Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
Author: Lynn
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:57 pm
Post subject: Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
11/6/2001 2:12 pm CDT
I carry balances on my credit cards. I'm always receiving preapproved credit card offers in the mail that have 0% for 6 months. Lots of them do not charge a transaction fee if you transfer balances at time of application. Can you tell me if this is a good idea to keep moving to different cards at the end of the introductory period. I have good credit and I don't want to mess it up.
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Author: Ira Stoller
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:58 pm
Post subject: Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
11/6/2001 10:41 pm CDT
Absolutely! Go for that 0% and save the finance charges. When the 6 months is up, assuming you haven't yet paid off the entire balance, get another intro rate card and transfer the remaining balance to that card. You should also cancel the cards as you bring them to a zero balance. That insures that you do not end up with too much available revolving credit, which could make it difficult for you to obtain additional cards.
I did the balance transfer shuffle for about five years, going through some 37 cards along the way. I paid off a $40,000.00 credit card debt in this fashion. Along the way I probably saved $3-4,000.00 in finance charges.
I repeat: go for it! Save the money!
Author: Harry
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:58 pm
Post subject: Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
11/7/2001 8:09 am CDT
"You should also cancel the cards as you bring them to a zero balance."
While I agree that timely closing of paid off accounts is essential, when I was doing the 'teaser rate tango' I liked to leave accounts open for a few months after the rate expired. Often, a new offer would be generated.
I never counted how many cards I went through, but my wife and I currently have 14 open accounts. This is a little high because my dancing days are over because a fellow in KY opened a Home Depot account and attempted to open a FirstStar account and now we have the fraud alerts. No more juicy offers in the mail. We were lucky in that he picked precisely the wrong time to be applying on our credit, since we had just opened new accounts and the payoff was in transit. The sad thing is that for years I've been vigilant about keeping personal info private, and shredding all account and offer related materials. But one good thing about applying for new accounts constantly is that we were alerted to the attempted identy theft only a few weeks after it occurred. The first clue for many people is when the collection agent calls and starts yelling at them.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:57 pm
Post subject: Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
11/6/2001 2:12 pm CDT
I carry balances on my credit cards. I'm always receiving preapproved credit card offers in the mail that have 0% for 6 months. Lots of them do not charge a transaction fee if you transfer balances at time of application. Can you tell me if this is a good idea to keep moving to different cards at the end of the introductory period. I have good credit and I don't want to mess it up.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
Author: Ira Stoller
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:58 pm
Post subject: Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
11/6/2001 10:41 pm CDT
Absolutely! Go for that 0% and save the finance charges. When the 6 months is up, assuming you haven't yet paid off the entire balance, get another intro rate card and transfer the remaining balance to that card. You should also cancel the cards as you bring them to a zero balance. That insures that you do not end up with too much available revolving credit, which could make it difficult for you to obtain additional cards.
I did the balance transfer shuffle for about five years, going through some 37 cards along the way. I paid off a $40,000.00 credit card debt in this fashion. Along the way I probably saved $3-4,000.00 in finance charges.
I repeat: go for it! Save the money!
Author: Harry
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:58 pm
Post subject: Lower Credit Card Interest Rates With Balance Transfer
11/7/2001 8:09 am CDT
"You should also cancel the cards as you bring them to a zero balance."
While I agree that timely closing of paid off accounts is essential, when I was doing the 'teaser rate tango' I liked to leave accounts open for a few months after the rate expired. Often, a new offer would be generated.
I never counted how many cards I went through, but my wife and I currently have 14 open accounts. This is a little high because my dancing days are over because a fellow in KY opened a Home Depot account and attempted to open a FirstStar account and now we have the fraud alerts. No more juicy offers in the mail. We were lucky in that he picked precisely the wrong time to be applying on our credit, since we had just opened new accounts and the payoff was in transit. The sad thing is that for years I've been vigilant about keeping personal info private, and shredding all account and offer related materials. But one good thing about applying for new accounts constantly is that we were alerted to the attempted identy theft only a few weeks after it occurred. The first clue for many people is when the collection agent calls and starts yelling at them.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
posted by CardRatings.com at 4:29 PM
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