Martin Lewis's simple 'bowl of water' method to cut credit card spending

The cost of living crisis has seen a jump in credit card use, with many resorting to using them to pay for shopping and bills.

But paying for items on credit will result in mounting debt which will have to be repaid – often with high repayment rates.

Now financial expert Martin Lewis has shared a quick and easy – and unusual – tip for people tempted to use credit cards to get by.

During his ITV1 programme, Martin Lewis Money Show Live, on Tuesday night, Lewis recommended putting a credit card into a bowl of water and placing it in the freezer.

He said people should focus on clearing credit card debts by setting up minimum payments on direct debit – but if it was not possible, to transfer the balances onto a card with a temporary 0% rate.

To avoid the temptation of using these cards, Lewis shared his freezer tip.

He told viewers: "Do not spend on these cards. Do not withdraw cash on these cards, because that is usually not at a cheap rate.

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"These cards are only for shifting debt to. And if you really don't trust yourself, get the card, get a bowl of water.

"Card in the water, bowl in the fridge [freezer], then you'll need a hammer to spend on the card and it might give you a moment of thinking time."

Lewis said the debt should be attempted to be repaid before the 0% ends or the rate will jump to 20-22%.

He added: "If you can't do that, you need to balance transfer it again."

His advice comes as figures from trade association UK Finance showed the outstanding credit card balances belonging to UK cardholders jumped by 10.1% in total in the 12 months to October 2022.

In total, £59.7bn in credit card balances was outstanding in October 2022, while there were 354.6 million credit card transactions in October – 11.3% more than in October 2021.

The total spend of £19.2 billion on credit cards was 15% higher than in October 2021.

UK Finance said 51.2% of outstanding credit card balances incurred interest, compared with 53.7% 12 months earlier.

There were also 2.2 billion debit card transactions in October, 12.4% more than in October 2021. The total debit card spend of £66.6 billion was 9.1% higher than in October 2021.

Meanwhile, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures released on Wednesday showed that the rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation slowed to 10.5% in December, from 10.7%, in a further sign that the cost-of-living crisis may have passed its peak.

However, food and drink inflation jumped to 16.8% in December, up from 16.4% in November, marking the highest level since September 1977.