do you want to shop online?)

And do you want to build up your credit score?

In that case a credit card paid off every month makes sense.

You can get some great benefits from credit cards if you pay them off in full each month. I have the John Lewis credit card and every three months I get about £50 in vouchers which is just the perk of the card. My husband gets 2% cash back on his card on all transactions and most months that’s about £10-£20 free money. If you can be responsible with them then credit cards are a brilliant thing.

You can get some great benefits from credit cards if you pay them off in full each month. I have the John Lewis credit card and every three months I get about £50 in vouchers which is just the perk of the card. My husband gets 2% cash back on his card on all transactions and most months that’s about £10-£20 free money. If you can be responsible with them then credit cards are a brilliant thing.

@Hobbits

Which card does your husband use? 2% cash back is very generous!

Everything @Sgtmajormummy said plus cashback (or cashlike points, eg John Lewis, Amazon, a supermarket etc), plus a good way of simplifying budgeting and managing cashflow.

If you have a mortgage, most people take a fixed rate that they need to renew every so often, so keeps your credit history good to get the best rate.

Unless you have so much spare money you could always buy a new washing machine, car insurance boiler etc without going into overdraft - use of credit card and pay off every month - good, use of overdraft to pay for this expense until payday - bad, in the banks eyes, and can be expensive. Even if your overdraft doesn't cost you anything, the banks see it as bad to use it, makes little sense, but there you go, play the game.

If there's a problem with your DHs credit card (system goes down, lost, stolen or hacked) you have a back up.

So I'd agree that you should have your own credit card. I suppose another reason would be, the what ifs. What if your DH died or you got divorced. You wouldn't want to deal with the downside of a thin credit file when you need to be getting your own mortgage etc based on your history alone.

What I don't understand is the people who put all their money in one current account and pay all their bills and spending out of it.

Unless you keep a lot of spare money in there, you have to watch it closely to make sure you don't spend bills money on groceries, fuel and general spending.

If the system goes down, or you lose the card, you have no easy means of accessing your money until it is sorted.

How do you buy a gift for your partner without spoiling the surprise?

So unless you're one of the people who see a credit card as free money waiting to be spent instead of a useful payment tool, yes, you do need one.