"We all" meaning everyone who buys things, not just those who pay on credit cards. (If you get charged extra for using a credit card you can usually shop elsewhere, unless you're buying concert or plane tickets where your choice is limited). If you're going to pay that cost anyway then you might as well use the advantages of a credit card!
I did make a small fortune (sufficient for my needs is how I define "fortune") out of borrowing to buy property, long before prices hit the roof. Borrowing to buy property, just 15 years ago was extremely difficult and quite a few people ended up in jail for simply exagerating their income so as to be able to obtain higher loans. Five years ago I remember being in a cafe and having the commercial manager of the local branch of Barclays coming up to me with his friends begging me to borrow some money. Repeat this with god knows how many brokers attached to building societies. This was reckless lending to gullible, naive people and I beleive that this was repeated throughout the country and is a prime cause for spiralling house prices.
Ah that's buy to let. A friends parents bought a house while he was at uni and let it out to him and his friends. It was rare back then. Yeah that's one that's pushed house prices up.
X-No-Archive: yes In message , Biscit writes
I'd say. Off the top of my head, I can count five families in my small Surrey village who occupied five houses five years ago. They've now split, amoeba-like, into ten families occupying ten houses. The huge increase in the popularity of divorce and separation certainly has fuelled the demand for renting houses around here. I don't know if this is a nation wide trend and don't much care. Just so long as there's a goodly supply of potential tenants on my patch.
Bitstring , from the wonderful person Biscit said
Both .. definitely both.
In message , M Holmes writes
Change it and since you presumably pay it off in full every month (I'm sure you don't want to contribute to a credit bubble!) get a cashback one, and they will end up paying you for having the card.
In message , jon writes
That's a different cashback, that is them taking money out of their account.
There are cashback credit cards where you get about 0.5%-1% back of what you spend on it.
Hum, it is the rise of cashback cards that has caused the CC companies to need to find new ways to extract money from their customers.
ISTM that *most* people would be better off if the CC business model returned to one where the merchant fee was keep by the CC company and the punter got a card with no charges other than (avoidable) interest.
tim
It was the idea of you buying a house after all you've written on the subject...
That's better.
Any you can think of any obvious ones so I can start checking them out?
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