Stoozing - make money on credit cards
I've had a quick flick through and couldn't see this mentioned before. I was planning on writing an e-book and selling it on ebay for a fiver - but I'll give you the gist of it for free.

This is really *REALLY* simple.

1) Find a credit card which has a long interest-free balance transfer offer,
2) Transfer the balance into an ISA (or any other high interest account),
3) Meet the minimum payments for the interest-free period,
4) Pay back the balance transfer,
5) Profit.

...and now the story...

A few weeks ago I was sat, on a Sunday morning, in bed with my laptop. I was applying for an "Egg" credit card. The deal was 12 months interest free credit.

I plugged in all my details and waited for the computer to say "no".

It didn't say no. It said "£8,600".

Eight Thousand and Six Hundred Pounds.

They were going to give me over EIGHT GRAND interest free for a year. All I had to do was stick it in a high interest account and not touch it for a year.

On a fairly standard ISA at 5%, that's a profit of £430. Not bad.

When offset against my mortgage, a profit of nearly £600 tax free.

It literally took me 10 minutes to apply for the card, 5 to set up the transfer, 5 to move it to my high interest account and another 5 to set up the repayment direct debit. 30 seconds to set a reminder on my phone for a year's time to pay off the balance.

£600 for an hour's work. Sat in my dressing gown. I hadn't even had breakfast.

Rinse, repeat. Find special card offers, anniversary deals, store cards, any way you can to borrow money for free.

To be fair, you need a reasonable credit rating. You also need to be aware that there aren't loads of these deals about.

Currently I've got a few credit cards and a couple store cards on the go. I've borrowed ~£22,000 interest free in total.

Over a year, that's a profit of about £1,500. Assuming you're using an ISA or offset mortgage, that's tax free cash in your hand. Don't be afraid to haggle with your credit card provider - ask for more money and a longer interest free period. A refusal may offend - but an acceptance gets you more free money.

Not enough to retire, but enough for a good holiday, nice TV, odd bottle of champagne and I get to stick two fingers up to the credit card industry.

BIG FAT WARNING
You need to be obsessive over your minimum repayments. If you miss even one, your 0% interest goes to 22% and all your profits are wiped out.

Use a spreadsheet, calendar, direct debits, etc. If you do it right, it's effortless cash.
(terryeden, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 12:58, 10 replies)

You're pretty much spot on...

But I've never found a card that doesn't charge around %3 to transfer the credit into cash.

I'm doing a similar thing but with buying my car on credit cards and paying it off over 3 years.

I didn't get as high a rating as you so it took 3 cards to buy my car...at an admin cost of £200 to transfer the credit. Also, because it's planned over three years I have to keep switching the balance to other 0% cards...at a transfer rate of about %3 every time.

Still..it's a miserly amount compared to your average loan rates, or even adding it on a mortgage.

I'l have the car paid off soon and intend to switch my mortgage through a 'One account'.

That way, I'll borrow about £3K a year on a 0% credit card and pay that off over the course of the year. However, that interest saving alone will knock 7 years off my mortgage.

yay
( Pooflake braces for an onslaught..., Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:04, closed)

@Pooflake
Yup, you need to do your calculations carefully. I saw one card with a 4% transfer rate which, with minimum payments, would have left me out of pocket.

It's worth giving it a go on a low amount. If you've got the financial discipline to make the payments and NOT to touch that capital, it is stupidly easy money.

So, do you reckon I could sell a 50 page ebook on ebay with all this guff?
(terryeden, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:12, closed)

Yeah i was one of these that...
... Would keep switching credit cards each year to pay off the balance of the other one and just keep minimum payments going out. All interest free of course. But then they started 2% and 3% to transfer the balance over. Which I guess they did to stop people doing this and the above.

Its a good way. Money makes money as they say :)
(Miggyman, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:12, closed)

Are you Martin Lewis?

Sorry if I ruined your secret identity!
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:21, closed)

On the same lines...
I've just got a new Capital One card, which is interest-free on purchases until September 2009. Assuming I spend £500 a month, if I just make the minimum repayments and pay the remainder into a savings account (say: 4% interest), that's over £100 interest just for owning a credit card.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:23, closed)

cock me!
There goes my afternoon of productivity. Guess who's going to be playing with the above?!
(tweebianmonkey Should be known as Widget, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:24, closed)

@terryeden...

I thought that this kind of thing was pretty much common knowledge...but it couldn't hurt to write an e-book.

You could combine it with some of the posts from this QOTW and the 'Abusing Freebies' QOTW of a few months back and you'd be laughing.
( Pooflake braces for an onslaught..., Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:28, closed)

I did the same
but with a 20 grand limit. It's mentioned somewhere in the first couple of pages. I reckon on about 1200 quid before costs (2% transfer, IIRC), so 800 quid profit after costs. Not bad for doing bugger all.
( shadyron, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 13:38, closed)

@tweebianmonkey
Start off at www.stoozing.com/ that'll give you a good feel for what's available.

Then, ring your current card provider(s) and see what they'll offer you.

@everyone else. ISAs are great for stoozing money, but they've got a limit of ~£3,600. That's fine, as far as making a couple of quid goes.

If you want to make lots tax free, get an offset mortgage. Every penny in the account offsets the amount you owe. If you can find an offset with a fixed interest rate, you can do very nicely.
(terryeden, Tue 5 Aug 2008, 14:13, closed)

Additionally
If you apply through quidco, lots of credit card companies offer cashback for signing up. Even more profit!!
(stevio is on the prowl for a girlfriend!, Wed 6 Aug 2008, 15:04, closed)