Archives for December 2005

When you do one of these 0% balance transfer deals, you want the biggest limit you can get for a couple of reasons.

1) More free money. More borrowed money = more interest earned = more free money.

2) Keep your credit score high. Say you already have a $9,000 balance. A $9,000 balance on a card with a $10,000 limit hurts your credit more than the same balance with a $20,000 limit.

3) Feed your ego. Knowing I could buy that Mini Cooper right now on my credit card gives me the warm fuzzies. 😉

For example, now that I have a new Citi Professional card with a $9,000 limit and a 0% balance transfer that I can take advantage of at any time within the next year, I am going to shift all the limits on my other Citi cards onto this one.
[Read more…]

Recently I gave into temptation and applied for two new credit cards with nice perks and no-fee balance transfers: the Citi Professional Card and the Discover Miles Card. I got approved for the Citi card right away and got a $9,000 credit limit. I’m going to make a purchase right away and get my $100 gift card. I’ll also call Citi and move my credit limits from my dormant Citibank cards to this one increase the limit to close to $20,000, making it nice and ripe for a future 0% APR balance transfer.

I haven’t heard from Discover yet, the online application said it might take up to four weeks for a decision? Sounds like a long time to me. I did request $15,000 in balance transfers, so maybe they’re pondering if I’m worthy 😉 I also moved recently (less than a year).

For those of you that have the Citi Dividend Platinum Card that gives you 5% cash back for supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations – be sure to use them to their fullest.

1) Gift Cards – Don’t buy at the retail store, try to buy them at the supermarket and earn yourself 5% cash back! (They can’t tell the difference, a purchase is a purchase) Safeway is my favorite, they have a great selection which includes AMC Theatres, REI, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath and Beyond, Blockbuster, Chili?s, SpaWish, Circuit City, Starbucks, CompUSA, Home Depot, Toy’s R Us, Old Navy, and more! [Full list]

2) Super Targets – Reportedly, people have had Super Targets treat all purchases as a grocery purchase! That means even if you buy a $500 LCD TV or other toys, they’ll give you 5% cash back! If you have a Super Target nearby, that is an awesome deal. I would try it out for a month first and see if it shows up as 5% back on your next statement.