0% credit cards

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Originally Posted By: Shannow
Something about pots and kettles comes to mind...or splinters and logs...Alanis Morriset songs ???



You mean how there's no irony in a song about irony?
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
One of the main traits of this excellent site is the high level of bigotry: intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself. Unless I missed it, I don't recall Grampi complaining about his credit card dept. He simply was asking advice to best pay it off. I don't agree with his ways, but that is his business and his choice. Weddings and funerals are both shams in my opinion, but I don't give a rat's [censored] what others choose to do.

I had hoped that some of this would have subsided since we lost our input from Iowa. Apparently not.


That's the way this site is. Ask a question about something and you get a bunch of smart aleck know-it-alls who think they have the answer to everything and then they proceed to rake you over the coals...funny thing is, I'd put my financial status up against any of these know-it-alls and I would bet that I'm either currently in better shape than they are, or I will be in better shape than they are in the very near future...


I gave you a well thought out reply and time consuming response, I am not sure if you saw it, as you did not respond.
If you did see it, my question to you would be if you only reply to people that give you smart aleck remarks? :eek:)


________________________________________________________________
This is what I posted on page 2 of your thread....

Here is the way I see it, in rough numbers.
Lets say you planned on taking that 0% offer, there is a 3% fee and I am assuming that is good for 12 months no interest.
$10,000 at 3% fee = 300.00

If you do nothing and pay off your current card debt of $10,000 in the same 12 months the payment is $879.00 a month.
$10,000 at 10% interest = $550.00

You save $250.00 by taking the interest free offer if you pay it off before the interest free period ends but if you dont pay it off during the interest free period, you then get whacked with the full interest of the original transfer dating back to the day the transfer took place.

So that is $300 PLUS a full years interest on the FULL amount of the transfer, you will end up close to $1000.00 in interest If the rate is as low as your current card PLUS another $300 for the original fee = $1,300 total cost if you dont pay it in full before the free period ends.


Me personally, I would just focus on paying the current card off ASAP, take my lumps for $250 and say lesson learned with credit card debt, instead of opening another line of credit.
Not only that, but stuff happens and if you dont clear up that so called free interest offer you will pay DEARLY then if you just kept paying your current card.

Hope this helps, Happy New Year!
 
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That was a well thought response. Nice you took the time and effort. Type of thing I apreciate on this board.
 
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Originally Posted By: alarmguy
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
One of the main traits of this excellent site is the high level of bigotry: intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself. Unless I missed it, I don't recall Grampi complaining about his credit card dept. He simply was asking advice to best pay it off. I don't agree with his ways, but that is his business and his choice. Weddings and funerals are both shams in my opinion, but I don't give a rat's [censored] what others choose to do.

I had hoped that some of this would have subsided since we lost our input from Iowa. Apparently not.


That's the way this site is. Ask a question about something and you get a bunch of smart aleck know-it-alls who think they have the answer to everything and then they proceed to rake you over the coals...funny thing is, I'd put my financial status up against any of these know-it-alls and I would bet that I'm either currently in better shape than they are, or I will be in better shape than they are in the very near future...


I gave you a well thought out reply and time consuming response, I am not sure if you saw it, as you did not respond.
If you did see it, my question to you would be if you only reply to people that give you smart aleck remarks? :eek:)


________________________________________________________________
This is what I posted on page 2 of your thread....

Here is the way I see it, in rough numbers.
Lets say you planned on taking that 0% offer, there is a 3% fee and I am assuming that is good for 12 months no interest.
$10,000 at 3% fee = 300.00

If you do nothing and pay off your current card debt of $10,000 in the same 12 months the payment is $879.00 a month.
$10,000 at 10% interest = $550.00

You save $250.00 by taking the interest free offer if you pay it off before the interest free period ends but if you dont pay it off during the interest free period, you then get whacked with the full interest of the original transfer dating back to the day the transfer took place.

So that is $300 PLUS a full years interest on the FULL amount of the transfer, you will end up close to $1000.00 in interest If the rate is as low as your current card PLUS another $300 for the original fee = $1,300 total cost if you dont pay it in full before the free period ends.


Me personally, I would just focus on paying the current card off ASAP, take my lumps for $250 and say lesson learned with credit card debt, instead of opening another line of credit.
Not only that, but stuff happens and if you dont clear up that so called free interest offer you will pay DEARLY then if you just kept paying your current card.

Hope this helps, Happy New Year!


I did see your response and I have decided not to get another CC. Opening another line of credit isn't worth the little bit I'd save in interest, so I'm just going to pay off the card I have...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Why not just pay it?

Your plan is only valid if you're not going to aggressively pay it off, in which case you'll end up with this one reverting to some rate. Why not pay it off on the current card, and live within your means?

Do the math, how much will you actually save?


If I pay on my current card @ $500 a month, it would take me just under two years and I would pay roughly $1000 in interest. If I used a 0% card and paid the same amount each month, it would get paid off a couple months earlier, and I would have to pay the 3% balance transfer fee, which would be $300...so I would save $700 by using a 0% card vs just paying off the card I have now...I don't know if it's really worth opening up another line of credit to save $700...


That was kind of my point. I wasnt aware of how much you were able to pay. Is it worth opening a line to save $700? Probably. The flip side could have been that you were only able to pay $100 or $200/month, and would have gotten hit with a 3-4% balance transfer fee, as well as a possible reversion to a HIGHER interest rate, since often these cards are teasers for then higher rates, and then sustained repayment at a higher rate vs just trying to be aggressive on the front end. You are being aggressive for the terms to minimize realized interest. That's great.

Id personally open a card to save $700. That's a non-trivial savings. Key is to actually commit to making those payments, not letting them slip, and actually realizing the savings...

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Very few Americans have $20,000 cash to pay for those 2 weddings.

Of course he'll find a way to pay for it and have a special day for both daughters.


Thank you Mr Nice...finally, someone who gets it...


Originally Posted By: grampi
I would bet that I'm either currently in better shape than they are, or I will be in better shape than they are in the very near future...


Be careful. Not having $20k is not someone who is claiming that they are in better shape than whomever the smart alecs are that youre speaking of. In the big scheme of things, $20k should not be much money on anybody's accounting, given the price of cars and homes, anyplace in the country. I can get not having it if youre starting out. But if you are far along and dont have that money, smart savings plan, smart use of debt, or whatever, youre not particularly well off, and shouldnt be commenting about others making comments. You should be looking at living in your means. I assume youre near retirement. What happens when you need a $7000 furnace, or a $20k+ car, or whatever else? What about as the years go by and your pensions and savings erode? Just be careful about all this stuff, that's all.
11.gif



Without going into a long explanation, I will be going into retirement with only a mortgage for debt, plenty of income in retirement (roughly 3 times the disposable income I have now), and a large chunk of money in my TSP should the need arise...believe me, I'm in good shape financially...
 
grampi,

Why do some people enjoy beating you up over your finances ?

This also happened a few weeks ago when you mentioned you wanted to buy a Corvette...
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
grampi,

Why do some people enjoy beating you up over your finances ?

This also happened a few weeks ago when you mentioned you wanted to buy a Corvette...


I just think it's because I'm not generally liked in the site and people like beating me up over anything they can...
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
grampi,

Why do some people enjoy beating you up over your finances ?

This also happened a few weeks ago when you mentioned you wanted to buy a Corvette...



I think people just enjoy beating people up over their finances. I know I enjoy it sometimes.

That's why I wouldn't ask for financial advice on this forum.

Sounds like grampi may have the assets, but has a cash flow problem.
 
My reply of 'living within your means', wasn't intended as a slight, or "beating someone up". It was intended as sound financial advice. So many people live their lives on credit. Spending well beyond their means, and usually on stuff that isn't necessary. Inevitably, that debt becomes a problem.

I have a Sister that suffers from 'retail therapy'. She buys so much useless [censored]. The 'High' of purchasing the [censored] quickly wears off, and then she complains about her mounting debt.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
grampi,

Why do some people enjoy beating you up over your finances ?

This also happened a few weeks ago when you mentioned you wanted to buy a Corvette...



I think people just enjoy beating people up over their finances. I know I enjoy it sometimes.

That's why I wouldn't ask for financial advice on this forum.

Sounds like grampi may have the assets, but has a cash flow problem.


No cash flow problems here...
 
Originally Posted By: 02SE
My reply of 'living within your means', wasn't intended as a slight, or "beating someone up". It was intended as sound financial advice. So many people live their lives on credit. Spending well beyond their means, and usually on stuff that isn't necessary. Inevitably, that debt becomes a problem.

I have a Sister that suffers from 'retail therapy'. She buys so much useless [censored]. The 'High' of purchasing the [censored] quickly wears off, and then she complains about her mounting debt.


Telling someone to live within their means when they're asking for a better way to pay of their debt isn't helpful...
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: 02SE
My reply of 'living within your means', wasn't intended as a slight, or "beating someone up". It was intended as sound financial advice. So many people live their lives on credit. Spending well beyond their means, and usually on stuff that isn't necessary. Inevitably, that debt becomes a problem.

I have a Sister that suffers from 'retail therapy'. She buys so much useless [censored]. The 'High' of purchasing the [censored] quickly wears off, and then she complains about her mounting debt.


Telling someone to live within their means when they're asking for a better way to pay of their debt isn't helpful...


OR, it might influence someone else from going into debt in the first place...
 
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: 02SE
My reply of 'living within your means', wasn't intended as a slight, or "beating someone up". It was intended as sound financial advice. So many people live their lives on credit. Spending well beyond their means, and usually on stuff that isn't necessary. Inevitably, that debt becomes a problem.

I have a Sister that suffers from 'retail therapy'. She buys so much useless [censored]. The 'High' of purchasing the [censored] quickly wears off, and then she complains about her mounting debt.


Telling someone to live within their means when they're asking for a better way to pay of their debt isn't helpful...


OR, it might influence someone else from going into debt in the first place...


True, but that wasn't the topic of this thread...you have a history of making snide comments...
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: 02SE
My reply of 'living within your means', wasn't intended as a slight, or "beating someone up". It was intended as sound financial advice. So many people live their lives on credit. Spending well beyond their means, and usually on stuff that isn't necessary. Inevitably, that debt becomes a problem.

I have a Sister that suffers from 'retail therapy'. She buys so much useless [censored]. The 'High' of purchasing the [censored] quickly wears off, and then she complains about her mounting debt.


Telling someone to live within their means when they're asking for a better way to pay of their debt isn't helpful...


OR, it might influence someone else from going into debt in the first place...


True, but that wasn't the topic of this thread...you have a history of making snide comments...


The irony.
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
grampi,

Why do some people enjoy beating you up over your finances ?

This also happened a few weeks ago when you mentioned you wanted to buy a Corvette...



I think people just enjoy beating people up over their finances. I know I enjoy it sometimes.

That's why I wouldn't ask for financial advice on this forum.

Sounds like grampi may have the assets, but has a cash flow problem.


No cash flow problems here...


Then why do you have 10k in credit card debts? If you had the cash, you pay it off. If you don't, you float it on a credit card. That's what I call cash flow problems.
 
Going back to the original topic...

Originally Posted By: grampi
I am thinking about getting one to transfer my current card's balance onto so I can pay it off sooner. My current card has a fairly low fixed rate (9.9%), but I'd be able to pay off my debt sooner with a 0% card. Is there anything I need to look out for?


Balance transfer fees is one thing I would look out for. The process usually adds 2-3% of the transferred balance to the principal plus a set amount as well.
 
I often wondered if you could keep on transfering balances to new cards to avoid making payments?
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
I often wondered if you could keep on transfering balances to new cards to avoid making payments?
You sure can. The zero cost ones are pretty rare though. I've paid a 3% fee for transferring an already transferred amount before. Hard to predict when you will get an unsolicited offer though. But they usually show up at least once a year. I've never gone hunting for any.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
grampi,

Why do some people enjoy beating you up over your finances ?

This also happened a few weeks ago when you mentioned you wanted to buy a Corvette...



I think people just enjoy beating people up over their finances. I know I enjoy it sometimes.

That's why I wouldn't ask for financial advice on this forum.

Sounds like grampi may have the assets, but has a cash flow problem.


No cash flow problems here...


Then why do you have 10k in credit card debts? If you had the cash, you pay it off. If you don't, you float it on a credit card. That's what I call cash flow problems.


My cash is flowing to my CC payments...no problem!
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
My cash is flowing to my CC payments...no problem!

Not fast enough if you are being charged interest.
smile.gif
 
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