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The Happy Thread


Duncy H

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11 hours ago, Ali C said:

(I’ve never had a credit card, loan or any finance other than my phone...annoyingly saving up to actually afford stuff has bitten me in the arse).

I made this mistake too. Was brought up being told credit cards are bad and you should never use them because you'll end up paying double for everything you buy on the etc etc etc.

What people don't tell you is you can actually earn money from them, they're far more secure than using your debit card and you don't actually every have to pay fees or interest.

Over the last 2 and a half years we've probably earned about around $1500 from using credit cards in rewards and bonuses, and the only fee I've ever paid was $4.95 and that could have been avoided. I actually have a credit score now, that is considered very good and my wife fluctuates between very good and excellent.

We're also looking into buying a home, one that doesn't have wheels under it. But our income is too low for the bungalow that we would require. So we're sitting put and gonna save our asses off for a few years.

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1 hour ago, forteh said:

What sort of interest rates are people getting at the moment?

That's where I fall over... Our first mortgage back in 2010 was fixed for 5 years at like 5.2% or something which made sense at the tiem as we assumed things would start rising after the slump. Never happened. When that deal ended we got a 10 year fixed deal at 3.24% which sounded good, again expecting things to start going up at some point but it's just never happened so we've kind of screwed ourselves over both times! That's part of the reason for the big overpayments- I think if I was on one of the current 1% rates I wouldn't be too fussed but the maths says I just need to sack it off as quick as possible.

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1 hour ago, JT! said:

I made this mistake too. Was brought up being told credit cards are bad and you should never use them because you'll end up paying double for everything you buy on the etc etc etc.

I was a bit lucky on that front- although not for credit history reasons I was brought up being told that credit cards are fine so long as you pay off the balance each month. I did that for many years and it was only after getting a mortgage that I started abusing 0% purchase cards to spread the cost of bigger items but again I do it sensibly. My current card 0% deal ends next month and I've got a rolling spreadsheet that means that I'll clear all of the 0% purchases (bikes, kids bikes, sofas, holiday payments etc.) that I've used the card for justi in time and have my new 0% TSB card waiting to take over once  the current deal's up. I don't get cashback on the card itself but I have earned over £1000 using topcashack and over £1300 with Quidco over the years which helps things along.

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I'm far from organised enough to manage a credit card, never used one but had plenty of full term loans so my credit score is generally very good I think. Certainly never been refused to borrow any money.

Area the current mortgages fixed rate for a term or trackers?

I fell on my feet with the mortgages and rejigged them all a month before the banks crashed in 2008, the interest rate has since plunged and it's only gone down since :)

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I can't even consider a mortgage for at least another 4-5 years and I'm 38 next month so not a good prospect! 

Never been good with money/savings but hoping to get on top this year with lots of overtime and getting 100% debt free other than the car payments but then I'm the only earner here and with 3 kids (who eat like adults) it's hard work. 

As for your situ Ali you just need to look at it as getting your foot in the door for a couple of years then hopefully wheb you've got some money paid off you can move on to something better. 

Anyway, in other Happy Thread news...... 

IMG-20210123-WA0011.jpg

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16 hours ago, Ali C said:

 

pretty nervous as I don’t earn much and neither does Jane (especially with the recent lockdowns) and we’re both self employed with average credit ratings (I’ve never had a credit card, loan or any finance other than my phone...annoyingly saving up to actually afford stuff has bitten me in the arse

I was the same as you, but at one of those weird annual bank review things they signed me up. 
 

reality of a credit card is - you are instantly 2 months better off and all that money just goes in the savings. 
 

as long as you set it to repay in full it’s just better all round - more secure, better rewards, and better ratings. Just don’t change your spending habits or even think of it as credit/debt.

sign up spend only on the credit card for a whole month - you get a bill, due in another months time. Spend for another whole month before you pay the first bill. It’s awesome. Then it’s just normal life with more security. 

 


 

 

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31 minutes ago, Davetrials said:

Just stumbled across a "post a picture of the fittest chav girl" topic from way back when..
I'm at work and I was unsure what was posted in there all those years ago.

Link please, can't be arsed wrestling with the forum search engine

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