Maxed out?

[Anonymous]

Mike,

I have a few friends who are doing the balance transfer game to make money and could care less about their credit scores.  Most of them have bought cars and paid off their HELOC lines already.  They purchased and paid off their cars and HELOC  by using the 0% balance transfers in the beginning from all the top credit card companies!!  Now that their second mortgages and car loans are paid in full,  they are borrowing money at 0% to put in their  high-yield savings accounts. 

Well now back to your question regarding my Citibank cards.  I have 3 Citicards already.  The CitiDiamond I just got in March, 2007 and I quickly transferred some home remodeling to that card!  I have the CitiDividend Amex Rewards Card that I really like because I get a check in the mail  every time my points add up to $ $50.00 or more.   CitiSimplicity is my other card and I don't see it advertised anymore. 

I will be paying off two of my Citicards and sending some money to CitiDiamond to get rid of that astronomical balance!  I know it's 0% for the life of the balance but it's just too high for me!

SandyK

[MidnightVoice]

In the end a lot comes down to personal preference, age, family situation etc.  I want to carry as little debt as possible from this point onwards, and I am willing to give things up to be debt free.  Things happen  - like no matter how much you plan for the kids tuition, it all costs twice as much as you anticipated (eg, I was all ready, then over the 4 years of college local state tuition went up a total of 90%).  Apart from the mortgage, there are going to be times when I need loans, but I want them to be as infrequent as possible and paid off as fast as I can

[Anonymous]

You're certainly right, MidnightVoice, things  do happen and because they happen, it's important to keep some available credit somewhere and have good credit scores.  I have been almost debt free; down to $4K and received a 0% balance transfer from HSBC for $15K and was about to transfer that whole $4K to them  and then everything needed repairing around my house at once.  My home was built 20 years ago and everything decided to not work  20 years later!! (furnace, dishwasher, garage door, washer and dryer, etc.).    My two sons had to go to Iraq and their incomes immediately stopped coming into the household.  $15K barely covered all the things that were happening.  Even the car my jeep said "Bye". 

Things happen so we have to prepare for them and do our best.  We aren't bad people with debt.  Just people trying to live through some difficult times and do the best with what we earn or inherit.

SandyK

[Anonymous]

I maxed out, had everything under control. Then I needed credit for something unexpected. No one would touch me even with perfect credit. I still owe 30 something percent. I'd say if you are going to take those great 0% offers have extra credit cards to rise your over all credit lines so you don't look like you need every cent. When I get my balances down I plan on applying for many more since I often take advantage of these low apr's. Once you go over 30% Utl over all creditors shy away. But there is nothing wrong with what you all are doing. I've done it for years and has improved my way of life.

[Anonymous]

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ilovepizza wrote:
When I get my balances down I plan on applying for many more since I often take advantage of these low apr's.

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ilovepizza - Didn't you post on another thread that you already have 20 cards????

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I maxed out, had everything under control. Then I needed credit for something unexpected. No one would touch me even with perfect credit. I still owe 30 something percent.

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(Disclaimer: Please don't interpret this as picking on you, ilovepizza...I learned what follows at the School of Hard Knocks...)

These words should be read by everyone who plays the balance-transfer "free money" game and thinks "I have everything under control." That phrase, as you and I both discovered the hard way, is right up there with, "Why, they couldn't possibly even hit an elephant at this dist..."

Anytime you incur debt that you cannot immediately pay off, you are betting that nothing major will go wrong in the future. You're betting that your income will not fall, and your expenses will not rise. Murphy (we're talking Old Man Murphy of Murphy's Law fame) just loves suckers who place such bets. He loves to send a long-term illness, a plant closing, a burned-up car transmission, or some other misfortune rolling down the pike.

[MidnightVoice]

.......not to mention doubling of college fees when no one was looking......

[Anonymous]

Sankofa, how does that perpetual 0% on Citi Diamond work? Do have have to make purchases of any particular amount? Citi has this offer in a newspaper ad right now for this horrible "0% for life" on their Citi Amex Diamond. 3% fee, no cap, and it requires you to make $300 in purchases per MONTH. in order to extend the balance past 12/1/07. Now, you should be aware that they always apply payments to the 0% balance first, and none of it to ordinary balances. So say you made a $10,000 BT at 0%. OK, you make $300 in required purchases, you now have a balance of $10,300. Now, you send in a payment of let's say $300, and your balance is now $10,000 again, but you have now $9700 at 0% and $300 at 15.74%, which is what the interest rate is. Next month, make another $300 in purchases, another $300 payment, balance is now $9400 at 0% and $600 at 15.74%. And on and on, with your interest bearing balance getting bigger and bigger, and you paying more and more interest, and none of the interest bearing balance being reduced until you have paid off the entire BT. Basically all 0% BT cards work like that, so the rule is NEVER make significant purchases while you are working a BT, unless the card is also 0% on purchases. A card like this thing I'm talking about is bad news for BT. (They give you a $100 bonus and 2 points per dollar, though, so it's a good card to use, just bad for BT). If the CitiDiamond you have is like that, you are well advised to pay it off before the 0% expires, because that $300 purchase requirement makes it an illusory deal. Once you get all these Citi things paid off, you know, that will free up a lot more credit, which will sit on your report and lower your utilization. That will increase your eligibility for the next 0% offers that come along.

[Anonymous]

Mike,

Heck NO I don't have that offer!! $300??  NO WAY.    My purchases came to $12.23 last month and that was high considering what some of my friends bought.  You can buy a candy bar and a bag of chips.  It has to be two separate purchases and no set amount.  Some on Fats Wallet are doing the .01 through PayPal on  If you want to see the offer I took, look at this:  http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?start=140&catid=52&threadid=662414

I took the F1K7 one.  My 0% bt has been extended to 12/07 too.  So I can still bt at 0% until then.  Only requirement is I have to continue making the two purchases until bt is paid in full. 

[Anonymous]

Mike,

I should have warned you that it's a long post.  Twenty-eight/nine pages.  This offer got a lot of publicity!! 

SandyK