Credit cards are a notoriously expensive form of credit. In Ireland some credit card users pay as much as 26.6 per cent APR for the privilege of using plastic. Even the “low” rates are still high compared with, say, a personal loan.
So credit cards are a good idea only if you can pay off your balance in full every month. Many people do exactly this, thereby getting eight weeks’ free credit whenever they need it. This can come in handy when making a large purchase or keeping in funds until pay day.