Stoozing: Make Free Cash from Credit Cards article discussion

YorkshireBoy

MoneyAnxiety wrote: »

However, I've been given a credit limit of only £2000. I'm really surprised, since I've got a morgage, earn a good salary, stable lifestyle, etc. etc. Is this normal? Is this all they're offering these days? Or have I got something nasty in my credit rating?

How does this compare to what others are being offered?

You ought to check your credit reports. You're looking for...

1. Open cards with zero balances.

2. Missed payments.

3. Financial Associations with people you'd rather not have one!

4. Electoral Roll/address history (going back 3-6 years).

5. Too many searches over the last 3-6 and up to 12 months.

6. Etc.


No recent experience with the Egg Card, but they used to offer some of the highest limits, along with MBNA, LTSB, etc. You only had to have a 'clean' credit report, and a 'reasonable' salary to command £15K limits at one time.

Frugaldom

I'm back for a little more help, if someone would be so patient as submit their thoughts on the matter. I have already transferred my 2008/9 ISA allowance using 0% (2.75% TF) and the rest to high interest acount. My dilemma arises from which card to use for regular spending (balance paid in full each month), whilst leaving the others on minimum monthly payments. Is it best to use Amex or Egg Money to benefit from 1% cashback, or Tesco for the points to deals offers? I know the Tesco deals work out better if you use them, but I only spend a few hundred pounds per month. I could add on the Council Tax payments, but don't know if these are treated as ordinary payments or as cash advances?
Is it worth it? It says the following:

Please note: payments made by credit card for Business Rates, Invoices or Council Tax will be subject to an additional charge which equates to the card transaction charge currently levied on the Council by the operating banks.

If this is the wrong place to be asking, please direct me to the correct thread, thanks.

JimmyTheWig

nykmedia wrote: »

My dilemma arises from which card to use for regular spending (balance paid in full each month), whilst leaving the others on minimum monthly payments. Is it best to use Amex or Egg Money to benefit from 1% cashback, or Tesco for the points to deals offers?

Firstly, you need to ensure that the card you are using for regular spending is _not_ one that has a transfered balance on it. Remember - NEVER spend on a card that you have done a balance transfer from.
But assuming that we're not talking about a balance transfer card then what's better to spend on? Unless you've held a Tesco credit card from before April 2006 then you are better off with a cashback card than the Tesco card.
Personally I use Egg Money and have always been very happy with it.
But with Amex you get the intorductory bonus, so it's up to you.

JimmyTheWig

nykmedia wrote: »

I could add on the Council Tax payments, but don't know if these are treated as ordinary payments or as cash advances?

I think it would be an ordinary payment as far as the credit card company is concerned (i.e. you would get your cashback) but the council will charge you extra.
You could phone the council to check how much they will charge you and then decide if the cashback is worth more than they charge. But I would expect that you're better off not paying this bill on credit card.

Frugaldom

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Firstly, you need to ensure that the card you are using for regular spending is _not_ one that has a transfered balance on it. Remember - NEVER spend on a card that you have done a balance transfer from.
But assuming that we're not talking about a balance transfer card then what's better to spend on? Unless you've held a Tesco credit card from before April 2006 then you are better off with a cashback card than the Tesco card.
Personally I use Egg Money and have always been very happy with it.
But with Amex you get the intorductory bonus, so it's up to you.

Thanks JTW, the BT cards are not used, they are safely tucked away until end of 0% periods and minimum payments go via DD every month. I've already used up my 5% cashback on the AMEX offer (and been paid via the cashback site where I applied in the first place). I'll check and see how long I've been Tesco'ing.
Another question - some of these card sites now say 'send payments online' and then have forms for the person's bank details. Is using that form of payment classed as a cash advance or is that free to use? I can't find details relating to costs on the website. Sorry for all the questions.

JimmyTheWig

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

All lenders have their own mechanisms for assessing affordability. By way of a practical example, Yorkshire Building Society will subtract 36% (approx 12 x 3% minimum payments) of your credit card debt from your salary before applying their lending multiple.

At what time does this get done?

My sister and BIL's mortgage is due for renewal in February.
She has just got an Abbey credit card to use as a cheap personal loan, but they've now decided not to get a new car at least until their mortgage is sorted (on my advice due to the credit crunch).

So she's got a credit card with a 0% going spare, with a £3000 limit. My thinking is stoozing.
They don't use their ISA allowances, so lets assume they can get 6% gross return pa on the money. I believe there is a 3% fee.

But they won't want this to affect their mortgage.
If they only need to pay the balance off before the mortgage starts then they could stooz the money for 9 months, giving a return of 4.5%. Less the 3% fee they are £45 up. Worth having, given they've already applied for the card.
But if they need to pay the balance off before they apply for the mortgage then they could only stooz the money for, say, 7 months, giving a return of 3.5%. Less the 3% fee they are only £15 up. Not really worth it at all.

Does anyone know?

JimmyTheWig

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

She has just got an Abbey credit card...
I believe there is a 3% fee.

When I recently did a 0% BT to my current account with Abbey they didn't charge a fee. I'm not quite sure why this was. Possibly because they had messed me around a bit in the application process.
Does anyone know if my sister is likely to get away without paying a fee if she asks them and says they didn't charge me?

Trillionaire

Can any one help?

I received an email from USwitch on 06/05/08 saying

0% interest charged on any cash transfer made with the Virgin credit card for 15 months. (*2.98% fee – min £3)
A great interest-free solution for those who want to borrow money and can pay it off within 15 months.


However when I click on the link and read the 'terms & conditions' I cannot find this particular offer anywhere . Has anyone seen this or applied for the card?

YorkshireBoy

Trillionaire wrote: »

However when I click on the link and read the 'terms & conditions' I cannot find this particular offer anywhere .

They don't openly advertise it, like card provider MBNA do with their own cards, although it is detailed in the T&C's...look for 'money transfers'. You'll be offered it when you activate the card, or you can ask for it if not. It's also available from your online secure area.

Has anyone seen this or applied for the card?

Thousands of people. It's one of the best stoozing cards around.

Trillionaire

Thank you.

Plus I just found this which explained it all to me

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=899285&highlight=virgin+card