Lesson 9. Credit - 1

Hire Purchase.

If you do not have enough money to buy an item, you might buy on credit. There are different ways of doing this such as hire purchase, credit cards, store cards, bank overdrafts and personal loans.

Make sure you know the true cost of buying on credit.

This section deals with hire purchase.

Hire purchase allows you to buy items straight away but you pay for them in instalments (usually monthly).

You probably will not own the items until all the instalments have been paid. If you stop paying the instalments, the items could be taken back.  

EXAMPLE:

Music Centre £650

(or a 20% deposit plus 24 monthly payments of £27.50 each month)

If you buy the music centre on credit:

deposit = 20% of  £650 = £130

24 monthly payments =

24 × £27.50 = £660

total credit price =

£130 + £660 = £790

How much extra does the hire purchase cost you?

You would have to decide if you do not mind paying this extra money to be able to get this music centre.

GET WISE

If shops and other places offer interest-free periods, find out exactly what you have to pay in the end. It may cost you a lot of extra money.

Test lesson 9

• Test

Other lessons:

Lesson 1. Wages
Lesson 2. Wages-overtime
Lesson 3. Pricing your holiday
Lesson 4. Money for your holiday
Lesson 5. Mobile phones
Lesson 6. Bank accounns
Lesson 7. VAT - Value Added Tax
Lesson 8. Electricity, gas and water
Lesson 10. Credit - 2
Lesson 11. Credit - 3
Lesson 12. Which is better value?
Lesson 13. Car insurance
Lesson 14. Income tax
Lesson 15. Buying a house
Lesson 16. Council fax
Lesson 17. Old age pension