financial lightweight..balance transfer question..

[bigchillcar]

i'm wanting to transfer 4k from my bank of america platinum card to another card with a 0% rate. seems i always throw these offers away and now when i need one, i can only find one from chase..but its 0% offer is only good through 7/1/06 for balance transfers. two months isn't worth much. anyone have a suggestion of where to go or how i can find a card company that will do a balance transfer at 0% or a very, very low rate for a longer period of time?
ryan

[RANDY P]

Hang tight, they're always coming in the mail. A month of interest isn't going to be a big difference - it's when you go like 6 months it gets expensive..

You can check a roach card company like Cap One or HSBC they always have long terms...

rjp

[bigchillcar]

thanks, randy. can you go their websites then and if they have a website offer, do the transfer then? i think that's what you're saying..that you don't have to wait for the offer to come in the mail..
ryan

[RickM]

I get many of these in the mail. Maybe I can give you the phone number from one and see if they'll play.

If you Xfer to a zero or low interest card be careful to read all the fine print. Many will convert over to a very high rate if you make one late payment.....and late can be getting to their office in the afternoon as opposed to the AM of the due date.

[bigchillcar]

rick..yep, have read the fine print and definitely understand what happens when you're late..converts to the sky-high rate.
ryan

[RickM]

Ryan, I did a Google/Froogle search on " Zero Interest +Balance Transfer "

Here's an aggregator of these type offers:

http://www.creditcards.com/balance-transfer.php?a_aid=1004&a_cid=1005

[bigchillcar]

rick,
oh, wow...nice link! thanks..i'll be going through it tonight, buddy.
ryan

[RallyJon]

The fine print is key. Specifically, there is often a transaction fee. Looking at my mail, I just got one from Chase. 0% through November, with a 3% transaction fee. Since the transaction fee isn't annualized, that's effectively 6% interest for six months, not 0%. What a scam...

[RickM]

Yep, fine print is all telling. Here's an interestisng line from one of Citibanks apps: "The 0% APR may increase if you default under any Card Agreement with us or fail to make payments to another creditor when due."

[bigchillcar]

rick,
i went through your list on that site and selected a citi card. 0% apr for 12 months, then converts to like 13% after that (if you don't miss or are late of course). this promotional offer waived the traditional 3% with max up to $75 transaction fee. i was immediately accepted, so guess i'll be getting the card in the mail. also went woth all the electronic payment features, so i have no excuse for being late. i'll transfer a balance as soon as the card arrives. wish i could have just done it last night, but after acceptance/joining there were no more screens with options to go ahead with the transfer. initial line given was $3800, but i only plan to make payments on the balance transfer and use it for nothing else. if i haven't paid off the 4k in 12 months, i'll do this again. thanks to all for the help, especially you for that site, rick.
ryan

[RickM]

NP, Ryan. Good luck!

[bigchillcar]

yeah, rick..i feel like i just 'went up a weight class' as a financial neophyte..

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Avoid credit cards like the plague. If you want to build credit just as quickly (and more safely), take out a personal loan or two from a bank, then pay it back soon thereafter.

The credit card industry has become about as trustworthy and respectable as the used car industry. Avoid at all costs. I can think of very few reasons to carry credit cards and even fewer to carry any with more than a $500 or $1,000 limit, 9.9% APR and zero annual fee.

Trust me, avail yourself of the 0% intro offers, flip every six months (so at least you're paying principle, not interest - interest is for suckers) and then rid yourself of them once and for all. If you really feel naked without one, fine - get a single $1,000-limit card. If they try to offer you a higher limit, refuse it. If they raise it on you, raise hell. Keep very close tabs on it and pay the balance in full monthly - forever (actually I "carry" a balance of a few bucks month-to-month, but that's just to avoid being flagged as an "unprofitable" customer by showing "0" month after month after month. Just carry 20 bucks over or something like that).

Debit card good. Credit card bad.

[bigchillcar]

Avoid credit cards like the plague. If you want to build credit just as quickly (and more safely), take out a personal loan or two from a bank, then pay it back soon thereafter.

i spoke with my loan officer at the bank about that very thing (securing a loan with a cd). she actually agreed that my plan was better then doing her loan. the only thing going on the 0% card is the balance transfer amounting to the cash advance i took out on my only credit card at the time to purchase a truck. so, the 4k principle i'm planning to pay down. i'm going to pay online every month on a date that will insure no late payment or misses..that's the whole catch to the deal. if i'm not paid off in 12 months, i'll flip again.
ryan

[RallyJon]

I can think of very few reasons to carry credit cards and even fewer to carry any with more than a $500 or $1,000 limit, 9.9% APR and zero annual fee.

How about for building up your FICO score so that when you really need credit, you're paying the lowest rate possible?

[bigchillcar]

How about for building up your FICO score so that when you really need credit, you're paying the lowest rate possible?

from what i've been reading the past couple days, there's certainly validity there..
ryan

[RANDY P]

I wired up my FICO scores a few years ago in preparation for anticipated business expenses (I was predominantly a cash customer - apart from house, car and a small CC, nothing big)

applied for a huge personal LOC, maxed it out, paid on it for exactly 1 month (enough to show on the bureau)

Next month after posting, paid back 95% and sat on the rest of the payments for a year - I think I'm paid ahead till 2008?- I let it sit for 12 months to establish another open trade....Left the account open with like $40 dollars owing against like a $10k original balance - and it's showing a 24 month clean pay history.

Works like a champ.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally posted by RANDY P
I wired up my FICO scores a few years ago in preparation for anticipated business expenses (I was predominantly a cash customer - apart from house, car and a small CC, nothing big)

applied for a huge personal LOC, maxed it out, paid on it for exactly 1 month (enough to show on the bureau)

Next month after posting, paid back 95% and sat on the rest of the payments for a year - I think I'm paid ahead till 2008?- I let it sit for 12 months to establish another open trade....Left the account open with like $40 dollars owing against like a $10k original balance - and it's showing a 24 month clean pay history.

Works like a champ.

\

Bingo.

Exactly one of the "irons in the fires" I have going now. Building a FICO score by using credit cards is like cutting off your balls to prevent pregnancy. There are way better and less painful ways to do it.

The whole notion of having to pay a fortune and enslave onesself to debt just to have a good "score" (made-up concept anyway) just so one can be eligible for. . . more debt, is a pretty silly system. Just do what Randy suggests and you'll be able to position yourself with a very nice score within a few months without losing your shirt if you REALLY have the need for a high FICO score.

For the most part, you don't need one anyway. You might need a good FICO score two, maybe three times in your entire life (first mortgage, refi, maybe a car purchase). Other than that, what does it really get you? Unless you're living up to your arse in debt, not much.

Get off the debt treadmill and liberate yourself.

[RANDY P]

Valid point. Credit is only useful for obtaining more credit, other than that what does it get you? A good deal on rates, if you need to borrow..

Ever wonder if Bill Gates cares what his FICO is? My guess, probably not....

[bigchillcar]

jeff...are you and randy addressing rallyjon? i don't really even know what a fico score is! or a loc either! i may have misunderstood what he was referring to when i commented on his post.
ryan