Loans

[Too Many Cochranes]

Best thing to do is to make some small purchases on it over the next couple of months and pay it back instantly so that you don't pay any interest. This will them bump up your credit rating and you'd stand a better chance of getting a bank loan for that pinball machine.

Just buy stuff like CD's/books/clothes on the card that you'd normally buy in a given month and pay the shit off straight away so that your card balance stays at zero.

[chocky909]

Yeah, that was the plan anyway. Although I've heard that if you pay off the balance each month it doesn't help as much as if you have to pay some interest.

Anyway, pinball guy says it costs him 2% on credit card payments so I'll just offer to pay that difference. The plan is to pay off the credit card over the next 15 months and if I don't manage that I'll transfer to another credit card with interest free on balance transfers. If I'm disciplined this works well surely and I will have an asset that I can sell at any time should I get into financial trouble. I wouldn't be doing this to buy something that depreciated. In fact, the reason I'm so eager to make this purchase is I'm convinced the value will increase.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

You may be able to withdraw cash using the credit card; and some credit card companies offer "cheques".

Have a look at the leaflets that came with the card/application.

I think though, you'd be charged a fee for either option.

EDIT: Yes, as long as you're disciplined, then credit cards are good; as long as you "save" enough money over the interest-free period to pay it back; or can obtain another interest-free credit card near the end of your current card's term.

[Too Many Cochranes]

Are you sure you're going to appreciate the pinball machine and keep playing it though? I think that's the most pertinent thing about this deal. Forget the 2% interest and card payments. Is it something you're still going to be hammering away at in six months? If so then do it.

[Funcrusher]

Get with 2012, everyone borrowed too much, leaving the entire economic system utterly paralysed.

Well, in the case of the UK, not really everyone - the green bit in that bar graph (the banking and financial sector), is massively bigger than the others.

[chocky909]

Are you sure you're going to appreciate the pinball machine and keep playing it though? I think that's the most pertinent thing about this deal. Forget the 2% interest and card payments. Is it something you're still going to be hammering away at in six months? If so then do it.

Well if I don't then I'll sell it. Hopefully for more than I paid for if the current price trend continues. Gold and pinball machines it seems...

By the way, it's a Wizard Of Oz pinball machine and is being lavished with every luxury imaginable and built to last.

http://www.pinballsales.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1

http://forum-img.pinside.com/pinball/forum/?bb_attachments=162271&bbat=18340&inline&fullsize

I've paid 50% deposit with 2% CC fee on top. I've probably got about 2-3 months before I need to pay the remainder so I'll try to save as much as possible before then to minimise the fee next time.

[buntyman]

I'm really clueless about what to do with money. I have a reasonable amount saved, some in an ISA, and the rest in just a normal savings account. The interest is barely worth it though, I think I had £5k in my ISA last year and accumulated a total of about £20 interest. From that point of view, I'm happy to just spend my money as and when and have never bothered with credit cards. I think I'd probably accidentally leave a payment a day late or something and end up getting fined more than I usually make in a year's interest anyway. Are there any banks these days that actually give good interest or do you need to have tens of thousands to really notice the benefit?
Pinball table looks ace but it's the same quandary as with getting a tattoo. You can only really get one so are you going to be happy with the theme until the time you grow out of it and get it removed?
Edit - where did you get the £1000 figure from? That site says $7,500!

[Rev]

I don't understand why it's such a bad idea if I work the debt properly. I've always been very cautious with credit and I only want to take advantage of them because of the interest free periods and I can't get a proper loan.

PM me if you don't want to come across as 'dodgy'...

It's because everyone who has ever found themselves with unmanageable credit card debt got into it thinking that they were disciplined.  They're absolutely fine if you use the general rule that you'd be able - in theory - to clear the entire balance with your next month's wages.  Even the most financially astute people get sucked into being robbed through the things, though, because they're just so bloody easy to use once you have them in your wallet.  Don't get me wrong, I've got a couple of the bastards, but I'd never use them for anything major.

I was pushing you towards credit unions earlier because I work for one (unpaid; we're all unpaid - which should indicate that our motives are different to credit card companies).  So many of the loans we give out are to pay off credit cards, and it's generally only once the person has spent years circling the drain, being made prematurely old, and has eventually come to us in tears.

Oh, and never EVER withdraw cash or use cheques with your card.  You might as well just set fire to a big pile of money.

[Rev]

Are there any banks these days that actually give good interest or do you need to have tens of thousands to really notice the benefit?

No, and yes, but still no.  As a guide, I've slung £100k in a fixed-term deposit account for the credit union I just mentioned, and we'll be seeing about a grand when it matures.  Bank interest is pretty much a half-remembered folk story at this point.

[buntyman]

Bloody hell, that's a lot of pinball machines!

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

I'm really clueless about what to do with money. I have a reasonable amount saved, some in an ISA, and the rest in just a normal savings account. The interest is barely worth it though, I think I had £5k in my ISA last year and accumulated a total of about £20 interest. From that point of view, I'm happy to just spend my money as and when and have never bothered with credit cards. I think I'd probably accidentally leave a payment a day late or something and end up getting fined more than I usually make in a year's interest anyway. Are there any banks these days that actually give good interest or do you need to have tens of thousands to really notice the benefit?
Pinball table looks ace but it's the same quandary as with getting a tattoo. You can only really get one so are you going to be happy with the theme until the time you grow out of it and get it removed?
Edit - where did you get the £1000 figure from? That site says $7,500!

Well you can basically spend it, save it, or invest it.

At the current low interest rates, you can't really get a decent savings rate - you'd do well to get above 3% per annum without there being strings attached.  I believe the current rate of inflation is about 4% - so assuming that was the average over a year, you're actually losing money by saving.  Oh, and if it's not in an ISA, you'll also be taxed on the interest.

It's always sensible to have spare cash for emergencies, but if you've got more than about 6 months of wages in low-interest savings accounts, you should probably think about investing the extra.

The main problem with investing is you can lose even more of your money if you make the wrong choice.  And there's a lot of choice, and a variety of risk.  So there's low-risk stuff like Government bonds, which might just make you a little bit of cash; or you can play around on the stock market - but if you don't know what you're doing, you might as well put your money on a horse.

Or you can do something fun like buy something that you'll enjoy that might increase in value - like pinball machines. 

[chocky909]

It's because everyone who has ever found themselves with unmanageable credit card debt got into it thinking that they were disciplined.  They're absolutely fine if you use the general rule that you'd be able - in theory - to clear the entire balance with your next month's wages.  Even the most financially astute people get sucked into being robbed through the things, though, because they're just so bloody easy to use once you have them in your wallet.  Don't get me wrong, I've got a couple of the bastards, but I'd never use them for anything major.

I was pushing you towards credit unions earlier because I work for one (unpaid; we're all unpaid - which should indicate that our motives are different to credit card companies).  So many of the loans we give out are to pay off credit cards, and it's generally only once the person has spent years circling the drain, being made prematurely old, and has eventually come to us in tears.

Oh, and never EVER withdraw cash or use cheques with your card.  You might as well just set fire to a big pile of money.

Noted. I'm definately going to look into my local credit union too.

[chocky909]

Good news everyone! I managed to reserve Wizard Of Oz Emerald City Limited Edition No. 909 of 1000. LIKE MY USERNAME!!! So there!