Comments on: Credit Card Arbitrage Q&A

By: Strick

Strick — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:09:20 +0000

Given your level of arbitrage income (1K/month) you would seem to be the one to ask, could you make an average living at this? I’d say triple what you make on it now would pay my basic bills. What limits you from tripling your arbitrage? Is it the amount of 0% credit cards out there with capped fees? Are you only using 20% of your credit limits soley for credit score reasons or are there other things that limit this (separate cash advance limits?). I just wonder why you don’t use 60% and make 3 times as much when you are not about to refi a mortgage, etc. (you can always pay back the other 40% on the spot, right?)

By: Jean Villeneuve

Jean Villeneuve — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:23:35 +0000

Been using credit cards and arbitrage for 25 years.Although modest comopared to you dont remember having paid interest or fees other than annual fees on my gold card used to pay travel and car rentals insurance free which has also saved me thousands of dollars over the years.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:02:19 +0000

Madison, thank you! October 3rd will be the new cycle for this card, so I will move the money over then. Thank you so much for your help with this! I just spread the word about you to another blogger who just did a balance transfer but had to pay $240 to move the money over, and to another blogger that has a card that went from 0% to 11%. I really appreciate the good information you have here. I would rather have no debt, but it can’t be helped at the moment, so better to stay at 0% interest in the meantime! Thanks again!

By: Madison

Madison — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:09:28 +0000

@ Mrs. Accountability: I get plenty of messages that say they will notify me later. I’m pretty sure my days of instant approvals are over, but I do get some. Usually the companies want to call me and discuss the credit line before approving it.

As far as moving money back to a card that previously had a 0%, that should be ok, as long as you wait until a new cycle. Sometimes if you double up in one cycle, they might charge you an over the limit fee. I would wait until after you get the bill just to be safe.

I actually pay down and put money back onto a card all the time. It seems like the minute you “pay off a card” they send you a new check!

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:34:05 +0000

Madison, in answer to my question, I got a message from several of the cards I applied for that they would notify me of their decision within xx days. I was approved for all of the cards. Now I have another question. One of the cards, I’ll call it Smith VISA, I just cleared it down to $0.00 with a balance transfer. My Amazon VISA is actually a CHASE card, so they wouldn’t do the balance transfer for me (duh). The Smith VISA card is offering 0% interest for balance transfers now – is it a bad idea to now move money back onto that card that was at $0.00 for a short time? Thanks for your help. This is confusing at times.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:47:57 +0000

Madison - when you sit down and apply all in one afternoon, do you *always* get a message that you are approved or do some of them say they will notify you of their decision within xx number of days? Thanks! Mrs. Accountability’s last post: OODA - 1 Year Blogoversary Contest

By: Madison

Madison — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:15:01 +0000

@ Mrs. Accountability: Exactly! If you applied for one each day over a few weeks, by time you hit the last application you would have a bunch of recent inquiries bringing down your score temporarily.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:09:57 +0000

Madison, why do you apply for all the cards in one day? Is this so that your FICO number isn't affected? I mean, do you think if you applied for one each day, would that be detrimental? So by applying all in one day, all the applications hit at once and that works out better? Mrs. Accountability’s last post: Electricity in August 2008

By: Personal Finance Blunders | The Wisdom Journal

Personal Finance Blunders | The Wisdom Journal — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:01:05 +0000

[...] wasn’t able to conceive of something as complicated as credit card arbitrage. I was simply using credit to get the “things” I wanted without having to pay for them, [...]

By: Madison

Madison — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:18:34 +0000

@ Ideal: I haven’t ever had trouble finding a 0% card. They’re everywhere it seems. I even made a list that I’ll keep updated for readers:

http://www.mydollarplan.com/0-.....rd-offers/

By: ideal4investors

ideal4investors — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:04:03 +0000

I have to honestly say I have never heard of anyone doing this before. Do you have a hard time finding credit cards with a 0 intro rate? What happens if you can\\\’t find one to transfer it into?

By: Money Hacks Carnival #13 — Money Saving Hacks Edition | Moolanomy

Money Hacks Carnival #13 — Money Saving Hacks Edition | Moolanomy — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:33:05 +0000

[...] Credit Card Arbitrage Q&A posted at My Dollar Plan — Madison, an expert credit card arbitrager, answers some readers’ questions. [...]

By: Madison

Madison — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:02:31 +0000

@ Michael James: Yes, 0.5%, but actually much less, since many of the cards had $0 balance transfer fees. The total is probably less than 0.25%. The only time we had a problem was when American Express charged us interest, however, we got it fixed. Here's what we use the money for. It's mostly for our heloc and to put in the bank to earn interest. We don't use it to buy any additional items that we wouldn't otherwise purchase. @ David: Maybe offer her a reward she couldn't resist? I remember telling my husband he could put the money towards some motorcycle junk he wanted! @ Paul: I agree, if it is not planned out carefully, it can turn out really bad. It's not a beginner strategy at all. Luckily, if we were to run into a problem, I would just pay off all the cards immediately. @ Craig: Great point on the small print. I've been noticing that Chase in particular is getting much more stringent on their rules. Good reminder that when they up their game... I have to up my game!

By: craig

craig — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:23:58 +0000

I would be extremely cautious in reading the small print this year, as the credit crunch has caused a tremendous fall in the profitability of many financial institutions. They will crack down on this hard and if you are not liquid, it will be a very messy situation to clean up. Either way good luck, but tread carefully.

By: Cut Your Food and Gas Bills, Save For Your Child’s Education! @ The Roundup

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:28:58 +0000

[...] Dollar Plan: Hear about credit card arbitrage from someone whose credit limits total a whopping $1,000,000! I’m still amazed by how Madison [...]