I got hooked up with a 0% for 1 year with NO balance transfer fees last August. I jumped on it because we did some home improvements and just put stuff on the card. Also, it was 0% on balance transfers and ALL purchases until this coming August. So I transferred about $200 just to get the offer and have stopped using it so we can pay it off before August – if we don’t pay it off, we’re stuck with some ridiculous rate of 14% or something.

Also – I was really hoping to get a 0% rate and NO balance transfer fee and I lucked out. I got about 4 offers in a row – and each of them got a little better over time. First it was 4% Balance Transfer fee, then 2 3% Balance Transfer fees, then the max of the balance transfer fee was $100, and then all of the sudden, the 0% with No transfer fee came. They all came from Chase. So sometimes it helps to sit and wait a little.

Also, double check your current credit cards. The one I use the most is down to 6.9%! I think it was 12% when I opened it years ago but because of the economy and all that other stuff, it has gone down significantly.

Becky’s last blog post..Shaw’s!

The key, as I’m sure you already know, is to hold out until you get the zero percent offers (or even .99% or 1.99%) with a cap on the transaction fee…

Lately, most of my offers have a 3% transaction fee with no cap — they’re instant trash.

But every now and then you come across one where they set a max fee at $75 or $99. On those, provided the offer is for more than 8 months, I’ll cash out 5-figures every time… These days, that’s the only way you can “win” the arbitrage game…

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