No wonder the UK has such debt........

That's true; I assumed the £22.94 was per month, but it could be over six weeks (or the maximum period between a purchase, and the due date).

The OP shouldn't be complaining then...

Oh dear - then why not just create a direct debit that automatically pays off the full balance every month? It's easy enough to set up!

Sorry, I should written 'scam'. I just get that impression about credit card companies, because of the number of times I've had an unexpected charge which I wouldn't have had if I'd had some more information.

(Another anecdote: I had a £320 bill to pay off, didn't quite have enough money, so paid off £240 on time, and £80 a couple of days late, expected to be charged interest on just £80. NO! The interest is on the full amount.

What this means, logically, is that if you spend £1000 on something, and immediately pay (even weeks before the due date) £999.99 of it, and pay the remaining 1p two days late, then you will be charged interest on the £1000 for the period, not the 1p of credit. Can that possibly be right? Suppose you'd paid the £999.99 the day *before* spending £1000?!)

I used to use my credit cards to pay for business expenses, and spent about the same as that. All I got out of it was a few thousand airmiles..

I had a Diner's Club card once, even rarer to have that accepted. I understand the percentage the merchant had to pay was quite high though. But I liked using it because my boss picked up the bill. Now that's the sort of card I wouldn't mind....

Yes. I bank with Nationwide - and moved to them mainly because of their facility on withdrawals abroad. I was really angry when they withdrew their free foreign cash withdrawal facility.

I have now found that the best way (for me) is to use a Saga credit card for purchases and cash withdrawals abroad (astonishingly!). They charge nothing for normal credit card purchases anywhere in the world - and just 2% withdrawal fee (minimum £2) for cash withdrawals anywhere in the world (with no interest charges providing the card is paid off in full at the end of the month). So drawing out £100 cash abroad will cost just £2.00 and nothing else. Best deal I have currently found.

TBH, I usually find these days that I need very little foreign currency - I just pay for everything abroad on a 'free to use' credit card.

It was more of a wry observation than a moan :-)

As I say, anything on credit cards gets paid off every month anyway so I never bother looking at the small print - it was only because we'd shoved the entire Xmas prezzy run onto the card (hence the value outstanding) that I took a cursory glance at the second page.

I can't see how paying £23 off of a debt to be £0.06 better off helps the economy?

It's too easy.

Credit card repayments can be substantial; the arrangement has to be done manually to make sure sufficient funds have been transferred into the current account.

And as I mentioned, DD arrangements can be inflexible when something unusual comes up.

As for the cashback schemes, if I spend £10,000 a year (which I don't) solely on credit cards, and get 1% back, then that's £100 a year. Not a huge amount (which I don't actually have to pay, so wouldn't miss) for peace of mind about not getting 'stung' every so often, especially for someone who only uses cards as a payment method, not for finance.

Using cash or debit cards also makes me feel better by helping out retailers who can then make a bit more profit.

You have the choice of using cash (or debit card) and subsidising those that use credit cards or using a credit card and being subsidised.

I do participate in the winning side of this unfair system but I can't say I am willing. Merchants are not willing but forced to play the game, those with no competition (for example the government) slap on surcharges to avoid playing.

The only willing participants are the credit card companies. The other participants are effectively forced into it.

So you'll be getting her a soldering iron for her birthday?

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Are you sure about that? For debit card transactions they pay a flat fee. I don't know how much but for some reason 60p sticks in my mind, and if that's correct they'd break even (relative to the 2% for credit cards) at transaction values of £30 - anything less therefore costs retailers more with debit than with credit cards.

As for cash, whilst most banks allow personal customers to pay in cash free of charge, businesses pay. Again, I don't know how much, but if someone told me it's 2% I wouldn't be surprised. And that's not counting the cost of securely transporting it to the bank. Cash is pretty expensive for businesses to handle, and that's why supermarkets are so keen to have their tills act like cash machines, offering customers "cashback" on any debit card transactions.

I don't know how much debit card charges are. But where there is an extra processing fee for cards, credit cards always seem to attract a higher fee.

And anyway I only use cards for bigger purchases.

Many smaller businesses (although this may be abroad), have minimum amounts for credit card purchases eg. euro 10 to 100. They seem to prefer cash...

I usually use it floating somewhere between 1000 and 2000 overdrawn, sometimes I catch up and go in front for a while (months). The maximum charge is 5 pounds a month, that seems like a pretty good deal to me, certainly if I was only overdrawn by a fiver then 50p a day is a lot, but that is not my case. They have never grizzled about my use of the facility over a period of about three years.

It depends when you pay. Typically you pay interest based on the amount outstanding on the date the statement is raised. If you have nothing outstanding on your card, incur a debt but then pay the majority of that off before the next statement date, then you should pay interest only on the balance. If you make your payment after the statement date but before the payment due date you will pay interest on the whole amount due as at the date of the statement. The other thing to remember is that typically when credit card companies receive a payment they match the payment against the newest items first, working backwards to pay off all that can be paid fully and finally part of the next newest with whatever is left. The older items therefore continue to earn interest for them until the total amount is paid. Not all companies work like that these days, because enough people have caught on that some find it a good selling point to offer a better deal, but most still do.

Most credit card companies will not allow you to pay more than the balance on the card, so if it is clear before you use it to buy you wouldn't be allowed to make a pre-emptive payment like that.

The smart thing to do, if you have a good credit rating and know you have a bill coming up that you won't be able to pay off in full in one go, is to get a new credit card. They usually come with several months interest free on purchases (but often not on cash withdrawals). Use the new card during the interest free period and then cut it up. I have friends who do this on a regular basis and haven't paid interest for years. None have ever been refused a card because of it; I think the credit card companies see it as good sense, even if they don't often make any cash out of the users.

As usual, no luck. Finally received it and it won't work.... :(

93813359&sr=8-1 Could do. At the same time I will get a gallows for myself. I'm so fed up. I did the only thing I thought was safe - bought a brand new laptop, and still it won't work (just hangs on installation/configuration). Everything I touch seems to break. :(

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If you get a gallows.....the rope will probably break :)

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Is that the POST or the actual operating system?

It's not you. Half the gadgets I buy have to be taken back because they don't work properly.

So I try and avoid mail order for these, as it's so much easier to take it back to the shop and plonk it on the counter.

With your machine, time to look at Amazon's returns policy I think (if you have a working internet connection...).

When I spoke to someone at Natwest, the lady really didn't like the idea of my 'pre-loading' the balance, so that I could use my credit card like a debit card. Although if I accidently overpay the previous month's balance, who's to know?

My problem is that I have plenty of money, but mostly stored in accounts that take 3 working days to reach my current account. When the statement comes, they give you 2-3 weeks to pay, which encourages you to leave it until the last minute.

Then you find out there's a double bank holiday ahead (4 days lost), plus the 3 days it takes to transfer money into the current account, plus 2 days it takes to go from the current account to the credit card (even though it's the same bank...). That's 9 days you have to plan ahead.

(Somebody please tell me if I'm wrong, but are there *two* consecutive double bank holiday weekends coming up next April? Easter one weekend, then the royal wedding, then May day? What a nightmare; and I can't even disappear abroad because everyone else will be too.)