Free Money with 0% APR Credit Cards
We all love to make some free money. Over the last several years I’ve made several thousands of dollars in interest per year from taking advantage of 0% APR credit cards.
You are effectively getting an interest free loan from the credit card company which you can use to earn interest.
True 0% APR credit cards (with no balance transfer fee) are becoming increasingly rare. It’s no wonder, with the economy, being the way it is. Try and take advantage of this before the offers dry up.
Which credit cards?
Offers come and go. There are 2 credit cards currently that currently offer 12 month 0% APR transfers (with no fee)
Just apply online and wait to receive the credit card. After you receive your credit card, activate it and initiate the balance transfer. Citibank, for the balance transfer, will actually send you a check which you can deposit.
What do you do when you get the balance transfer?
Hopefully you have a high interest rate savings account to deposit into. You definitely don’t want to risk this money in anything like stocks since you will have to pay it back in one year. Interest rates have steadily gone done over the past 6 months. Currently I use Alliant Credit Union which offers a 3.25% APY.
What are the negatives?
You credit score will take a small bump. You have yet another credit card to remember to pay the minimum balance off every month. And unless you have a decent credit score, you might not get a decent enough credit limit to make it worth your while. There are some tricks, however, to get your credit line increased (which i’ll talk about in another post).
My experience
For the past year I’ve had $70,000 on 2 separate credit cards which has been earning ~4-5% interest. This has earned me over $3000 over the past year.
It’s great to earn interest on money that’s not mine.
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Pro: Free money.
Con: Another credit card to keep track of. Need to pay minimum balance each month. Requires decent credit score to qualify. Will decrease your credit score slightly.
