How do YOU make your credit WORK for you?

[Anonymous]

I've been working my way through so many posts on this forum for the past months and think it's just awesome to see so much help and wisdom shared to those who are new and struggling with their finances.  

What I don't get to see very much though, is how those with high credit lines, or no debt, are putting their huge amounts of credit to work, if they are..

There's lots of talk about using a BT to get out of debt faster, but I read a comment that said that at a certain point with BT fees, it was "no longer profitable" to do them.    That made me realize that there must be money to be made with this?

I can think of maybe stock market, real estate and your own business that one could invest in?  But I would love to hear more details about this from more of you.  

If you were given a $20k 0% BT for 21 months, what would YOU do to make it WORK for you?

[AverageJoesCredit]

If i was give a $20k 0% bt for 21 months. Id pay off all my debt and struggle to pay it all back before the promo ends. But if i did   boy would life be better

[tacpoly]

Credit isn't money!  Don't take out cash advances or balance transfers to invest in the stock market or real estate.  You're taking on a lot of risk for what will likely be very small returns.  

I use credit cards for convenience.  I take advantage of the grace period.  I take advantage of points/cash back.  But I am clear in my head that it isn't my money.  If I want to invest, I use cash or securities in my accounts.

[FICOlearner123]

From my perspective good credit score helps in getting good mortgage rate or auto loan rate or refinance rates,  a by product of having good credit standing and correct timing will  qualify you for credit cards that could bring cash back or promotional bonus. Also if you qualify for any 0% APR purchases it will allow you to enjoy the purchase while paying for it overtime at no extra cost.

[donkort]

This is something that I have to learn how to do.

I've only recently gotten to the point where I can "make my credit work for me."

Previously, I was hanging by a thread.  Paying things 29 days late sometimes. If I didn't keep on top of it, I could have been in big trouble----like I was in the 80s and 90s.  I couldn't "make my credit work for me"---because, in effect, I had no "credit."  I just had debts.

[Green456]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been working my way through so many posts on this forum for the past months and think it's just awesome to see so much help and wisdom shared to those who are new and struggling with their finances.  

What I don't get to see very much though, is how those with high credit lines, or no debt, are putting their huge amounts of credit to work, if they are..

There's lots of talk about using a BT to get out of debt faster, but I read a comment that said that at a certain point with BT fees, it was "no longer profitable" to do them.    That made me realize that there must be money to be made with this?

I can think of maybe stock market, real estate and your own business that one could invest in?  But I would love to hear more details about this from more of you.  

If you were given a $20k 0% BT for 21 months, what would YOU do to make it WORK for you?

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1. You never go into credit to invest money

2. You never invest for less than 5 year period since recession may last 5 years....

As for your quesiton. I have several CCs with 30k credit limit. I have no use for all that credit except for occasional vaccation. I do not put it to any use. Given my income I could probably get 100k credit but what for? It is not like I can buy a car with it...

I do put my fiaco score to use. I get banks to pay me to open credit cards.

[KLEXH25]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been working my way through so many posts on this forum for the past months and think it's just awesome to see so much help and wisdom shared to those who are new and struggling with their finances.  

What I don't get to see very much though, is how those with high credit lines, or no debt, are putting their huge amounts of credit to work, if they are..

There's lots of talk about using a BT to get out of debt faster, but I read a comment that said that at a certain point with BT fees, it was "no longer profitable" to do them.    That made me realize that there must be money to be made with this?

I can think of maybe stock market, real estate and your own business that one could invest in?  But I would love to hear more details about this from more of you.  

If you were given a $20k 0% BT for 21 months, what would YOU do to make it WORK for you?

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I think the strategy you're thinking of is someone who has a balance on a current 0% promo period that is about to end. This person has the money in the bank (earning interest) to pay it off, but instead transfers it to a new 0% card, allowing them to continue earning interest. This only works if the person saves the money they spend, and they're not maxing out their card(s). BT fees can eat away at any potential earnings, so it only works if the fees are low or, better yet, 0.

[iced]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been working my way through so many posts on this forum for the past months and think it's just awesome to see so much help and wisdom shared to those who are new and struggling with their finances.  

What I don't get to see very much though, is how those with high credit lines, or no debt, are putting their huge amounts of credit to work, if they are..

There's lots of talk about using a BT to get out of debt faster, but I read a comment that said that at a certain point with BT fees, it was "no longer profitable" to do them.    That made me realize that there must be money to be made with this?

I can think of maybe stock market, real estate and your own business that one could invest in?  But I would love to hear more details about this from more of you.  

If you were given a $20k 0% BT for 21 months, what would YOU do to make it WORK for you?

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Other than using travel rewards to accumulate points on spend I would be making regardless, my credit sits idle in a corner, playing imaginary Wii or counting pebbles in the grout between the bricks. I guess I fall into your bucket of not putting credit to work for me, because I don't need to. I already have plenty of assets to work with without the need to borrow.

If I was given a $20k 0% BT for 21 months, I'd look at it, say "cool", then hand it right back to the bank. $20k at 21 months is far too little cash at too short of a timeline with which to make any meaningful investments IMO.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been working my way through so many posts on this forum for the past months and think it's just awesome to see so much help and wisdom shared to those who are new and struggling with their finances.  

What I don't get to see very much though, is how those with high credit lines, or no debt, are putting their huge amounts of credit to work, if they are..

There's lots of talk about using a BT to get out of debt faster, but I read a comment that said that at a certain point with BT fees, it was "no longer profitable" to do them.    That made me realize that there must be money to be made with this?

I can think of maybe stock market, real estate and your own business that one could invest in?  But I would love to hear more details about this from more of you.  

If you were given a $20k 0% BT for 21 months, what would YOU do to make it WORK for you?

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To answer your specific question, I'd use a $20k BT to refinance just about the same amount I'm currently carrying at 1.99/4.99/5.99/7.49%.

In general, I make credit work for me by:

• using grace periods to stretch out when I pay for things. and knowing my statement cut dates, where a carefully planned purchase can bring nearly 2 months of grace period before becoming due.
• paying for large purchases that I just don't want to drop all of that cash on at once (i.e. the $20k of debt I'm carrying at the moment)
• knowing I can make a large purchase at any time if needed
• growing my scores/profile
• earning rewards 

[Anonymous]

Very cool responses so far, thank you.   The comment about timing the BT's to keep that money in savings makes perfect sense, a bit tricky maybe, but makes sense.   

And regarding investing in the stock market with that money, that would be foolish for sure.  BUT, it made me think that if someone wanted to invest x amount in the stock market anyways, and had the funds sitting in a savings account, using a BT could help them stretch out the time the money is in the savings account while using the BT to invest in the stock market, no risk really since they already have the money and were planning on investing it.

What about house flippers using BT's or credit lines for investing in repairs?  Risky if its the first flip but if one is experienced i guess it would be less risky.  But maybe there are even more creative ways out there...