Moving Balance transfers to Card with Purchases

judyspur

Hi All, I have my highest credit limit on a card where I also have purchases. I have a 0% rate for 20months on balance transfers and money transfers on the card,  so plan to borrow a substantial amount of my credit limit on the card, to release funds to my current account. 
If I pay off each of the months statements completely in full until I reach a point where in the current month the only items are balance transfers or money transfers and the fees for those, would I then be OK to do a significant money transfer to my bank account (without braking the golden rule) as I will,  I assume, have no purchases left on this card?

I hope you follow that. I am looking for confirmation that I am not letting myself in for trouble. 

(You may need to know that the previous month's statement that I am about to pay in full has both purchases and balance transfers on it and the present month has only balance and money transfers on it - some of which I will use to pay the previous month's statement by routing it through my bank account).

kaMelo

It all sounds very confusing and potentially lead to an expensive mistake, you would do far better to separate balance transfers and purchases on different cards.
Also borrowing money on a credit card to pay last months credit card balance is a very expensive way of doing things. Get ahead of the curve, separate the balance transfers to a 0% card and only spend what you can afford to pay off without borrowing it.

judyspur

kaMelo said:

It all sounds very confusing and potentially lead to an expensive mistake, you would do far better to separate balance transfers and purchases on different cards.
Also borrowing money on a credit card to pay last months credit card balance is a very expensive way of doing things. Get ahead of the curve, separate the balance transfers to a 0% card and only spend what you can afford to pay off without borrowing it.

Thank you for your response. I knew i didn't explain very clearly.

The plan is to get to the point where there are no purchases on this particular card at all, because this is the card that offers me the highest credit limit and a 0% deal on money transfers.  (I have another card for purchases with 0% for 20months).

I suppose I am just checking that paying off each of the previous 2 months in full will bring me to the point where I have no purchases on the card and so can use it safely to borrow on.

And yes, it will cost me to do things this way. There is enough money coming in to pay back what I will owe over time and I will park any extra money in a savings account (moving it gradually to a monthly saver) to help pay towards the borrowing.

This is a way of having access to the majority of my credit as cash in order to have it available at the 0% rate before that closes at the end of this month. The cost will be the fee that the card charges. (at present 5%).But yes, I do need to look at whether I actually need as much as my credit limit on this card is offering me. I may be able to manage with less. 

kaMelo

judyspur said:

kaMelo said:

It all sounds very confusing and potentially lead to an expensive mistake, you would do far better to separate balance transfers and purchases on different cards.
Also borrowing money on a credit card to pay last months credit card balance is a very expensive way of doing things. Get ahead of the curve, separate the balance transfers to a 0% card and only spend what you can afford to pay off without borrowing it.

Thank you for your response. I knew i didn't explain very clearly.

The plan is to get to the point where there are no purchases on this particular card at all, because this is the card that offers me the highest credit limit and a 0% deal on money transfers.  (I have another card for purchases with 0% for 20months).

I suppose I am just checking that paying off each of the previous 2 months in full will bring me to the point where I have no purchases on the card and so can use it safely to borrow on.

And yes, it will cost me to do things this way. There is enough money coming in to pay back what I will owe over time and I will park any extra money in a savings account (moving it gradually to a monthly saver) to help pay towards the borrowing.

This is a way of having access to the majority of my credit as cash in order to have it available at the 0% rate before that closes at the end of this month. The cost will be the fee that the card charges. (at present 5%).But yes, I do need to look at whether I actually need as much as my credit limit on this card is offering me. I may be able to manage with less. 

I understand having money available is nice to have but I don't understand why you are borrowing money in taking out money transfers to simply "have it available" The money transfers are not free, there is a 5% fee which is a very expensive way of having cash available, no savings account comes close to 5%, the best being around a tenth of that.

If something crops up and you need cash then that's different and you have to do what you have to do, but from what you've written you don't have to, it's by choice.  Stop borrowing money, use what you save in interest to pay the balances down faster and, as I said, get ahead of the curve.  Borrowing money on a credit card should always be a last resort because it's eye wateringly expensive. 

Important to note that your credit card has a credit limit not a target. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it..

judyspur

I appreciate you trying to warn me off borrowing money. Unfortunately I know that I will need a significant amount of cash for family reasons over the next two months, which will not be covered fast enough by my available income - though it will be covered over time.

My 0% money transfer only lasts for a few more days. To use my credit card to put money into my current account is the only way forward that I can see as I am unlikely to be eligable for a loan. And to take that money from my credit card while that offer is there would seem to be sensible as otherwise I am likely to find my current account empty and me having to pay more to do a money transfer than I have to while the offer is on. 

But I will try to do a realist calculation as to exactly how much I am likely to need, before I go ahead. 
Thank you for your help.