Hi Diane: In case you didn't see my post a few lines up, here it is again: Citi issued me an Illumina card with a 5K limit for purchases and a 2500 limit for cash advances. My BT rate is 0% for 12 months with 5K available, the purchase rate is 9.74% with 5K available, and the cash advance rate is 19.99% with 2,500 available. In your situation, I'm virtually certain that you could do a 6K BT with all of it at 0% (not 4,200 at 0% and 1,800 at 19.99% like you say). The 19.99% only applies to cash advances. Yesterday, I called Citi and transferred $5K from another card at 19% to my Citi card at 0% for 12 months. It wasn't 2,500 at 0% and 2,500 at 19.99%. The 19.99% is ONLY for cash advances. BT's are 0%, purchases are 9.74%, and cash advances are 19.99%. Does that make any sense? If not, please let me know. Hope this helps!
Yikes, that's bad! I'm really sorry you're facing this mess. A friend of mine bought a new house in March and promptly lost her job in April. Her unemployment runs out in 8 more weeks and she's going nuts worrying about what might happen. I really, truly hope that you find something soon...I've been laid off twice, but it was during times when the job market was strong, so it was a breeze finding a new job...not like it is today. Hang in there...I hope it works out for you. Never give up!!
I guess my confusion is that my credit reports say that I have a $6000 dollar credit limit but it really is only $4200 because $1800 is reserved for cash advances.Would I not be going over my limit if I charged or BT'ed over 4,200. Are they reporting correctly? If not , I do not think it benefits me to change it anyway. BTW the terms of your Illumina with the exception of the credit limit is exactly the same as my Universal Plat.
BTW You never said what the CC's where that you have all that money on. They aren't other Citi cards are they?
Ok. Diane..let me see if I can explain this to you Your credit limit is 6000 . That is what shows on your credit reports and on you credit card statement that you receive each month, right? This 1800 figure...you are getting this from your credit card statement, correct? Ok...that 1800 figure only means that the maximum cash advance you get from your 6000 credit limit is 1800. You can CHARGE up to 6000 on your card. BUT...you cannot go to the ATM and withdraw more than 1800 from the credit card. Hope this helps
I've been on this board since 1996, but I don't post too often. When I see threads like this, I can't help but post. 1. You've already taken one step in the right direction by transferring the $5K at 19% to the Citibank card w/ the 0% teaser for 12 months. 2. You say you have another card with a $5K balance at 12% and you have a savings account with a $5K balance at 2%. Why not go ahead and apply for the other card you mentioned with the 12 month 0% interest teaser. If you get it, immediately transfer the balance to it. If you don't get it, I would use the savings balance to pay the card off; however I wouldn't close it. 3. You might ask, why I would use my entire savings balance to pay off debt? The answer is, your paying 12% vs earning only 2%. Your actually going in the hole in this case. As for rainy day fund, my thoughts are this, you can eventually pocket the $$$$ you are saving on the interest charges. Additionally if you do get in a bad situation, use your good credit to get by for a while. You did it once already! I would much rather be debt free........... Just my 2 cents.........
I would much rather be debt free........... jp It's ok to be debt free but you don't want to be money free. It's better to owe $10,000 and have $20,000 on hand THAN to owe $5000 with nothing in hand. LB 59
Excellent, I could not have said it better myself. Please post more often, you certainly have some "credit sense" to impart. www.creditsense.com
Personally I choose to pay off all my debt before I started saving, the interest on 20k of CC debt was $3,500 a year. I paid it all off in three years, in the next two years I paid my car off, traded it in, and paid cash for a new one. I estimate my monthly saving in interest to be $500. I am using that to build equity for retirement (Which is closer than Iâ??d like to admit!) I canâ??t stand to borrow money now. Even at 0% interest, if I canâ??t pay cash for it I donâ??t need it, if I really want it I save the money first and then buy it. I wish I had figured this out twenty years ago; Iâ??d have a lot more money than I do today and wouldnâ??t need the help of CreditNet to clean up my past mistakes. JohnM
I tend to agree with you except throwing those 0% offers away is like throwing money away. You sound like a disciplined person, so even with the current low rates on CDs you still could be making more money with those 0% APRs. Just my take, it requires a little effort, but I always like money to work for me. www.creditsense.com
No, I owe 5K on Capital One at 12% and 5K on FCNB (First Consumers Nat Bank) at 19%. However, on Friday I transferred the entire FCNB balance to my Citi Illumina card and cancelled the FCNB account. I did that because they refused to lower my APR (after I paid on time for 4 years straight) and the best BT offer they had was 14% for 6 months. I'm going to just keep the Illumina card and Cap One card for now. Too many cards is not a wise idea, in my opinion. I think 2 major credit cards is all you really need. That's part of the reason I ended up in BK 8 years ago. I had 2 Amex cards, 3 Visas, 2 MC's, 4 store cards....it was crazy. But, that was just my experience...I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do. I would just rather have no more than two.
Thanks, yeh, that's exactly what I'm planning to do. If I can get approved for the AT&T Universal card with a 5K limit and a 0% BT offer, I'm going to transfer the 5K I currently have on Cap One to AT&T. And I'm definitely keeping the Cap One account open because they'll probably give me a decent BT rate at the end of 12 months when the 0% Citi offer ends (I'll probably still owe about 4K from the 10K I will have transferred). However, if the AT&T card doesn't get approved, I will seriously consider sending all of my 5K in savings to pay off Cap One. Then I just have one bill each month from Citi at 0%!! Thanks again for everyone's input. I really appreciate all of your experience and knowledge. You guys have given me a lot of good information to think over in the coming weeks.
I don't understand how not taking the 0% offers is like throwing away money. I guess possibly if you want to do a balance transfer, or if the 0% is for life. But aside from that, if you are debt free, why would you still take the offer.
That is the perfect scenario, debt free and a 0% offer. You can transfer it to your checking account and purchase a cd for the length of the offer, I have gotten them for as long as a year. It is FREE money. Of course a CD is the safest investment, but not the only vehicle to make money. This is just my way, I am not saying it is for everyone, but it takes very little effort to implement. www.creditsense.com
Even at 0% interest, if I canâ??t pay cash for it I donâ??t need it, I STRONGLY DISAGREE...BUT YOU HAVE THAT RIGHT...AS MUCH AS I HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE ALL THE 0.00% OFFERS I CAN...
