The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: yoga mama on November 17, 2014, 11:30:50 AM
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I was lucky and received a 0% APR (till 2016), no balance transfer fee offer in the mail. I have read through the fine print and it seems legit. My goal is to use the full credit line to pay down some student loans, which I will of course pay in full before the intro rate expires. Does anyone have experience with Chase balance transfer? I don't have any credit card debt so that isn't an option, and cash advance is addressed separately in the interest rate section of the offer so I don't think I'll just be able to write myself a check.
I do have a couple of credit cards that I use (cash back rewards) that I pay off every month. I am also considering opening a card or two for the travel rewards. Unfortunately I don't have any big expenses coming up and am not super interested in hardcore churning, I'm pretty happy with the 2-6% cash back for our current purchases.
So I guess my questions are:
1. Do you know if I can use the Chase card to transfer a balance from a student loan or even a mortgage? My Google research suggests that I can't but I was wondering if anyone has a recent personal experience.
2. Any other brilliant suggestions for credit card use that would help me take advantage of this great offer?
Thanks for your time!
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I used this strategy to pay off part of a high interest student loan with a 0% balance transfer offer.
What I did was send the balance transfer amount to a different credit card (let's call it credit card #2). Then, once that had been credited to credit card #2, I requested a reimbursement of the balance on credit card #2. They cut me a check, I deposited it into my checking account, and then paid my student loan.
I then paid off the balance on the 0% balance transfer card before the critical date, so that I wouldn't be charged interest. It worked out great- I saved about a year's worth of interest with this strategy.
The credit card companies did not check to make sure credit card #2 had a balance (it didn't) before transferring the money, or ask anything when I requested reimbursement from credit card #2. I don't remember whether this is card specific or if you can do this with any card, but I do remember researching the strategy on Fatwallet, so searching around there will probably answer that question.
Good luck!
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Wow, thanks - this didn't even occur to me! I will plan on using this strategy and will check out fatwallet for additional info.
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I concur with the idea of a doing a balance transfer to a zero-balance credit card, then depositing the resulting balance refund check for your next move. A true no-fee 0% APR transfer is a nice tool when used smartly.