How did you pay for your bike?

[RustyMTB]

Ltd company director. Turns out I can buy a bike & all the accessories & write roughly half of the cost off against corp tax in year one & depreciate the remainder over time, so I did that. I don't therefore own the bike but who cares about that? It is a huge benefit I could exploit repeatedly but I'm happy to stick with my three year old Jam2.

 

[Paulquattro]

I'm sorry you don't have the money to buy a new bike and you don't have the discipline to make the most mature financial decisions. Don't lash out at me, though. It's not my fault.

Dont be sorry im not ,
Like i said my money is still in the bank earning interest , i would have thought that was a Mature Decision

So im happy with my decisions thanks its you who seems to have the massive chip on your shoulder about letting people live how they want to live like i said your an elitist.

And lashing out
Bless you if you think my reply was lashing out you really are a delicate flower arent you .

 

[steve_sordy]

When buying a bike (car or other similar sum), I always look at the options.
Are they offering a low finance rate, or even zero?
If they are offering zero, how much will they reduce the price by if I pay up front? I once got 10% off!
Notice my use of "up front", I did not say cash. I could pay by a credit card, which then gives me a whole lot of other options.
A credit card allows me to put off the outflow of cash for 6-8 weeks. That gives me time to do something else.
I mentioned in an earlier post that you can use interest free credit cards to transfer a balance from one card to another. There is a charge for this, but as long as you know what it is and take it into account it could be worth it.

Before paying cash, ask yourself where is it coming from and what interest rate is it earning where it is right now? I once took out a 3-year deal to buy a car up front, even though I could pay up front for it. I'd already got the best deal I could, but the money that I had ready was earning much more than the 3% that Marks & Spencer wanted to charge me (it's a while ago now!)

I once was going to pay for a bike with a zero % finance deal, but the credit company wanted too much information from me and I found it very intrusive. I honestly suspect that they were fishing for lifestyle data to sell on to others, so I reversed my decision and paid with a credit card and then by bank transfer later to pay off the credit card before incurring charges.

The other very important thing to watch out for is looking for credit too many times. That could be as simple as looking for a new credit card. Or maybe a different mortgage company. Collectively, all of these efforts signify to the credit scoring agencies that you are in trouble and are a risk. Your credit rating will be reduced and you may end up not being able to get a credit card or a mortgage. When asked "have ever been refused credit?" you will have to say "yes". Now that IS a red flag! At best, the rates you will be charged will be higher. I know this for a fact because I went from a platinum credit card with an allowance of £15,000 to not being able to get one at all! This was entirely innocent due to me searching for a new mortgage. But I had just ditched the credit card company because they annoyed me and as part of the new mortgage thing, I had moved from one bank to another. All these things added up to no new credit card for me. I had to go cap in hand to my old bank and ask for a credit card. "Who are you?" they asked. I replied that up until two weeks ago I was a customer of 30 years standing with my own personal banker (on her day off). "Sorry we have no record of that!" They grudgingly gave me a Barclaycard blue card with a £500 limit They made clear that they were very much doing me a favour. £500!!, I spent more on company expenses in a week than that. It was a major inconvenience. I had to get travelling companions to pay the hotel bills and for hire car petrol on their cards!

 

[irie]

When you retire or otherwise stop working and no longer have so-called earned income from a job, to banks you automatically become a bad credit risk. Even if you don't need your credit cards, hang onto them and spend a bit on each of them every year so that the companies can see some activity on them and don't discontinue them. As @steve_sordy says above, when they're gone you'll be lucky to get them reissued with a remotely sensible credit limit.

 

[steve_sordy]

When you retire or otherwise stop working and no longer have so-called earned income from a job, to banks you automatically become a bad credit risk. Even if you don't need your credit cards, hang onto them and spend a bit on each of them every year so that the companies can see some activity on them and don't discontinue them. As @steve_sordy says above, when they're gone you'll be lucky to get them reissued with a remotely sensible credit limit.

Wait until you are over 70, and become death on the roads!
When you get to 70, your driving license is automatically revoked and you have to reapply. Yiu have to reassure the DVLC that you are sound and without any debilitating conditions and that your eyesight is still good enough to read a number plate at 25meters (it used to be 25 yards).
The one thing that they should do is to get a third person to attest that you are not suffering from a mental condition like Alzheimer's.

 

[highpeakrider]

Well at 64 and a bit, I paid cash and gave myself an interest free loan.
Only because I couldn’t be bothered filling in the interest free forms as i’d just done one.
As others say in retirement keep your cards and loans going as you may as well keep the money in the bank earning interes.

 

[Wolf_Trek]

Credit Card*
* I pay the card(s) off every month. Why would I give up points/perks by paying cash, is my thought.