Never had a credit card. Should I? Wanting to improve credit rating

[youngmamttc]

So as the title says my credit is bad. I've never had a credit card and to be quite honest I'm terrified of them .

Is it worth having one to keep for emergencies and maybe use once or twice a year to keep it active and pay off in full?

 

[Vesta]

If you can trust yourself to pay it off in full every month, it's a good idea. As a loans underwriter, it's the kind of thing I look at when making a decision on an application.

 

[Pearls18]

They like to see proof of you making payments on time. I have a tesco club card credit card that I accrue club card points on, however I use it like a current account, I don't even wait for payday to pay it off because to me that's not keeping up as you aren't spending what you've got (others will disagree that's just my view) I only spend on my credit card what I've already got in my current account if that makes sense, and make regular payments throughout the month, so I never pay interest. We got accepted for a mortgage with ease when we hadn't even been preparing to buy.

 

[DreamCatcher_]

I've never had a credit card and will never get one. My credit rating was somewhere in the 980s/990s when I applied for my mortgage.

I took my car on finance and made all payments on time and, instead of a credit card, took a small overdraft on my account to build up my score. I think the lowest I could take was a £250 overdraft, and I use it monthly. I might only go £50 overdrawn but this happens before the end of the month (on purpose) and a week or two later my wages come in and clear it off. So I am borrowing and repaying in the same month. Once I exchange contracts on the house, and stop saving the equivalent of a small countrys net worth, I'll get rid of the overdraft for a wee while. I like the fact that I can cancel at any time, as long as I'm not overdrawn.

 

[Elli21]

I would say if you want to have one, and have a plan in place for it, do it.

We have one but only use it if we really need it x