Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Trying to play the spread on my CC.
Old 04-21-2009, 05:48 PM   #1
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 479
Trying to play the spread on my CC.

I just got some convenience checks in the mail with 0% int for 6 months. I am thinking about taking the max putting it in my MM account which is currently at 3%. However, they didn't bump my limit up to what I wanted. I went from 16 to 36, but was asking for 50.

They asked me why I wanted an increase. Perhaps I should have told them I was doing some home improvements instead of the truth?

To really make this offer worth it, I would need at least 45k limit.

Anybody play spreads like this recently have trouble getting a higher limit?

JD
JohnDoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 04-21-2009, 05:50 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ziggy29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
Did you read the fine print about balance transfer or cash advance fees? At least one of my cards has a 3% "cash advance fee" on checks written against it, which would negate your MMF interest for a year, and that assumes the latter doesn't keep falling in yield.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
ziggy29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2009, 05:54 PM   #3
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 479
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29 View Post
Did you read the fine print about balance transfer or cash advance fees? At least one of my cards has a 3% "cash advance fee" on checks written against it, which would negate your MMF interest for a year, and that assumes the latter doesn't keep falling in yield.
Yes. It has a 3% fee (maximum $75, though).

I called and got all my questions answered to my satisfaction. Just couldn't get a big enough limit to get 3% in the MM. Probably cause they didn't like my answer of why I wanted it.
JohnDoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2009, 08:03 PM   #4
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 164
Yes this is called credit card arbitrage. The fatwallet finance forums have thousands of people that do this. The best place to put it right now is reward checking paying 5.25% from Advanta, AmerciaNet, and Redneck bank(no lie). They are the same family of banks from Witchita. You have to perform 10 debits a month, but just buy minor things that you need or otherwise would get that are under $10, or just go to the gas station and put like 5 cents of gasoline in on the debit card.

Otherwise there is a stickied thread at the front of the forum that practically lists every good reward checking, high yield savings, MMAs, etc. in the country. When you do this you want to things. No risk investments and liquidity. Don't put it in a the stock market, and if you put it in a CD(first of all don't pay that well right now), and if god forbid you had a universal default you don't want to be forced into breaking the CD.

Edit: The big credit card arbitragers aren't getting what they are asking for either in this credit environment. Actually them moving you from 16 to 36 is more impressive than most I've seen.
dshibb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2009, 09:51 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
This is called stoozing and there are plenty of threads here on it. I only go for 0% interest, 0% fee. I also need to make at least $1,000 a year before it is useful to me. I have just one of these active at this time. I told the credit card company that I was taking the money to put it in a CD at 5%. They didn't seem to care. The phone rep wanted to know how to do all this so she could try it herself.
LOL! is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2009, 10:28 PM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
clifp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,733
I haven't seen a an balance transfer offer with a capped $50 or $75 fee in more than a year. I still get offers for cards with credit lines in excess of $10-20K but between the 3% fee and the ridiculous low money market cd rates, I don't think this is generally profitable any more.
clifp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2009, 05:30 AM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
Quote:
Originally Posted by clifp View Post
I haven't seen a an balance transfer offer with a capped $50 or $75 fee in more than a year. I still get offers for cards with credit lines in excess of $10-20K but between the 3% fee and the ridiculous low money market cd rates, I don't think this is generally profitable any more.
Agreed - and it gets worse. I noted the fine print on a recent offer said effective June 1 the 3% fee was increasing to 4%.
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2009, 01:44 AM   #8
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 164
They still exist. They are rare, but the low point was in November/December where there was only one bank--Iberia Bank that had a reasonable capped fee. After that it has gotten better. Not quite to the levels of 07, but still very profitable if you know where to get them, and you know the intricate details of credit reports, etc.

And its called Credit Card Arbitrage. Run a google search. Stoozing pulls up like a few items, Credit Card Arbitrage pulls up like thousands. And its actually credit arbitrage.
dshibb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2009, 09:43 AM   #9
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
charlie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Dallas
Posts: 1,211
In my "old fogy" opinion, trying to get something for nothing is a
waste of time. This subject reminds me of John Galt ...... is he still
kicking?

Cheers,

charlie
charlie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2009, 09:46 AM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlie View Post
... a waste of time. This subject reminds me of John Galt ......


Rumor has it he's moved on to dive in bigger and better dumpsters greener pastures.
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2009, 10:24 AM   #11
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 164
Correction. Redneck, advanta, and americanet have been 4% for some time. The best now is coulee at 5 and a few others at mid 4s.

So by that definition, investing is a waste of time than, too?
dshibb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2009, 06:40 AM   #12
Administrator
Gumby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,973
Here is an interesting summary of the credit card balance transfer fee issue. Generally, it is no longer a profitable venture to arbitrage a credit card.
A Brief History of Balance Transfer Fees
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
Gumby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2009, 12:59 PM   #13
Moderator Emeritus
CuppaJoe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
A game I still see out there is money for opening bank accounts. Saw one the other day, open a checking acct., they add $50.00. I'm going to pass on that one as I already have three checking accts.
CuppaJoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2009, 02:20 PM   #14
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 164
I can tell you Gumby, if you know where to look it is still pretty profitable to engage in credit card arbitrage, but I'll admit it will never be as good as it was a couple years ago.

Today, there are usually 1 or 2 cards at a given time that are feeless. Another 10 or so that have capped fees between 50-75, and another couple dozen that have capped fees at 99. 99/20000= .495%. I can easily make a descent spead on .5 percent. 5.25%*20000= 1050 - 99 = $951 in profit in one year on one card.
dshibb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2009, 06:35 PM   #15
Administrator
Gumby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,973
Quote:
Originally Posted by dshibb View Post
I can tell you Gumby, if you know where to look it is still pretty profitable to engage in credit card arbitrage, but I'll admit it will never be as good as it was a couple years ago.

Today, there are usually 1 or 2 cards at a given time that are feeless. Another 10 or so that have capped fees between 50-75, and another couple dozen that have capped fees at 99. 99/20000= .495%. I can easily make a descent spead on .5 percent. 5.25%*20000= 1050 - 99 = $951 in profit in one year on one card.
Oh, I still stooze, but it is much, much harder and less profitable than years past. I have $25k out through May 2010 at 0%, no balance transfer fee. I have another $10k coming due in June 2009. I'll probably role to a $75 capped BT fee, O% at that time.
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
Gumby is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Will Subprime Foreclosures Spread? Retire Soon FIRE and Money 69 08-21-2013 07:58 AM
Hello from a young doctor who is not starving anymore! Looking for a play-by-play! alwaysjammin Hi, I am... 35 12-31-2008 10:02 AM
Buy Nothing Day - spread the word dex Other topics 11 11-24-2007 07:55 PM
Do you find yourself staring at your Excel spread sheet? dex Young Dreamers 14 06-24-2006 10:31 AM
FIRECalc - Retire Early Spread Sheet Comparison Merron FIRE and Money 9 11-06-2003 02:09 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:45 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.