Is this a stupid plan?

brassmonkey001

I have just received a new credit card with an introductory offer of 0%p.a. on balance transfers and credit card cheques for 9 months, and 0%p.a. on card purchases for three months.
I'm thinking, what if I wrote a Credit card cheque to myself for £3000 and put it in a mini cash ISA? Could I then just pay off the minimum payments whilst accruing interest from the ISA and then pay back the £3000 at the end of the term?
Or am I missing something?

YorkshireBoy

brassmonkey001 wrote:

Or am I missing something?

Only a name for it...it's called 'stoozing'.

There's a stoozing board on this forum.

There's even a website dedicated to stoozing...

https://www.stoozing.com

Your plan seems perfectly possible. Just make sure you read the small print (especially the bit about the credit card cheque fee & don't make any purchases on the card after you've written the cheque).

ramellous1

Yep, you stooze or you lose!!

Instead of paying your card off with your ISA money, do a balance transfer to another 0% card and keep your Isa for longer.

The_Boss

Who is this card with?

jamminjamaica

isnt there a charge for usings credit card cheques?

brassmonkey001

The_Boss wrote:

Who is this card with?

MBNA. It was an instore offer in Halfords. I had been thinking about getting a card to transfer my balance to and it seemed like a good deal at the time.

Thanks for the Stoozing links, I'll do a bit more research.

Should I also get a cashback card to make purchases only with?

brassmonkey001

jamminjamaica wrote:

isnt there a charge for usings credit card cheques?

Yes, I think it's 2 or 3%.

jojo1978_3

jamminjamaica wrote:

isnt there a charge for usings credit card cheques?

It depends upon the rate of the cheque, some are purchase rate, some bt rate and some cash, and yet another thats cash with the handling fee.
Worth checking before using the cheque, might also be worth checking if the company thats offering the 0% could just balance transfer it into your current account.

Gordon_the_Moron

If the cheque route will get you charged you'd be better off using the card for day to day spending and putting your earnings into the ISA that you save by using the card. You can speed this up by asking other people when you go shopping if they want anything bringing in, buy it on the card then get them to give you cash for it :j

brassmonkey001

I balance transferred £3000 into my current account ready to put straight into an ISA as soon as it clears. It cost £60 handling fee and minimum monthly repayments will be £5.
I plan to put it into the Bradford and Bingley ISA with monthly interest at 5.03% so that I will be able to draw it back out at the drop of a hat should I need to. I can't afford to put it into a higher paying ISA at the moment and don't know how long I can realistically leave it "just resting in my account", so I think this is the best option for me.

Would I be right in thinking I should not use the MBNA card for purchases now, and I should get a third card just for purchases and maybe cancel the first HSBC card? Should I go for a cashback card or a low interest card? Having gone through the last couple of years statements I seem to spend around £2500 a year on the credit card and the balance is usually around the £500 mark. I've also got a couple of biggish spends coming up so I won't be clearing my balance anytime soon.