Credit Card Noob

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Fern9do

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I need some advice.
I only recently started working so I'm pretty new to all the financial stuff. Thing is Absa phoned me(like 4 times!) asking me if i want a credit card. I said no the first couple of times but eventually gave in. They did everything over the phone and I cant remember half of the things that stupid lady said.

What I do know:
>The limit on the card is R6000
>She said something about splitting half on budget and half on straight(i think that's what she called it)

Saturday i bought something just to test out the card and it cost me R500, then i got a sms saying i have R2500 left.

Is that now what i have left on the budget part?
What exactly is the budget facility?(in simple terms)
Somebody also told me that i should tell the cashier when i buy something whether or not i want to put it on the budget facility

I read somewhere that a budget facility is a bad thing, I'm going in to the bank on Friday to sort this **** out but didn't want to sound like an idiot.
 
Pay the 500 bucks back and only use the credit card if you have the money.

Don't get sucked into credit card debt like so many people in this country.
 
killadoob said:
Pay the 500 bucks back and only use the credit card if you have the money.

Don't get sucked into credit card debt like so many people in this country.
Click to expand...

I have no credit record...i need to buy something. It's ****ed up but thats the way it works:(
 
cashmoney said:
I need some advice.
I only recently started working so I'm pretty new to all the financial stuff. Thing is Absa phoned me(like 4 times!) asking me if i want a credit card. I said no the first couple of times but eventually gave in. They did everything over the phone and I cant remember half of the things that stupid lady said.

What I do know:
>The limit on the card is R6000
>She said something about splitting half on budget and half on straight(i think that's what she called it)

Saturday i bought something just to test out the card and it cost me R500, then i got a sms saying i have R2500 left.

Is that now what i have left on the budget part?
What exactly is the budget facility?(in simple terms)
Somebody also told me that i should tell the cashier when i buy something whether or not i want to put it on the budget facility

I read somewhere that a budget facility is a bad thing, I'm going in to the bank on Friday to sort this **** out but didn't want to sound like an idiot.
Click to expand...

By default, half of your limit (R6000/2 = R3000), goes to the straight facility(no interest up until 57 days), and the other half goes into the budget facility(you pay it off over a few months).
So R3000 for the straight facility and R3000 for the budget facility. You can ask them to transfer the R3000 from either facility over to the other. I chose to transfer the budget limit into my straight facility. I did that because I don't need and want the credit card to pay off things forever, but rather just to use it to make purchases when I already have the money in my cheque account. This is essentially what killa said. The reason is that when you buy things online, most of the time they only make provision for credit cards, and not debit card facilities. If they did, I would not have applied for a credit card. So I'm essentially just using it as a medium to transfer my funds because they don't make provision for debit card facilities when you buy online. The 57 day interest free thing is great. You can essentially borrow a few thousands and pay it back without any interest, which is great. So if you borrow R4000, you only pay back R4000. Much better IMO.
 
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cashmoney said:
What exactly is the budget facility?(in simple terms)
Click to expand...

The budget facility allows you to pay off the R500 over six or twelve months instead of at the end of the month. They add a portion of the R500 to you account at the end of each month.

It also entails the bank inserting their forearm all the way up your rectum and ripping your left lung our your ashwhole They call this 'charging interest' on your debt.

If you like your left lung please don't ever buy anything on 'budget' ;)
 
okay...

If i wanted to buy something that costs R3500, then i guess it would be better to put it on the budget facility then? As i would not be able to pay back that amount within 55 days.
 
doggy_g_d said:
The budget facility allows you to pay off the R500 over six or twelve months instead of at the end of the month. They add a portion of the R500 to you account at the end of each month.

It also entails the bank inserting their forearm all the way up your rectum and ripping your left lung our your ashwhole They call this 'charging interest' on your debt.

If you like your left lung please don't ever buy anything on 'budget' ;)
Click to expand...

lol...sorry i posted my previous post before you posted this.
But wont the bank still be putting their forearm up my rectum if I take it on the straight part seeing as i wont be able to pay the amount(R3500) back within the 55 days?
 
cashmoney said:
I need some advice.
I only recently started working so I'm pretty new to all the financial stuff. Thing is Absa phoned me(like 4 times!) asking me if i want a credit card. I said no the first couple of times but eventually gave in. They did everything over the phone and I cant remember half of the things that stupid lady said.

What I do know:
>The limit on the card is R6000
>She said something about splitting half on budget and half on straight(i think that's what she called it)

Saturday i bought something just to test out the card and it cost me R500, then i got a sms saying i have R2500 left.

Is that now what i have left on the budget part?
What exactly is the budget facility?(in simple terms)
Somebody also told me that i should tell the cashier when i buy something whether or not i want to put it on the budget facility

I read somewhere that a budget facility is a bad thing, I'm going in to the bank on Friday to sort this **** out but didn't want to sound like an idiot.
Click to expand...

Go to the bank and tell them u don't want budget - yes it's handy, but u don't want it.

Make sure u always have a positive balance - so transfer that R500 back.

U paid for that sms. :sick:

Rather look into getting a Silver package to save on bank charges, you'll probably be racking them up.
 
mercurial said:
The reason is that when you buy things online, most of the time they only make provision for credit cards, and not debit card facilities. .
Click to expand...

Why not get a cheque card? I have that from Standard Bank and it has the Mastercard logo on it and can be used wherever a credit card is accepted.
 
alf101 said:
Go to the bank and tell them u don't want budget - yes it's handy, but u don't want it.

Make sure u always have a positive balance - so transfer that R500 back.

U paid for that sms. :sick:

Rather look into getting a Silver package to save on bank charges, you'll probably be racking them up.
Click to expand...

I will transfer the R500 on Friday. They are killing me with the sms's. I get one every time i Fart!!!
 
LancelotSA said:
Why not get a cheque card? I have that from Standard Bank and it has the Mastercard logo on it and can be used wherever a credit card is accepted.
Click to expand...

I upgraded from my Flexi account to a cheque account and I also took out a silver credit card. It's the Silver package - Silver cheque account and Silver credit card. I pay R99 a month and this covers both cards, which includes all transactions for both cards totalling 25 transactions. Free NotifyMe and some other stuff as well. It was the best package for me.
 
mercurial said:
I upgraded from my Flexi account to a cheque account and I also took out a silver credit card. It's the Silver package - Silver cheque account and Silver credit card. I pay R99 a month and this covers both cards, which includes all transactions for both cards totalling 25 transactions. Free NotifyMe and some other stuff as well. It was the best package for me.
Click to expand...

They offered me the credit card and petrol card and cheque book and whole bang shoot but the cheque card alone met my needs so I kindly declined the offers.
 
Irresponsible lending IMO - **** them out about that and ask for a cheque account with no credit card...
 
I upgraded my FNB account to a silver cheque account recently, but they gave me a silver debit card (I think I should be getting a silver cheque card?). And then when I applied for the credit card, I got the Gold card, WTF......
 
Stick with the cheque card - all the functionality of a CC but none of the pitfalls.
 
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