Is today the day stoozing died?

JimmyTheWig

geet wrote: »

Hello all, I applied for the pre-approved Santander Zero and requested 13K BT. Not heard from them, but today I saw a credit of 5300 in my Egg Money - details yet to come up. Am assuming it is Santander. This is the first time my BT is so much below what I asked for. Does this affect my credit file or whatever it is called. It is worrying as I have to pay off 13K to Virgin in March and will have to apply for another card.

1. Does the fact that I got less than half of what I asked for get me a negative scoring?
2. Does the fact that I now have two cc (my cards - Barclays current, Egg Money and Virgin BT cc) negatively affect my application for another for around 7K?
3. I have a mortgage with Abbey that will be transferred to Halifax and a personal loan with Barclays.

Any thoughts:-(

Your credit file won't show what you asked for, or that what you received less than you asked for.
However, the fact that you received less than what you were expecting may show that your credit file is in a worse state than you thought. (Or equally this may be due to the credit crunch, or any number of other reasons.)
This application will only show that you applied for a credit card and got one with this limit. And your credit report will show your balance on this card. If this means that it appears that you are more in debt than before then obviously this will hit your credit worthiness.

As to the Virgin situation, if this is a stooz then you'll have the £13k sitting in a savings account which you can use to repay the debt.

geet

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

As to the Virgin situation, if this is a stooz then you'll have the £13k sitting in a savings account which you can use to repay the debt.

Thanks.

The Virgin 13K went to two ISAs and to pay an earlier O% BT:-(

My stoozing is only at the level of saving into ISAs and paying emergency expenses...

Strapped

geet wrote: »

Thanks.

The Virgin 13K went to two ISAs and to pay an earlier O% BT:-(

My stoozing is only at the level of saving into ISAs and paying emergency expenses...

That ain't stoozing! :eek::eek::eek:

geet

Oh well can I call myself a part-time stoozer or am i out of the club!

LongTermLurker

geet wrote: »

Oh well can I call myself a part-time stoozer or am i out of the club!

Not if you're using borrowed money to pay off existing debts - that'd just be extending your debt.

Unless you mean the money you made from stoozing (ie the proceeds, not the capital) has gone to pay emergency expenses and paid off your debts?

It's not about borrowing money at 0% forever - it's about doing that and actually turning a profit.

geet

Am I doing both? My m.o. was this – borrow 0%, open ISAs (from a terrible overdraft situation I have now got three ISAs – unimaginable a while ago), put rest in Egg Money for 4% positive balance interest and use it when necessary for “emergency expenses” (expenses I would have borrowed for anyway). With Egg Money withdrawing their 4% and with me not confident of tying money in long term savings, and 3% balance transfer fee almost equalising with instant access savings interest, situation is not great now.

This is how it went roughly –

1. Got 5K. Put 3K in ISA. Balance 1K in Egg Money and 1K spent on my “emergency” expenses.
2. Got 8K. Paid back 5K and put 3K in ISA.
3. Got 13K. Paid back 8K, put 3K in ISA. Lent 1K interest free to a friend till 0% period and 1K disappeared due to lack of incentive to keep it in Egg -
4. PRESENT – Got 5300 of requested 13K from pre-approved Santander. Putting 5K in CITI.

Now, my worry when I posted my early mail was what will happen if I don’t get the balance 7K or so in time to return 13K as I do not want to break my ISA.

This is good exercise thanks JimmyTheWig, Strapped and LongTermLurker as I get full picture – I have spent 2K meaning that I am 2K in debt _pale_

LongTermLurker

Well done for tackling your debt, but you're still in debt to the lender of the £13k.

Now, my worry when I posted my early mail was what will happen if I don’t get the balance 7K or so in time to return 13K as I do not want to break my ISA.

Here you say you're £7k in debt, compared with your last sentence where you say you're £2k in debt. Remember that interest on debts will outweigh interest on savings - clear your debts (down to no debts, no savings) and then start afresh.

As I said, at the moment you're just elongating your debt.

NickX

LongTermLurker wrote: »

Remember that interest on debts will outweigh interest on savings - clear your debts (down to no debts, no savings) and then start afresh.

As I said, at the moment you're just elongating your debt.

Hmm, I don't really agree. Provided the debts are on a promotional rate (i.e. 0% APR), then they should cost less to service than the interest on savings.

I think you can part-stooze and this is how I got started. Say you have borrowed £15k at 0%, but have only £10k in savings - ok, overall you are in debt to the tune of £5k, but provided you keep the debts at 0% this should not be a problem and you will make a profit on the £10k that you have stoozed.

However, I agree it is important to ensure you know which debts are stoozed (i.e. offset elsewhere) and which are "real" debts.

geet

Thanks NickX, all my debts are on 0%. The 2K I seem to have spent is included in the shortage of 7K which I will have to raise with another 0% when present 13K 0% term ends in March 2010. Have 9K + interest in ISA and 5K is in CITI to be withdrawn in March 2010.

Well, I will accept I am a part-stoozer:-)

CannyJock

Given that the OP first asked "Is today the day stoozing died?" on 06-11-2008 at 4:07 PM, is it fairly safe to say the answer is actually No?