Contrary to what many think, those who don't have credit cards tend to be regarded, all other things being equal, as a higher risk than those who have them - but only use them wisely.

The key is to keep your credit to manageable levels, make your repayments on time and don't use your credit card as a cash card apart from in an emergency - this can affect your credit rating very negatively!

For these types of mortgages, your repayments are fixed at an agreed rate for set period. You gain by knowing that the repayment figure won't change during the period and so you'll know exactly what money you have to have in your account to ensure your repayments are made.

The disadvantage is that the fixed rate is normally higher than for a variable rate mortgage. Additionally, if you want to leave the deal early, you may have to pay a very large early repayment charge (you don't have to do this with a variable rate) - this might be 3% of the whole loan - and when the fixed period ends, your loan is normally converted to one where repayments are determined by the lender's standard variable rate.