ok, excuse anything that comes across as retarded here because i've never had one:

so when you put something on your credit card you have like 30 days interest free usually. so if you pay it off within 30 days, all you pay for is the purchase price.

so if you don't pay it off within the 30 days, you then have to pay interest. [i think all of that is correct?]

what i actually want to know - how long do you have before you have to start paying it? can you leave it for like a month or two before paying it all off [including the interest obviously]?

you get a statement once a month with the balance that you have to pay...
you can have a $3000 cc debt, which can take you 3 years to pay off but as long as you pay the balance each month then you can keep going forever

I think you can leave it for ages and ages provided you make the minimum payment. Obviously the interest adds up though. There will be a minimum payment amount on your bill. The company wants you to leave it so they make the money from the interest. I think that's right anyway, i always pay my CC bills on time so i've never actually dealt with interest before.

ohhh ok. so how much is the balance? is that just like a % of the total you owe?

i'm so retarded when it comes to this stuff.

haha that's the same as my mum! i asked her & she was like 'i dont know, i always pay mine on time so i don't have to pay any interest'