Quick way to create debt

granta

Having recently cleared all credit card debt, I've been offered a fee free 0% BT on an existing card.

I have very little spending coming up in the next month and looking for ideas to create £4000 worth of debt on my spending card that I can BT to the 0% deal card.
Was thinking of making a large purchase, transferring the debt but then getting a refund on the item getting the cash returned.

Would that work, or any other ideas gratefully received?

twadds123

So most retailers will only refund to the payment source,  i.e you cant usually buy on credit card and get the refund as cash. 

Theoretically you could make the purchase,  wait for it to appear,  do the balance transfer, wait for it to clear and then  do the return and then have a positive balance on the original credit card,  how each card supplier deals with that is different so can't be sure that would work.

eskbanker

granta said:

Having recently cleared all credit card debt, I've been offered a fee free 0% BT on an existing card.

I have very little spending coming up in the next month and looking for ideas to create £4000 worth of debt on my spending card that I can BT to the 0% deal card.
Was thinking of making a large purchase, transferring the debt but then getting a refund on the item getting the cash returned.

Would that work, or any other ideas gratefully received?

If there's any benefit in obtaining debt solely to transfer it for nothing, it's not obvious from your post - what are you actually hoping to achieve?

I'd suggest that if you've "recently cleared all credit card debt", now would be a good time to move on from running up more debts for the sake of it, however cheap they may be to service....

twadds123

eskbanker said:

granta said:

Having recently cleared all credit card debt, I've been offered a fee free 0% BT on an existing card.

I have very little spending coming up in the next month and looking for ideas to create £4000 worth of debt on my spending card that I can BT to the 0% deal card.
Was thinking of making a large purchase, transferring the debt but then getting a refund on the item getting the cash returned.

Would that work, or any other ideas gratefully received?

If there's any benefit in obtaining debt solely to transfer it for nothing, it's not obvious from your post - what are you actually hoping to achieve?

I'd suggest that if you've "recently cleared all credit card debt", now would be a good time to move on from running up more debts for the sake of it, however cheap they may be to service....

I think the intention would be to put the £4000 into savings and stooze it.

So assuming fee free purchase made for £4000 on card 1

fee free balance transfer to 0% deal for a number of months on card 2. Card 1 balance is now £0

return item and get refund to card 1, this goes into a negative balance which the card company might repay into a bank account. (not sure on the rules here)

put that returned money into high interest savings and back the difference.

You would have £4k sat on a credit card at 0%

and £4k in a savings account earning interest.

I think the OP was hoping they could get the purchase refund as cash but that just wont happen.

twadds123

i'm just not sure what credit card companies do if you get a refund onto a card that has £0 balance on it.

northwalesd

twadds123 said:

i'm just not sure what credit card companies do if you get a refund onto a card that has £0 balance on it.

In my experience, if you do not use it up quickly, they nag you to ask them for a transfer back to a current account.

twadds123

northwalesd said:

twadds123 said:

i'm just not sure what credit card companies do if you get a refund onto a card that has £0 balance on it.

In my experience, if you do not use it up quickly, they nag you to ask them for a transfer back to a current account.

so theoretically the OPs strategy works if they can get something they can return or cancel for a full refund

granta

Thanks for all the responses.

Yes, I do just want the cash to stooze into a high interest cash savings account. I only cleared the previous debt because I was not eligible for any further 0% deals. I always maintain a cash balance to service the debt if that's needed. It's all stoozing debt not actual 'debt'.

My purchase card is with Barclaycard. In instances where I have received a refund in the past that creates a positive balance, there is an online button where you can request a refund of the cash. So I don't see any problems with that if I do the transfer straightaway. I've just never artificially created a debt, in the past it has been via slow stoozing/spending.

twadds123

granta said:

Thanks for all the responses.

Yes, I do just want the cash to stooze into a high interest cash savings account. I only cleared the previous debt because I was not eligible for any further 0% deals. I always maintain a cash balance to service the debt if that's needed. It's all stoozing debt not actual 'debt'.

My purchase card is with Barclaycard. In instances where I have received a refund in the past that creates a positive balance, there is an online button where you can request a refund of the cash. So I don't see any problems with that if I do the transfer straightaway. I've just never artificially created a debt, in the past it has been via slow stoozing/spending.

I guess it's not a way that is promoted much.

The remaining question is what do you intend to buy for that value that you can easily cancel without jumping through hoops

granta

twadds123 said:

granta said:

Thanks for all the responses.

Yes, I do just want the cash to stooze into a high interest cash savings account. I only cleared the previous debt because I was not eligible for any further 0% deals. I always maintain a cash balance to service the debt if that's needed. It's all stoozing debt not actual 'debt'.

My purchase card is with Barclaycard. In instances where I have received a refund in the past that creates a positive balance, there is an online button where you can request a refund of the cash. So I don't see any problems with that if I do the transfer straightaway. I've just never artificially created a debt, in the past it has been via slow stoozing/spending.

I guess it's not a way that is promoted much.

The remaining question is what do you intend to buy for that value that you can easily cancel without jumping through hoops

Yes that needs a bit more thought!

Juno_Moneta

I’ve stoozed for years and have found a few crafty routes to ‘generate debt’ - basically paying for things in advance I would have to eventually pay anyway. 

So the first that most don’t think about is your council tax. Most authorities allow card payments ( not Amex usually ) so instead of a monthly direct debit just make an annual card payment. That’s a large amount (2k?) ready for stoozing. 

And linked to your home again - energy bills. My supplier EON is more than happy to let me credit my account to be used against future bills. So there you go send 1k into your energy account. 

Easy to build up a good amount to stooze if you use your imagination.