Stoozing: Make Free Cash from Credit Cards article discussion

kickemillicky

If looking to accumulate money for travel flights do you get a better return on credit cards offering miles reward or ones that offer cash back rewards?

Wreid

Hi
First post.looking for advice on snoozing & purchasing.I have applied for M&S 0% 15months credit card.I have a good credit rating. If i receive say £5000 on my credit card and looking to purchase item around £3000 once i receive the card.could is it then best to put remaining £2000 into my local credit union which is now offering 4% interest with no penalties and easy access, whereas where my cash isa is just now, it is earing minimum interest. Is it best to pay minimum repayment amount,and put my cash into a cash isa?
Thanks for any sound advice, I may have got this completely wrong.
Cheers:)

Benergy

Thanks for all the tips guys - much appreciated!

backeyjakic

My wife and I are trying to improve her credit score and she has a few medical bills in collection from a few years ago. She also has 2 credit cards that are fairly close to their limits. Are we better off paying off the credit cards first? Or should we try to take care of collection accounts?

Were trying to buy a house soon and this old stuff on her credit report is whats stopping us. Any suggestions for our best plan of attack?

Thanks

up_and_comming_pensioner

Hi I felt I must inform people of my experience, I applied to M&S for the interest free for 18mths credit card. I have been refused, I contacted them for an explanation. I have very high credit rating, I have never missed a payment. They said they refused because I have two existing credit cards (they are interest free balance transfers),the money has been transferred into my mortgage account reducing the interest, the house is almost paid for. I have the cash to pay off these loans immediately. I have never been refused credit before my repayment and financial situation is impeccable.

There are so many goods deals around which give you interest free for a year, does this mean my credit rating ruined by Marks & Spencer.

I understand from this site balance transfers are positively encouraged. I don't understand why Marks and Spencer hold this against its applicants.

diceydeb

This happened to me . l applied for a new credit card and was turned down. I have never defaulted on any payments and am paying off my balances each month except for some amounts that are still in interest free period. My son says its just cos l got four c/cards on go. l just prefer to spend on them than use my extortionate lloyds overdraft rate. I actually wanted a cash back from capital one but they would only give me 500 on one of their cards for 6 months. lts annoying cos i wanted to use it to get some benefits back on shoppin n petrol and would pay it off each month instead of using my tesco card, which benefits me far less now.

malocao

The article says:

"Anyone with a flexible or offset mortgage, where money can be deposited and taken out at will, should simply pay all the cash into that. The mortgage interest reduction outweighs even the best cash ISA returns."

This isn't necessarily true. Check the interest rate on your offset mortgage. IF you can find an ISA with a higher rate of interest AND it's one that you can exit quickly if rates change, THEN you're better off (slightly) by putting the cash into the ISA not the mortgage. The benefit is slight because of the cash ISA subscription limit.

But you can go much further, if you (or spouse/partner) are a non taxpayer. Find a savings account with a higher interest rate than the mortgage AND one that you can exit quickly. Fill in form R85 to get gross interest. Load up the savings account to FSCS limit of £85,000 by drawing on the mortgage offset account. Profit from the difference in rates - no credit card needed.

Repeat the above with multiple savings accounts, as long as your savings interest in one tax year doesn't go over the personal allowance.

This currently makes about £1,000 annually for me & partner, based on mortgage interest rate of 2.49% and savings rates around 3%.

Geodesic66

backeyjakic wrote: »

My wife and I are trying to improve her credit score and she has a few medical bills in collection from a few years ago. She also has 2 credit cards that are fairly close to their limits. Are we better off paying off the credit cards first? Or should we try to take care of collection accounts?

Were trying to buy a house soon and this old stuff on her credit report is whats stopping us. Any suggestions for our best plan of attack?

Thanks

Bit off topic but I'd recommend you check what your credit reference agency files actually say first (can be done online or by post). See the credit reference agency threads which have lots of info.

What you think is a bad debt may not have found its way onto your file, whereas stuff you didn't even know about may well have. Both Equifax and Experian will give you their own "score" too and will suggest what you can do to improve it.

Supportspice

Interesting thread for me, I recently considered doing something similar to others with my existing Natwest credit card. (Spending on it and saving income, pay off in full each month.)

I have obiously missed an update to my T&C's at some point this year as although I used to get it free if I paid in full each month, I no longer get any free interest period. e.g. Transaction 8th November, bill date 10th November includes interest on transaction from 2 days before bill.

But, I dont really want to risk my credit rating by applying for new cards.
Ill keep readiing with interest (no pun intended.) :rotfl:

Kayla22

Hello,

I have been reading the the 'stoozing' article, very interesting

I am currently paying for my car insurance in monthly instalments. Would it be better to pay off the balance on my credit card, which is soon to arrive and then do as Martin (I love this guy) says and set up a direct debit to pay back the minimum payments and more when I can.

would this be advisable?

Thanks for your advice in advance