Who's next?

WiseInvestor_2

As a relatively new stoozer, I fear I may've spread my debts a little too wide too early on, possibly limiting my options of where to apply next.

I currently have the following cards/limits:

MBNA Gold (£17,200)
Mint Gold (£8,000)
Halifax One (£4,500)
Capital One (£4,000)

I've held the MBNA for about 8 years (hence the limit) - the 0% period is long gone and it's used for daily purchases and paid off in full each month.
The last 3 are still on 0% until September with a total debt of £13,000

MBNA have 'offered' to consolidate my debts at 1% which sounds reasonable but I'd rather stooze further if any bank will have me. I've also considered paying off the lot and laying low for a while but I'd rather keep the cash in the Premium Bonds.

I've found having 4 cards/limits/payment dates a bit of a handful and would much prefer it all in one place, but am I being unrealistic at this stage?

Any/all advice greatly received

Clariman

If you find that 4 cards is hard to manage, then that will limit the amount of money you can get stoozed quite dramatically. I tend to have about 4 or 5 stooz cards on the go in addition to 2 cashback cards that I use for purchases.

Having said that, you should be in with a reasonable chance of getting your 13K onto one or two cards.

Before I go on, can I double check that you are stoozing rather than rate-tarting. If you have no real debts and are saving the 'free' loans then you are stoozing. If you are juggling your debts around to make them cheaper then you are rate-tarting.

Assuming you are stoozing, my number no 1 recommendation would be to close down the MBNA card right away. What is the point of having a £17,200 credit limit on a card that you only use for monthly purchases ? That is a waste of a good credit limit. I would recommend closing it down and seeing if their customer loyalty will give you a 0% deal for 9 months as a reward for being such a loyal customer. If they say no, close the card, then wait for a month or two and then apply for a branded MBNA card. I'd currently suggest Virgin. My guess is that they will give you a limit of about £15K which you can stooz in a one-er straight into a bank account with no BT fee. You can then apply for other cards and use the Virgin card as a routing card to send further money into your stooz pot.

See Martin's Revenge and SBT articles above and the website below.

Good luck
Clariman