PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Citi Simplicity card with 18 month 0 interest

elchivito · #13 05-31-2013, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by link

I did this kind of thing in the past and saved a notable chunk of change by not having to pay finance charges.

A friend took the idea to a logical extreme and converted a home loan of about $180K to several credit cards with 0% APR - and no balance transfer fee - balance and said not only did he get the title to his house in the process but he also saved about $9K a year in finance charges.

There is no down side as long as the monthly minimum - or preferably more - is paid on time.

This kind of opportunity mostly disappeared after 2008 but about 2 years ago offers started to arrive again and again and again. Fortunately, for the moment at least, I haven’t needed this kind of opportunity but would not hesitate to do it again, if I had the need or desire.

Monthly minimum payment will NOT pay down the balance within the time limit of the 0% offer. If you put a balance of 3K on a 0% teaser rate that's good for say 18 months, you'd need to pay at least 167 bucks a month, and more than that to be truly safe. The card's minimum billed monthly payment on the other hand would likely be only 30 or 40 dollars. This is exactly where people get trapped on these deals.

I've done this several times. Not out of need but more as a game. Anytime these clock suckers want to loan me money for free... I'll play.