Just sending a grumble to the $132.72 we were just charged in finance charges on our WF card. Can’t wait until I reach this card in my Snowball schedule. It’s a fight between this particular card and my car loan.
Because the card has a 24% balance (just found out it is at 19.88% -thank you to MoneyMateKate and her calculations – that is a happy find) balance, I think it wins at needing to be paid off before the car loan. Bleck! Can’t wait until its gone!
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I forgot to tell you something hilarious! Because I have been such a recent loyal customer at B of A for paying down my credit card balance (13.24% APR)… they sent me 3 blank checks with an introductory 0% APR to use for transfering balances from my other cards. I got a kick out of it.
I haven’t actually looked at the whole senerio to see how good of an offer it is. If it is say, a 6-month intro rate, and I calculate my finances to only transfer a card that will be paid off before the intro rate is over… do you think I should do it? Like to hear your thoughts on it.
In 6 months, I think I could pay off my FFCU $1700 card I have at 12% interest. If I can transfer this to a 0% rate and PIF in 6-months time, is it worth saving the $229 of interest I could save?
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I did the math…that card you have at 24% and pay $132 in finance charges, which I think translates to a $6600 balance…is the limit on your B of A high enough to take all or most of it? And what’s the post-introductory rate?
Just thinking that even if the maximum balance transfer charge comes in at $100, you’ll save $690 in 6 months – more if the term is longer! Then keep the nasty 24% card open and hope for a good balance transfer offer from then when your B of A 0% expires. Even if that doesn’t happen, I’ll bet the rate is significantly lower than 24%!
I say go for it – especially if the end is less then the 24%…
gotta play the game sometimes – that could potentially save tons!
moneymatekate: you’re close. it’s at $8,346 with a 24.32% interest rate. Unfortunately, my BofA is a small balance card of 2K. So, I cannot do that nifty shuffling w/ the high interest rate card.
My only option is the 12% card at $1700.
The 0% intro rate (as I scoured the terms tonight) will last until the closing statement October 2009. Tempting offer I am going to have to give a bit more thought on.
Thank you for the giving me some great advice. 🙂
jpkittie: thanks, kittie. i am sure as I continue to pay down debt similiar opportunities will present themselves. So, you are right, I do have the potential to save tons!
Going to have to give this one some thought. I have until Jan 09 to decide.
Hi there-its seeems logical to go ahead and transfer the 12% card at $1700 if possible. Then a full attack on that 24% card!! Good luck on sorting an option that suits you best.
At first I would have thought with only being able to transfer part – I probably wouldn’t do it. But with 24% interest – I might even if it did add another bill.
Ha ha. You and I must have gotten the same offer. I used this calculator to compare the difference in interest I would pay. Remember to add the 3% transfer fee that BofA will charge you when you compare. If you can pay off the balance before the rate re-adjusts and you’ll be paying less interest (including the balance transfer fee), then go for it!
Yeah, thanks to MoneyMateKate’s calculations I found out that my WF balance has been lowered to 19.88%. Not much, but it’s a nice find. 🙂
sharonrose: definitely need to attack that high balance card and my auto loan. The two loans I despise. 😉
debtfree2009: I know, I am still undecided, but have until 01/2009 to decide. I will just have to make sure that whatever I transfer definitely gets PIF by Oct 09 or that accumulated interest is going to kill me! lol!
shtinkykat: thanks for the calculator! and reminding me to take out the 3% in my calculations. They must really want our business! What are you going to do – use the offer or leave it alone?
Good for you!! You can use those 0% rates on your other debt and pay it down quickly. That’s how we did it. I love those offers because they always lead to major savings. Who wants to pay interest?? And, we got rid of one of our cars which lowered our insurance. Slowly but surely…
Jerry
Jerry: thank U for the encouragement! It looks like, by concensus, I should transfer balances. I need to finish working out the logistics to make sure I know exactly what I am getting into to! 😉