Transferring balances...good or bad?

[Fraser]

There's no such thing as free money. The money credit cards use for rebates is available because merchants are charged a fee per transaction. Ultimately, consumers pay for those fees in the form of higher prices. It's like returning your bottles for a refund. You're just recouping money you already paid up front.

Well maybe, but since I'm not going to negotiate a lower price to pay with cash every time I make a purchase I'll settle with my credit card. I'll thank those people who pay interest on their CCs who are paying for the frequent flyer miles and hotel points that I earn

I don't know why anyone would get a CC that charges annual fees these days

If it's a card that offers no benefits then sure, but many cards that offer annual fees have benefits. I do the maths and figure out whether or not I'll save more than annual fee cost over the course of the year. More often than not the savings or benefits are worth several multiples of the annual fee, even in cases where the annual fee is hundreds per year.

[sean_miller]

I see you are a glass half empty type of guy.

Studies say no, you don't. People who use their credit card for most purchases spend more than those who use cash more often. Whatever - it's your money.

I started paying cash when I can (not always possible) and seem to have more money lately. Maybe it's just from playing less golf as the season ends.

[TN94z]

switching from one credit card to another for a smaller rate obviosuly has it benefits

Just fyi...I am sucking it up and paying off my debts. That is the point to this entire thread. I have paid off two cards in the last 2 months. Does moving from a 14% credit card to a 0% credit card mean that I am trying to get out of paying my debt? Nope...it means that I am trying to pay it off in a smarter fashion. A small credit hit due to an inquiry is better than losing hundreds of dollars in interest charges. HELOC is not an option at the moment....I am trying to sell my house.

[Yukari]

Studies say no, you don't. People who use their credit card for most purchases spend more than those who use cash more often. Whatever - it's your money.

What you are forgetting is that those studies you are referring to are people using cc tend to be more a compulsive purchaser whereas cash purchasers think before buying. What you left out is that if you use your cc like cash rather than for impulsive purchases, you would come out ahead.

Your argument that cc purchasers spend more is also misleading as majority of cc purchasers tend to be financially more well off and can afford to buy (granted not all, but majority of them are--relative to cash purchasers).

[mdl]

I've never done this, and I'm no credit guru. But I just wanted to throw in there that I've been told the algorithms the credit scoring agencies use to give you a credit score actually increase your score the when you get more cards. The explanation I've been given is that, given lots of other inputs that could change this of course, your score is hurt if you're using too high a percentage of your available credit. So if you've got $5k in debt and $7k total credit available, your score will actually be lower than if you've got $5k of debt and $20k of credit available. Of course, I'm sure you can get hit for having too many cards, but if you have good credit, presumably you're not the type with like 10 cards and big balances on 8 of them.

Point is, from I've been told, if you've got one card with a big balance you're trying to pay off and only one or two other cards, it shouldn't be a big hit to your score to get one more. The bigger thing I'd worry about is all the fine print. Most of those ads I've seen for 0% credit transfer don't tell you that that 0% is just for the first month, and then it jacks way the •••• up. Sometimes that new super high rate is only for new purchases, and maybe with the new financial bill congress passed this year they're not allowed to screw you quite like they used to, but make sure you read all the fine print.

[enis750]

Just fyi...I am sucking it up and paying off my debts. That is the point to this entire thread. I have paid off two cards in the last 2 months. Does moving from a 14% credit card to a 0% credit card mean that I am trying to get out of paying my debt? Nope...it means that I am trying to pay it off in a smarter fashion. A small credit hit due to an inquiry is better than losing hundreds of dollars in interest charges. HELOC is not an option at the moment....I am trying to sell my house.

hey it was no disrecpect bro, just a generalization

for me, having a better credit score is more important than a few hundred bucks in interest as Miller mentioned, often these 0% cards are more than meets the eye good luck with your decision

[TN94z]

hey it was no disrecpect bro, just a generalization

No hard feelings. I just wanted to put that out there since it was brought up. I didn't want anyone thinking I was looking for a way out of paying the debt.