has being a card tart been a good idea

gfplux

This might sound like heresy in the church of Martin but please forgive me.
During the last few years there has been an extraordinary amount of energy used in jumping from one card to another in the name of 0%.
The focus has been always on getting the best rate and "winning" some sort of game against the card Company's.
Can I ask if this has added to some people's problems rather than solved them.
While all this focus on 0% interest have we forgotten the basic idea and that is to use credit to get a better life. Meaning get credit, buy something nice, THEN pay of the debt!!!
Call me old fashioned but that is what I was brought up to believe about credit.

nearlyrich

Well I played the game and I think I won, before there were 2% BT fees I borrowed as much as £34k at one time and had it in high interest accounts for 6 to 9 months. Some people use the 0% to shuffle debts and pay no interest for a while which helps them to pay off the debt a bit quicker.
I don't use credit to get a better life I use credit only to gain from cashback and rebates and to keep my money in my bank for a little longer than if I paid in cash.

loveandlight

I know someone on here who is a real pro at stoozing and he paid off his mortgage by doing it! Can't remember his name though.

CravingSaving

I see where you are coming from. For me, I got into CC debt due to unforseen circumstances, and being made a single Mum unexpectedly, I would have been stuffed without the help I have received from this site and info about balance transfers etc. It DOES take up a lot of energy. Money matters always will I fear, but the feeling of finally being in control of my finances is priceless. I do not necessarily agree with the idea of "lets stuff all the banking authorities and get our own back". I prefer to try to earn a little more and spend a lot less and be more money savvy.

loveandlight

Posted by CravingSaving
I see where you are coming from. For me, I got into CC debt due to unforseen circumstances, and being made a single Mum unexpectedly, I would have been stuffed without the help I have received from this site and info about balance transfers etc. It DOES take up a lot of energy. Money matters always will I fear, but the feeling of finally being in control of my finances is priceless. I do not necessarily agree with the idea of "lets stuff all the banking authorities and get our own back". I prefer to try to earn a little more and spend a lot less and be more money savvy.

Sorry to read about your situation and I agree with the rest of what you say. Thank god for credit cards I always say. Provided they are used in a positive way and used with caution, there's no reason why they shouldn't be used. I got made redundant once and they saved me. They also paid for me to pursue my professional studies and for books etc which I would never have been able to do otherwise.

CannyJock

Hopefully with the help of this site, people with genuine debt will realise that they're not trapped with high interest rates and making minimum payments.

Those of us without debt can have a chuckle to ourselves as we make money from the financial institutions by playing them at their own game, and helping others do the same

It's always better to be able to purchase things without debt, but that's not the reality for a lot of people. By applying a bit of old fashioned money saving and thrift together with a bit of modern day online juggling and taking advantage of cashback marketing, everyone can do something to improve their financial situation.

As for the improving your quality of life bit, from the juggling that I do, I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that with a bit of effort and bit of thought you can save/make serious £'s.

nearlyrich

loveandlight wrote: »

I know someone on here who is a real pro at stoozing and he paid off his mortgage by doing it! Can't remember his name though.

It was Martinslovechild;)

There are others too who have made a lot from Stoozing, it's true it takes a lot of energy to track it all but a good way of getting some extra interest.

Jenna

Hi there,

For me moving debts to 0% has helped me quite a lot - even if it's only £10 a month you save (not saying that is my situation but just as an example), that's still an extra £120 a year towards paying back the debt.

It does take up a little time and energy (a few hours research to apply for a new card deal) but it would take me a couple of days to earn £120, so for me the maths makes sense.

That said - I don't move them to 0% in order to "get my revenge" on the banks. I do it to save a little money, in much the same way as I make a packed lunch to take to work instead of buying lunches when I'm there. It just makes good financial sense.

Personally I was brought up to believe that debt is bad, and we should save up for the things we want. As you can see I've not followed that rule absolutely in my own life (though a large amount of my debt was caused when I had to leave a job because they were causing me to be so stressed I became ill) ... I was on SSP for about a month and couldn't afford to pay my bills, so I took out a CC ... but I am working towards paying this off now.

You say that you believe you should use the credit first and then pay it off ... which is fair enough ... but it would be easier to pay off at 0% than 20%. I don't think it's about "getting revenge", just getting a good/fair deal.

Just my tuppence worth

gfplux

nearlyrich wrote: »

It was Martinslovechild;)

There are others too who have made a lot from Stoozing, it's true it takes a lot of energy to track it all but a good way of getting some extra interest.

I do not understand. How can you "make a lot of from Stoozing" How much do you mean. have you done the maths!
1) If you use a credit card and pay it off each month you have free credit
2) If you use a credit card with 0% interest and pay it off at the end of the 0% period you have free credit.
3) If you use a credit card which charges interest after one month you pay for credit.

How do you make money except if you do not NEED credit you put the money in the bank to earn interest and then use that cash to pay of the FREE credit and pocket the interest.
my original question was
"Has this added to some people's problems rather than solved them."
What I am getting at, many people need credit have some of those people got into trouble because all this juggling does take time and sustained concentration. If you take your eye off the ball and drop it you can get hurt!

benf90

gfplux wrote: »

I do not understand. How can you "make a lot of from Stoozing" How much do you mean. have you done the maths!
1) If you use a credit card and pay it off each month you have free credit
2) If you use a credit card with 0% interest and pay it off at the end of the 0% period you have free credit.
3) If you use a credit card which charges interest after one month you pay for credit.

How do you make money except if you do not NEED credit you put the money in the bank to earn interest and then use that cash to pay of the FREE credit and pocket the interest.
my original question was
"Has this added to some people's problems rather than solved them."
What I am getting at, many people need credit have some of those people got into trouble because all this juggling does take time and sustained concentration. If you take your eye off the ball and drop it you can get hurt!

Forgive me if I'm wrong but it comes across that you're not aware of what 'stoozing' is. The amount of money someone can make from 'stoozing' depends on each person.

Your question relates to 'card tarts', there's 2 types.

1. Those who move debts across by balance transfers in order to save on interest.
2. Those who pretend to have debts, borrow money at 0% from a credit card and earn interest on that money by putting it into a savings account - this is stoozing.

For a more in depth explanation see here:

http://www.stoozing.com/g_stooz.htm

In both instances balance transfers can be a good thing, except...

1. When people in debt carry on spending rather than clearing the debt
2. When stoozers forget to pay off the credit card balance on time before the 0% ends

Overall, most people have probably benefited from balance transfers. As with anything in life though, there's always going to be exceptions to the rule.

gfplux

Sorry benf90, you are correct I have confused using 0% balance transfers thinking the name for this was stoozing. I got lost in the jargon.

My comments about the 0% transfer game still apply. My point was I wondered whether the "game" had got in the way of seeing the original benefits of using C/C and had led people into more debt while their C/C debt was parked at 0%.
I would welcome comments on this specific point.