[MTBikerTim]

Credit cards are a dangerous thing. If you do not have a stable job DO NOT GET A CREDIT CARD! Shift work which you are not guaranteed shifts is not a stable job, I have had friends get themselves into trouble this way. You also need to know exactly how the card works. It will save you money if you do.

For example:

Some cards allow you to put the card into credit. Say you have a card that has a $200 limit. If you then dump $1000 onto the card you can then spend $1200. Sounds silly but normal debit cards here have a maximum daily limit so buying a fridge isn't possible on your debit card unless you go into the bank and get you limit raised in advance which is a pain. The only catch with this is I know one bank here which will allow you to put the card into credit and it will raise the limit by doing so but you still have to pay the full purchase off after the purchase which is crazy. Where does the money you put on the card go? How do you get it back?

When you pay money off on some cards, it pays off the most recent purchases first. This isn't a problem on normal interest cards but it is on cards where there is an interest free period. It means you have to get the balance down to 0 before you stop paying interest so the interest free period is really useless.

Some cards also charge interest on the original purchase price no matter how much you have paid off. So if you buy a $2000 fridge (I like fridges) and pay off $1000 you still get charged interest on the $2000 which can be a lot of money on the sorts of dodgy cards that do this. I have the terms for a card that does this sitting on my desk. It's good for a laugh. The interest rate after a certain interest free period is 30%. Some cards are dodgy and designed to screw people for every thing.