Stoozing: Make Free Cash from Credit Cards article discussion

KishCash

Hiya

I wanted to try the Simply Spend stoozing but I am slightly confused when it comes to the repayment.Ill try and explain my confusion the best I can.

Say I spend £50 I obviously owe the bank £50 back only because its a 0% interest deal. But in Martins article it says that you should set up a direct debit to repay the minimum repayment rate.

But the part I dont understand is I will have to eventually repay the debt (so just £50 on the aforementioned 0% deal) so the only cash I will be making will be from the interest from my unspent wages which will be in a high interest account (???????????)


Furthermore will the bank allow you to end your contract once the 0% deal is over? I mean how will they make their money.

Any help/advice appreciated in advance

shoney

I'm tempted to start stoozing but I'm unsure whether I 'fit the requirements'.

Because I am only 18, would this affect me from gaining credit cards due to a pretty much none existent credit rating. I've only recently gained a new current account but haven't been able to change for my wages to be paid into it. I'm good with money but feel that the banks/credit card companies would have no proof of this.

Is stoozing for me?

Iain.

JimmyTheWig

KishCash wrote: »

Hiya

I wanted to try the Simply Spend stoozing but I am slightly confused when it comes to the repayment.Ill try and explain my confusion the best I can.

Say I spend £50 I obviously owe the bank £50 back only because its a 0% interest deal. But in Martins article it says that you should set up a direct debit to repay the minimum repayment rate.

But the part I dont understand is I will have to eventually repay the debt (so just £50 on the aforementioned 0% deal) so the only cash I will be making will be from the interest from my unspent wages which will be in a high interest account (???????????)


Furthermore will the bank allow you to end your contract once the 0% deal is over? I mean how will they make their money.

Any help/advice appreciated in advance

I think you've got it right, though you need to be working with more money to make it worthwhile!
Spend £50 on 0% purchases credit card that you would normally have paid cash for.
Put the £50 cash into high interest account.
Withdraw £5 from that high interest account each month to pay the minimum repayment.
After 10 months you will have paid back the £50 and so owe the credit card company nothing (you only needed to repay £50 as it was 0% interest).
Your high interest savings account would have been in credit an average of £25 over the 10 months and so earned around £1.35 interest (£1.08 after basic rate tax).

How will the bank make their money? Don't worry about them - they'll make their money. They always do. Your job is to try and ensure they don't make it from you!
Not everyone out there is as clued up as the people on this site. Many people will not clear their balance before the 0% deal is finished and so pay interest. Many people will continue to be a customer after the 0% has run out. In effect, the bank is buying your custom. They rely on poeple's loyalty, and make people pay through the nose for it, eventually.

JimmyTheWig

shoney wrote: »

I'm tempted to start stoozing but I'm unsure whether I 'fit the requirements'.

Because I am only 18, would this affect me from gaining credit cards due to a pretty much none existent credit rating. I've only recently gained a new current account but haven't been able to change for my wages to be paid into it. I'm good with money but feel that the banks/credit card companies would have no proof of this.

Is stoozing for me?

Iain.

Getting a credit card and making at least the minimum repayments on time each month is a great way to build up your credit rating.
I'd say apply for a 0% on purchases card (though best to check the articles here on low credit scores) and stooz from that. [By doing it with purchases you only need the one card, which is a bonus for a low credit score.]
When that runs out you may want to apply for a new card to transfer that balance to, and by then your credit rating should have improved.

KishCash

Thanks JimmyTheWig

dee100

Well, am on Halifax 15 month 0%. Used up my limit in 2 months! Am paying min repayments DD. I gather I should apply for many cards at same time. Which cards to go for?
Some banks will refuse me cos I am early retired/disabled. This makes me effectively unemployed. B4 I apply, I must query this first so as not to lower my credit score unneccessarily. Any tips warmly appreciated.

Mutton_Geoff

The chances of acceptance will be much reduced if you already have a balance on an existing MBNA run card

Fair enough, better to try RBS instead, I applied and obtained a Mint, Ulster Bank, NatWest and RBS card all within a fortnight with a total credit limit of £33k on them. The notes say I can't BT between them, but they're all stoozed via Egg in any case.

Had my first refusal this week, Sainsbury. They belong to HBOS, none of whose cards I have but I guess my application for 10 cards in the last month might have spooked them ;-)

Frugaldom

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I just read the current MBNA offer, which states: "0% p.a. on transferring cash into your current account until your statement date in April 2009". There is a 2.9% transfer fee, but basically this means you can apply for the card and, if accepted, transfer 95% (or whatever they allow) of the available credit limit into your bank account, then transfer it into an ISA, whilst paying only the minimum monthly repayment for 12 months. Then pay the whole balance off. Am I right?

fuglyjowls

I've only recently started this stoozing lark and took out a new card to BT to my original card (Ulster with a 6 month 0% deal no fee). I phoned Ulster to cancel the card having paid it off with a BT from my new card and they've offered me another 6 months at 0% so I've now doubled my stoozing capacity

YorkshireBoy

fuglyjowls wrote: »

I phoned Ulster to cancel the card having paid it off with a BT from my new card and they've offered me another 6 months at 0% so I've now doubled my stoozing capacity

Fee-free?...and did you manage to get a credit limit increase as well?

If so, that's good to know, since my intro offer ends next month.