0% interest credit cards

[LasVegasFitGirl]

Has anyone ever got a credit card that offered 0% interest on balance transfers? I have a large debt with Home Depot (on their CC) for some remodeling and it is only interest free for 6 months. I thought I could sign up for one of those no interest on balance transfer offers. Just wondering if a) they still do that anymore and b) if it's legit - no hidden crap.

 

[Liann]

Barb - I have done this many times (unfortunately). In fact, I am always shuffeling around my debt to a better card. You just really have to watch the transfer fees. Sometimes the fees make it not worth it in the long run. You have to figure out a few scenarios like what your current rate is and how long it will take you to pay it off. Figure out your interest on your current card based on your pay off scenario above and then see if that is more than the transfer fee. Also taking into account whether or not you will be able to pay the balance off within the 0% deadline and what the interest goes up to after that introductory time period. The 0% rates always run out and the usually go up to some insane percentage after that. That's usually around the time I move it again.

 

[carres1973]

Barb - To add to what Liann said, also be sure to pay on-time, every time. If you are late, they jack the interest rate up to the insane percentage Liann talked about. I would suggest making sure you pay early so there is no chance of things getting delayed in the mail.

Carrie

 

[Fitnessfreakk366]

I have done this many many times as well. My dh and I owned a store back in 2003 and it went belly up. Our credit cards were outrageous, over $15,000 because of it. So to this day I keep transferring the amount to 0% credit cards that offer 1 year at this rate. Then I find another credit card when the year is up and transfer it to that card. I am now down to $8,000. The only thing about transfers are there usually are transfer fee's. Can be as high at $200, depends on the amount you are transferring. But I think it's worth it to have a 0% interest cc.

 

[LauraMax]

Barb - To add to what Liann said, also be sure to pay on-time, every time. If you are late, they jack the interest rate up to the insane percentage Liann talked about. I would suggest making sure you pay early so there is no chance of things getting delayed in the mail.

Carrie

Not only do they jack it up, they also charge you all the back interest from the start date of the interest free period. I had this happen to me--made a payment by phone & they claimed I'd entered the wrong bank account number--no one notified me that the payment hadn't gone through. Imagine my surprise when I got a $1500 bill I was expecting to be about $500. The happy ending to the story was I took them to small claims court & won. The lesson learned was make sure you make every payment on time, & make sure you've made sure. Follow up w/them so they can't sneak attack you like they did to me.

 

[LasVegasFitGirl]

0% Int Credit Cards

Thanks! I didn't know about the balance transfers, but $200 is way cheaper than the interest I'd get hit with. I wanted one year to pay it off so I will make every payment and then some. I just need more time than the 6 months. Maybe I can just ask them to extend it to a year since their installers have held up my project for so long.

 

[Beavs]

I had my mother take out a low interest loan through her credit union to consolidate her credit cards and she then canceled them all. There were no games, no hassles, and the payment was automatically withdrawn monthly and the credit union was helpful and friendly to boot. The 0% credit cards are a trap waiting to spring if you are not careful.