@NRB525 wrote:The CFF has offered 5% on groceries for a year, up to $12,000 spend, which is the bonus I am on through November. The card has a nice reward structure so I was going to get one anyway, but waiting for that grocery bonus is something I'd recommend.
I don't use the UR points for cash back, because they have a lot more value in transfers for travel.
How much are you trying to manage in home improvement balances, for the balance transfer bingo? Have you looked into a HELOC to fund those balances?
Thanks for your input on the Chase cards. As for a HELOC....*NEVER*!! 
But seriously, I have sworn that I will never have any kind of lien on this house, and I intend to stick to that. I realize--better than most people--that life can change on a moment's notice, so I know something could happen that forces a change of mind, but right now I don't want a lien on the house. Besides, the totals aren't really that bad when I actually map it out. That's because I paid cash for the overwhelming majority of the work done. I don't know why, but for some reason all of the projects I had done--minus the hardwood refinishing--didn't accept credit cards! My checkbook got quite a workout. (And I found that I'm down to my last book of checks! I haven't reordered in years.) But really everything from the new sprinkler system to remodeling my bathroom had to be paid in cash, so I only ended up with about $28,000 on CCs (for furniture, supplies, paint, tile, sinks and toilets, etc.). That's spread out over three cards. I have balances on 4 or 5 other cards right now, too, but they total less than $10,000 and won't be part of my BT game.
If nothing great turns up in BT land before my 0% periods end, I may just go ahead and pay off the cards. I had wanted to avoid doing that because the last several years have seen my savings drop DRAMATICALLY--the bills for six months in the hospital will do that to you! Now, after also paying cash for most of my home renovation projects, I'd like to hold on to whatever I can, but will use it if need be. I'd do that before taking out any kind of home equity loan. I think....
@SoCalGardener wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:The CFF has offered 5% on groceries for a year, up to $12,000 spend, which is the bonus I am on through November. The card has a nice reward structure so I was going to get one anyway, but waiting for that grocery bonus is something I'd recommend.
I don't use the UR points for cash back, because they have a lot more value in transfers for travel.
How much are you trying to manage in home improvement balances, for the balance transfer bingo? Have you looked into a HELOC to fund those balances?
Thanks for your input on the Chase cards. As for a HELOC....*NEVER*!!
But seriously, I have sworn that I will never have any kind of lien on this house, and I intend to stick to that. I realize--better than most people--that life can change on a moment's notice, so I know something could happen that forces a change of mind, but right now I don't want a lien on the house. Besides, the totals aren't really that bad when I actually map it out. That's because I paid cash for the overwhelming majority of the work done. I don't know why, but for some reason all of the projects I had done--minus the hardwood refinishing--didn't accept credit cards! My checkbook got quite a workout. (And I found that I'm down to my last book of checks! I haven't reordered in years.) But really everything from the new sprinkler system to remodeling my bathroom had to be paid in cash, so I only ended up with about $28,000 on CCs (for furniture, supplies, paint, tile, sinks and toilets, etc.). That's spread out over three cards. I have balances on 4 or 5 other cards right now, too, but they total less than $10,000 and won't be part of my BT game.
If nothing great turns up in BT land before my 0% periods end, I may just go ahead and pay off the cards. I had wanted to avoid doing that because the last several years have seen my savings drop DRAMATICALLY--the bills for six months in the hospital will do that to you! Now, after also paying cash for most of my home renovation projects, I'd like to hold on to whatever I can, but will use it if need be. I'd do that before taking out any kind of home equity loan. I think....
Yes and no on that one. It depends on the equity in your home. If you have huge equity, like north of 60% (like we do) and you are paying 10+% in interest on your credit card balances a HELOC makes sense as long as you don't run up the credit cards again after you pay them off with the HELOC. Why risk your house for unsecured debt? Because if you have that much equity and you would get into financial trouble you couldn't save your house with a BK anyway. They would make you sell it. But if you are sitting below 20% equity never ever transfer unsecured debt into a HELOC, NEVER!!!
@Crowhelm wrote:
@SoCalGardener wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:The CFF has offered 5% on groceries for a year, up to $12,000 spend, which is the bonus I am on through November. The card has a nice reward structure so I was going to get one anyway, but waiting for that grocery bonus is something I'd recommend.
I don't use the UR points for cash back, because they have a lot more value in transfers for travel.
How much are you trying to manage in home improvement balances, for the balance transfer bingo? Have you looked into a HELOC to fund those balances?
Thanks for your input on the Chase cards. As for a HELOC....*NEVER*!!
But seriously, I have sworn that I will never have any kind of lien on this house, and I intend to stick to that. I realize--better than most people--that life can change on a moment's notice, so I know something could happen that forces a change of mind, but right now I don't want a lien on the house. Besides, the totals aren't really that bad when I actually map it out. That's because I paid cash for the overwhelming majority of the work done. I don't know why, but for some reason all of the projects I had done--minus the hardwood refinishing--didn't accept credit cards! My checkbook got quite a workout. (And I found that I'm down to my last book of checks! I haven't reordered in years.) But really everything from the new sprinkler system to remodeling my bathroom had to be paid in cash, so I only ended up with about $28,000 on CCs (for furniture, supplies, paint, tile, sinks and toilets, etc.). That's spread out over three cards. I have balances on 4 or 5 other cards right now, too, but they total less than $10,000 and won't be part of my BT game.
If nothing great turns up in BT land before my 0% periods end, I may just go ahead and pay off the cards. I had wanted to avoid doing that because the last several years have seen my savings drop DRAMATICALLY--the bills for six months in the hospital will do that to you! Now, after also paying cash for most of my home renovation projects, I'd like to hold on to whatever I can, but will use it if need be. I'd do that before taking out any kind of home equity loan. I think....
Yes and no on that one. It depends on the equity in your home. If you have huge equity, like north of 60% (like we do) and you are paying 10+% in interest on your credit card balances a HELOC makes sense as long as you don't run up the credit cards again after you pay them off with the HELOC. Why risk your house for unsecured debt? Because if you have that much equity and you would get into financial trouble you couldn't save your house with a BK anyway. They would make you sell it. But if you are sitting below 20% equity never ever transfer unsecured debt into a HELOC, NEVER!!!
Luckily, my house can never be at risk of losing it. I have 100% equity (I own it outright) and it's worth $1.8M. I continually get unsolicited offers for home equity loans and HELOCs where they show my estimated home value, my mortgage amount ($0), and the amount I could borrow ($1M+). I shred them. (I remember posting a while back because one of them put that information on the OUTSIDE of the envelope, which really irked me. They've since stopped doing that. Must've gotten a lot of complaints.) Anyway, I will never do anything that puts this house at risk.
The three cards that total about $28,000 are all on 0% terms right now. But they'll all end at some point. The only one I can think of offhand is my BofA Customized Cash, which will end in February of next year. I really lucked out when I was doing this whole remodeling thing! I just happened to get offers at the right time that really helped, like the 0% on purchases for a year from BofA, and the 3% CB for home improvement also from BofA. The other two cards are Citi Double Cash and Discover; they had similar offers,, so right now I'm not paying any interest--but will eventually.
I've been watching BT offers like a hawk, hoping against hope to see a zero/zero offer (0% APR *and* $0 fee), but that hasn't happened--yet. All of mine are 0%, but none has a $0 fee--they all vary from 3-5%. Still, though, with 0% interest for long enough, that may be a good choice. I'm at a point where I'd like to leave my money untouched as much as possible. When I started renovating, I had no idea how many things I would end up changing--and it cost a lot of money. Paying a small BT fee might make sense, and not be painful, compared to depleting my savings even more.
HELOCS aren't that bad. You can find some with rates of Prime minus 0.XX% or even Prime minus 1.01% with Third Federal. Trump changed the tax code so that you can't get a tax deduction for interest paid on just any purchase anymore. But I think you can still get a deduction from interest paid on home improvements (save your receipts). So, if your HELOC rate is 2.99% and you are in the 25% tax bracket, your effective HELOC interest is 2.24%. Not bad if used responsibly. We had a HELOC just to have it, just in case. We never used it and then when we refi'd, they made us close it and I just haven't bothered opening a new line. But, whatever you choose, don't pay interest on those credit card balances!
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@SoCalGardener wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:The CFF has offered 5% on groceries for a year, up to $12,000 spend, which is the bonus I am on through November. The card has a nice reward structure so I was going to get one anyway, but waiting for that grocery bonus is something I'd recommend.
I don't use the UR points for cash back, because they have a lot more value in transfers for travel.
How much are you trying to manage in home improvement balances, for the balance transfer bingo? Have you looked into a HELOC to fund those balances?
Thanks for your input on the Chase cards. As for a HELOC....*NEVER*!!
But seriously, I have sworn that I will never have any kind of lien on this house, and I intend to stick to that. I realize--better than most people--that life can change on a moment's notice, so I know something could happen that forces a change of mind, but right now I don't want a lien on the house. Besides, the totals aren't really that bad when I actually map it out. That's because I paid cash for the overwhelming majority of the work done. I don't know why, but for some reason all of the projects I had done--minus the hardwood refinishing--didn't accept credit cards! My checkbook got quite a workout. (And I found that I'm down to my last book of checks! I haven't reordered in years.) But really everything from the new sprinkler system to remodeling my bathroom had to be paid in cash, so I only ended up with about $28,000 on CCs (for furniture, supplies, paint, tile, sinks and toilets, etc.). That's spread out over three cards. I have balances on 4 or 5 other cards right now, too, but they total less than $10,000 and won't be part of my BT game.
If nothing great turns up in BT land before my 0% periods end, I may just go ahead and pay off the cards. I had wanted to avoid doing that because the last several years have seen my savings drop DRAMATICALLY--the bills for six months in the hospital will do that to you! Now, after also paying cash for most of my home renovation projects, I'd like to hold on to whatever I can, but will use it if need be. I'd do that before taking out any kind of home equity loan. I think....
You're very wise not to put a lien on your home.
@ptatohed wrote:HELOCS aren't that bad. You can find some with rates of Prime minus 0.XX% or even Prime minus 1.01% with Third Federal. Trump changed the tax code so that you can't get a tax deduction for interest paid on just any purchase anymore. But I think you can still get a deduction from interest paid on home improvements (save your receipts). So, if your HELOC rate is 2.99% and you are in the 25% tax bracket, your effective HELOC interest is 2.24%. Not bad if used responsibly. We had a HELOC just to have it, just in case. We never used it and then when we refi'd, they made us close it and I just haven't bothered opening a new line. But, whatever you choose, don't pay interest on those credit card balances!
Yeah, I despise paying interest! But it may come down to that for a few months, depending on what comes along in terms of BT offers between now and when the 0% periods end. As noted, I'd prefer not to dip any further into savings to pay these off, but will if I really start getting uncomfortable about the debt. Other than when I had a mortgage, this is the deepest in debt I've ever been! And it's kind of scary.
It's interesting what you said about having a HELOC yet never actually using it. I never thought of it that way at all. So, in your opinion, they're a good thing. As for tax rates, I'm in the "I don't file taxes any more" category! My main source of income is SS, which is nontaxable, and my other income is from interest--but it doesn't bring me CLOSE to the threshold of having to pay income tax, or even file. I haven't filed income taxes since I stopped working due to illness. I used to file the long form and claim all sorts of deductions, like medical expenses and mortgage interest and whatever. Not now.
I know that I DON'T know very much about HELOCs. The very idea of having a lien on this house scares the we-can't-say-it-here out of me, you know? My daughter will inherit this house when I die, and my will and trust stipulate various things she can/can't do with it. One of them is not having any kind of lien on it. I asked her once, hypothetically, "say that when I died I had no money left but had some debt, how much could you comfortably pay?" and she said $50,000. In other words, I die with no money in the bank at all, but debt on credit cards and/or HELOC(?). She'd easily be able to pay $50,000 so there wouldn't be the need to sell or finance the house to cover my debts. I hope not to die penniless, but who knows?!
Well, you are leaving her a $2M house so I think she can manage $50k debt, lol. But, yeah, no debt is better. Sounds like you are a great dad. Good job. I guess technically a HELOC is a lien. But I don't really think of it that way. It's no more a lien than a mortgage is. I think of it more as a loan. It's usually considered a second mortgage (because when people open a HELOC they typically still have a balance on their first mortgage. In your case you would have no mortgage and a HELOC). If you took out, say, $50,000 on a HELOC, it would be essentially no different than if you never opened a HELOC and you still owed $50,000 on your first mortgage. So, yeah, it's a lien because the debt is secured by your property but when I hear the word lien I think more of the kind that someone files in court against your property because they won a judgement against you, lol. Anyway, not trying to talk you into it in any way. I just wanted to throw out there that for some a HELOC can be a good, low interest, no fee, low payment way to put their equity to work when it would otherwise be doing nothing.
@ptatohed wrote:Well, you are leaving her a $2M house so I think she can manage $50k debt, lol. But, yeah, no debt is better. Sounds like you are a great dad. Good job. I guess technically a HELOC is a lien. But I don't really think of it that way. It's no more a lien than a mortgage is. I think of it more as a loan. It's usually considered a second mortgage (because when people open a HELOC they typically still have a balance on their first mortgage. In your case you would have no mortgage and a HELOC). If you took out, say, $50,000 on a HELOC, it would be essentially no different than if you never opened a HELOC and you still owed $50,000 on your first mortgage. So, yeah, it's a lien because the debt is secured by your property but when I hear the word lien I think more of the kind that someone files in court against your property because they won a judgement against you, lol. Anyway, not trying to talk you into it in any way. I just wanted to throw out there that for some a HELOC can be a good, low interest, no fee, low payment way to put their equity to work when it would otherwise be doing nothing.
I really appreciate your input on this. I've been through hell financially (and physically), and because of that I'm SCARED of doing anything that could jeopardize my security. Having a lien on the house sounds too scary for me. But you're definitely giving me some good food for thought. Say that I took out a $50,000 HELOC, paid off all of my debt, had some money left over, and paid it back in 36 months or 48 months, would it really be that bad?
As for my daughter and the debt she might have to pay for me, you're absolutely right! And I've reasoned it out with her exactly that way, i.e., "you're inheriting a TWO MILLION DOLLAR house! What's a few thousand dollars compared to that?!" Still, though, I wouldn't want to saddle her with any debt. I've bailed her out financially many times (when she was a lot younger and not as wise as she is now), but never want her to have to do the same for me. By the way, I'm a mom, not dad. 
@SoCalGardener wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:Well, you are leaving her a $2M house so I think she can manage $50k debt, lol. But, yeah, no debt is better. Sounds like you are a great dad. Good job. I guess technically a HELOC is a lien. But I don't really think of it that way. It's no more a lien than a mortgage is. I think of it more as a loan. It's usually considered a second mortgage (because when people open a HELOC they typically still have a balance on their first mortgage. In your case you would have no mortgage and a HELOC). If you took out, say, $50,000 on a HELOC, it would be essentially no different than if you never opened a HELOC and you still owed $50,000 on your first mortgage. So, yeah, it's a lien because the debt is secured by your property but when I hear the word lien I think more of the kind that someone files in court against your property because they won a judgement against you, lol. Anyway, not trying to talk you into it in any way. I just wanted to throw out there that for some a HELOC can be a good, low interest, no fee, low payment way to put their equity to work when it would otherwise be doing nothing.
I really appreciate your input on this. I've been through hell financially (and physically), and because of that I'm SCARED of doing anything that could jeopardize my security. Having a lien on the house sounds too scary for me. But you're definitely giving me some good food for thought. Say that I took out a $50,000 HELOC, paid off all of my debt, had some money left over, and paid it back in 36 months or 48 months, would it really be that bad?
As for my daughter and the debt she might have to pay for me, you're absolutely right! And I've reasoned it out with her exactly that way, i.e., "you're inheriting a TWO MILLION DOLLAR house! What's a few thousand dollars compared to that?!" Still, though, I wouldn't want to saddle her with any debt. I've bailed her out financially many times (when she was a lot younger and not as wise as she is now), but never want her to have to do the same for me. By the way, I'm a mom, not dad.
Ahh! Soooo sorry Mom, I very much appologize. I'll stop blabbing about HELOCs. So, last thing.... I understand your concern. This is the worse case, so if the worse case is "too worse", then a HELOC is not for you. You take out, let's say $100,000, on a HELOC, spend it, then later you come into very high medical or other bills, your income is reduced for whatever reason, etc. and you can't keep up with the HELOC payments. They will eventually forclose. Before it came to that, you would sell your house, pay off the balance of your HELOC and you'd need to find another place to live. So, if that idea scares you, then skip the HELOC. 
@SoCalGardener wrote:I really appreciate your input on this. I've been through hell financially (and physically), and because of that I'm SCARED of doing anything that could jeopardize my security. Having a lien on the house sounds too scary for me. But you're definitely giving me some good food for thought. Say that I took out a $50,000 HELOC, paid off all of my debt, had some money left over, and paid it back in 36 months or 48 months, would it really be that bad?
As for my daughter and the debt she might have to pay for me, you're absolutely right! And I've reasoned it out with her exactly that way, i.e., "you're inheriting a TWO MILLION DOLLAR house! What's a few thousand dollars compared to that?!" Still, though, I wouldn't want to saddle her with any debt. I've bailed her out financially many times (when she was a lot younger and not as wise as she is now), but never want her to have to do the same for me. By the way, I'm a mom, not dad.
I'm with you about no liens on a house once the mortgage is done. I understand leveraging the equity, but sometimes with a primary residence there are factors that are more important than the finances. Emotional costs are real costs, and if it would take an emotional toll to have a lien on a primary residence, I completely see why one might make a choice to avoid it.