My attitude to personal debt

[TimberWolf]

If you are abroad, credit cards are also very convenient for withdrawing foreign cash, and of course it is not a good idea to carry too much cash around with you. Exchange rates on credit-cards are also often superior. I specifically have a Nationwide credit-card because this has very low charges and no exchange rate loading.

I thought bank charges (and exchange rates) tended to be less when using a debit card rather than a credit card in foreign ATMs?

[Sockpuppet]

I use my CC mainly just for purchase protection. It gets "cleared" with every bill so I never have any interest payments.

Once or twice I've left a £100 on there but that is mostly so I can carry on min salary and divs every 6 months. Just pay it off when the next div comes.

[voodooflux]

I use my CC mainly just for purchase protection. It gets "cleared" with every bill so I never have any interest payments.

WHS. I have one card for online purchases, and one for "bricks and mortar" purchases. Not that I buy much bricks and mortar.

[EternalOptimist]

I think its pretty clear that the OP was talking about credit cards vis-a-vis running up debt, rather than as a handy payment thingy.

[Cyberman]

I thought bank charges (and exchange rates) tended to be less when using a debit card rather than a credit card in foreign ATMs?

True, and I also have a Nationwide debit card, but unfortunately many ATMs I have tried abroad only accept credit-card.

[swamp]

True, and I also have a Nationwide debit card, but unfortunately many ATMs I have tried abroad only accept credit-card.

If it has a Visa sign then your Visa debit card will work. End of. I've never had a problem using a debit card anywhere.

Nationwide are good for using abroad for cash; no charges whatsoever (apart from margin of currency conversion).

[Cyberman]

This is a worrying trend for those that build up credit card debts !!

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle5014781.ece

[NickFitz]

This is a worrying trend for those that build up credit card debts !!

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle5014781.ece

Terrible! Of course banks are run by Socialists, so people should have seen this coming.

Oh no, let me think... aren't banks run by Capitalists - the kind of people the Conservative party seeks to protect?

I mean, it'd be OK if they were doing this to common people - but they're doing it to Telegraph and Mail readers! Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Oh, hang on, that should be "Talk about shafting those morons who were willing to swallow any old garbage we fed them as long as we needed them to accept it so we could make money out of them, but now times are hard, screw them - we can't even be arsed to try to con them into being on our side any more. We'll just take their stuff. Fsck 'em."

Thank God for people like Cyberman, who are willing to admit to their earlier idiocy and expose the Capitalists (and their Tory lickspittles) as a bunch of selfish chiselling weasels who have more concern for grabbing money for themselves than for helping to ensure the long-term stability of Society

[Diver]

This is a worrying trend for those that build up credit card debts !!

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle5014781.ece

This is bluddy outrageous.
There are people out there that are now living on their credit to survive redundancies, paying debts with their cards in the hope of avoiding repossession by extending the term of the debt.
Little do they know that the trap has been set by these Hyena's

[PAH]

Debt is debt, regardless of whether it's initially said to be secured or unsecured. Credit card/unsecured loan companies using courts to try to get their money back when it goes tits up shouldn't be a suprise at all.

Maybe the people using credit cards to live off are too desperate to care, but they must know that at some point it'll need paying back, or they risk losing whatever assets they own.

It all boils down to people living beyond their means. Even as contractors you should be aware that you need to save for a rainy day, there's no guarantees the gravy train won't derail at some point.

It used to be the norm for people to save up to buy stuff, now they are offered/landed with debt as soon as they leave school (student loans), so it's inevitable people's thinking will change and the stigma associated with debt has long gone.

Naturally the loan sharks (as all loan companies are when it comes down to it) are there to exploit the situation.