Stoozing - next steps

alexhume1986

Have been stoozing for a while now, but would value any opinions or suggestions on my next steps. 

Ideally I’d like another 0% purchase card sometime between now and April/June 24, and/or a 0% balance transfer card around June/July 24, but need to improve credit rating first. 

In terms of credit rating I had 4 x credit card searches/applications at beginning of July 23 (all approved) - which has left my credit rating very low (600 approx now, was 900 previously), and therefore currently no 0% offers are available to me. 

Domestic mortgage is due for renewal in October 2024.

£44,016 total stooze pot - no other debt, car loans (other than mortgages).

Credit used is 46% of overall credit available across 9 cards (2 cards are used for general day to day purchases and paid off in full each month, 6 are for stoozing, and 1 is an ex-stooze card paid off when promo period ended, and used as a mule for a while when it had fee-free money transfer offer)

Breakdown of credit utilisation by stooze card:

Card 1 (Balance Transfer): 73% credit utilised- Promo ends June 24 

Card 2 (Balance Transfer): 91% credit utilised - Promo ends July 24

Card 3 (Purchases) 36% credit utilised - Promo ends November 24 Purchases

Card 4 (Balance Transfer) 85% credit utilised - Promo ends November 24

Card 5 (Balance Transfer) 91% credit utilised - Promo ends Feb 25 

Card 6 (Balance Transfer) 92% credit utilised - Promo ends Feb 25

Options I’m considering:

A - do nothing, accept that I’ve had a good run of stoozing, and pay each card off in full as each promo period ends….leave it a year or so and then start again. 

B - reduce overall credit utilisation (currently 46%) to improve credit rating by paying off one card in full (probably the card that ends in June 24). 

C - Overpay monthly payments from now on the card where promo period ends soonest (June 24) to try and reduce overall credit utilisation and help credit rating improve. 

D - Overpay now on all cards with highest credit utilisation (4 cards: 91%, 85%, 91%, 92%), even though some of these have promo periods into 2025, to improve overall credit rating.

E - Overpay on cards that have high credit utilisation AND have promo periods expiring in 2024 (2 cards: 91%, 85%) to improve overall credit rating. 

F - Wait a month or two to see if credit rating improves (when bulk of applications in July 23 dropping off credit file), then consider overpaying on some cards to improve credit utilisation.

What to do with ex-stooze/mule card:

G - Close ex-stooze/mule card account to reduce overall credit available to me, and enable me to be a “new customer” if there are offers in future by that bank. 

H - Hold onto ex-stooze/mule card even though unused…..incase any “mule” offers come up again, maintain a longer relationship with this bank and to maintain a higher level of credit available to me (making my overall utilisation look lower). 

Existing card credit limits:

I - Apply for increased credit limit on existing cards but not use this credit, to help improve credit utilisation percentage. 

J - Wait a few months and then apply for increased credit limit on existing cards but not use this credit, to help improve credit utilisation percentage.  

Or a combination of the above!

Brie

I think the problem is the overall amount of credit available rather than simply the credit you are using.  The more cards you can close the less of a worry you will be to future creditors and the more offers you might receive.

So I'd suggest closing the ex stooze card AND pay off and close one of the cards that has a deal ending mid year.  Do so with a couple of months to spare and then you might get a 0% deal pop up again on one of the cards you continue to have.  Get through to Nov and the mortgage renew and then a couple of months after that (so 2025) have another look at the situation.  Don't add any of the stooze debt to the mortgage - just thought I'd mention that though you probably know it's not a good move already.

NorwichMan

Are you confident in getting a good remortgage deal if you have over £40k in CC debt at the time of application? Maybe I'm over-cautious, but I would be wanting to exit stoozing completely by at least 6 months before a remortgage application. I just wouldn't want to risk anything messing that up.

alexhume1986

Brie said:

I think the problem is the overall amount of credit available rather than simply the credit you are using.  The more cards you can close the less of a worry you will be to future creditors and the more offers you might receive.

So I'd suggest closing the ex stooze card AND pay off and close one of the cards that has a deal ending mid year.  Do so with a couple of months to spare and then you might get a 0% deal pop up again on one of the cards you continue to have.  Get through to Nov and the mortgage renew and then a couple of months after that (so 2025) have another look at the situation.  Don't add any of the stooze debt to the mortgage - just thought I'd mention that though you probably know it's not a good move already.

Fair point - I’d not looked at it that way…..I’d been focussed on percentage utilised…..easy to fix that as I can close the ex-stooze/mule card and one of my day to day spending cards. 

Yes deffo wouldn’t be adding anything to the mortgage!! - all the money is in savings easy access so could pay everything off tomorrow if needed. 

thanks for sharing your views - much appreciated. 

alexhume1986

NorwichMan said:

Are you confident in getting a good remortgage deal if you have over £40k in CC debt at the time of application? Maybe I'm over-cautious, but I would be wanting to exit stoozing completely by at least 6 months before a remortgage application. I just wouldn't want to risk anything messing that up.

Good point to consider…..I remortgaged my two BTLs last year at beginning of August and end of September - one of them just asked to see proof that I had funds available to clear the balances of the cards (I had about £30k balances at the time) - which I was able to do with my savings accounts statements. It didn’t affect any mortgage offers available to me. 

However not been in that position with a domestic remortgage though, so definitely worth reviewing, as not worth the risk. The promo period ends on 3 cards (£20k worth) over the summer so makes sense to pay off before then anyway and re-group once a re-mortgage has been approved.

Kendall80

Last time I stoozed I got to a similar balance as you (OP). Made the decision to pay them all off - cant remember why, was probably remortgaging. Back upto 20k on this stoozing cycle and also looking at next steps. I have a very good credit rating so new cards aren't difficult to source just yet. My balance is currently stashed in premium bonds. Annualised return is currently just shy of 4% and always have that chance of the big one. However, i'm considering the move to short fixed-term savings accounts.

retro1981

Hi just wondering what you have ended up doing since this post?

alexhume1986

retro1981 said:

Hi just wondering what you have ended up doing since this post?

So I closed the mule card, and then just carried on paying off as normal. Credit rating started to improve gradually, and I did get a pre-approval on a balance transfer a month ago, but it was only 0% for one year so didn’t bother pursuing it further as my current cards don’t expire until June/July. 

The card I use for just general purchases which we pay off each month…..when we put a large holiday on it….I noticed the credit rating dropped slightly, and then when paid off the next month it increased so guessing it was overall credit being used that has affected it most. 

I’ve now paid card 1 down to 50% and working on card 2 so will see if that impacts the rating as well.