Interest is GOOD
| no, silly, not paying interest... EARNING interest! I just signed up for another 0% balance transfer, this one for $23,000. For anyone that is counting, that's over $35,000 in 0% balance transfers in the last two weeks... about $120 per month in interest at Emigrant Direct from just those two balance transfers alone. I have three smaller balance transfers from last year coming due in the next three months or so. One of the offers from last year that is coming due is from Chase. In order to prepare for my next Chase 0% BT offer, I called Chase customer service and closed out two Chase cards I had opened to take advantage of promo offers (both with credit limits of under $5,000 and no balance), and had the available credit from those two cards transferred to the account that currently holds the balance transfer. By doing this, I can pay off the Chase balance transfer in April and have a large credit limit available with Chase for my next balance transfer with them. |
posted by savvy at 2/28/2006 09:08:00 AM
Comments on "Interest is GOOD"
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trip said ... (9:51 AM) :
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Anonymous said ... (12:20 PM) :
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Anonymous said ... (3:09 PM) :
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savvy saver said ... (3:37 PM) :
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Debt Tintin said ... (11:16 PM) :
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Captain Arbyte said ... (1:42 AM) :
post a commentThat is just awesome. I have been wanting to do one of the 0% transfers, but since we might be applying for mortgages in the next few weeks, I am forced to wait. I hope the offers are still around in a few months :)
How are you getting the cash out to put in your account? Don't they ususally require that you do a balance transfer to another credit card?
Did you know that Discover has 0% APR balance transfers for life?
I've got one of those cards. The fine print is tricky -- it's technically 0% APR for 6 months, but extended indefinitely if you make at least 2 transactions per month. I personally buy 2 packs of gum every month (a dollar each) to extend the 0% APR.
Be careful -- those 2 transactions are at the regular interest rate (17%) and are paid off last. As with many credit cards, your monthly payment goes to pay the lowest-interest rate portion of the debt (the 0% APR balance transfer) first.
Also, if you forget the 2 monthly transactions, your entire balance transfer goes up to 17% as well.
So as you can see, it can take some work. But it's a simple process -- just buy 2 tiny things per month (a stamp, gum, etc.) and you could have an interest-free loan for life.
Anon 1 - When requesting a balance transfer for the purpose of depositing it in a high-yield savings account, most credit card companies are more than happy to send a check directly to you, or deposit the money in your checking account. Simply fib a little and tell them you plan to use the money to pay tuition, for home improvements, or to pay down a HELOC (or any combination of the above). You can even say it is to buy a car, they generally don't care what you use it for.
hmm interesting
Savvy,
I have about $47K in balance transfers right now. The earliest I start losing the low interest rates is at the end of May, so I have a little time to prepare ... but what preparation should I do?
All this arbitrage has hurt my credit score; I'm not getting 0% offers like I used to. What's a good way to increase the odds I'll be able to "roll it over" in a few months?