Time to balance transfer, not sure if it's even worth it

nd85_2

I'm fairly new to the stooze party and haven't played it "properly" yet. In the last couple of years I have used two 0% cards (CapitalOne first then Tesco) for purchases, put the equivalent cash into an ISA for the interest, then paid the cards off in full when their 0% interest periods come to an end after 12-18 months.

However this time I'm interested in going the extra step in transferring the balance to a new card, allowing my to keep that credit in my ISA for longer.

I have maxed out a Tesco card (£5300) which expires soon. The Barclaycard (0% for 23/24 months) looks like the best balance transfer deal. Just to make sure I'm being a muppet, could someone confirm:

I'd pay 2.8% on the balance to move it to the Barclaycard (£145.18) which allows it to sit there for for 24 months withut incurring interest.

This essentially wipes out the interest benefit I've made this year by having that credit in my ISA (assuming the interest rate on my ISA is about 2.8%). Damn! So I'll only actually see any benefit from my stooze over the next 24 months, and nothing from the last 12 months?

This is the first time I've considered balance transfers, so any advice or clarification welcome. Cheers!

YorkshireBoy

Best to run any deal through a stoozing profit calculator first. I use this one...

http://www.stoozing.com/calc.php

...but please be sure to use a realistic savings interest rate, especially over such a long BT promotion. For example, look at how interest rates have plummeted over the last few weeks or so!

How about being a little more creative? Have you considered the M&S Sterling TC loophole?...0% (on a lump sum at the outset) for 15 months for a very low 1% fee.

Or what about one of the low fee/shorter duration BT cards here for your existing stoozing debt...

http://www.stoozing.com/0fees.php (sort by clicking the column header 'fee')

nd85_2

Thanks, YorkshireBoy. Useful stuff, and I hadn't heard of the M&S TC trick, so I'll see if I can add this to my stoozing arsenal!

Looking at the shorter duration Barclaycard BT card (0.9% fee, 12 months), this looks to be a pretty good deal. Sifting through the info on their site:

Balance Transfers
0% for 12 months from account opening with a 1.2% fee on transfer made within 60 days.
Monthly interest rate 1.527%

I understand the minimum 2.25% monthly repayment, but where does this "Monthly interest rate" fit in for balance transfers?

YorkshireBoy

nd85 wrote: »

...where does this "Monthly interest rate" fit in for balance transfers?

It doesn't...at least not in the first 12 months. That's the rate for purchases and also the 'go-to' rate for BTs after the intro period.