Comments on: Best Credit Card Offer Ever*

By: Elle

Elle — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:30:33 +0000

Besides all that, it’s a DELL. :-(

By: Searchlight Crusade

Searchlight Crusade — Tue, 30 May 2006 14:10:40 +0000

Links and Minifeatures…

Carnival of the Capitalists

Carnival of Personal……

By: My Open Wallet

My Open Wallet — Mon, 29 May 2006 04:21:35 +0000

Carnival of Personal Finance #50…

Welcome to the golden jubilee of the Carnival of Personal Finance: #50! Isn’t it exciting? Not to be outdone by Queen Elizabeth, I arranged to have the Blue Angels fly over New York City this past week to commemorate the occasion….

By: fivecentnickel.com

fivecentnickel.com — Sat, 27 May 2006 04:23:06 +0000

Weekly Roundup – 05/26/06…

Here’s a quick look at what’s been going on around the MoneyBlogNetwork and beyond over the past week…

FreeMoneyFinance highlights a list of ways to protect yourself against high energy prices.
ConsumerismCommentary advises you to c…

By: SkyeBlue

SkyeBlue — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:48:24 +0000

I think I have figured out the nefarious conspiracy of this credit card company’s evil plot! They want to give you the laptop, then you will order stuff you don’t need online using your shiny new laptop and then pay for it with your shiny new credit card!

By: Newsgirly

Newsgirly — Fri, 26 May 2006 14:58:03 +0000

I got that same dang thing. My 70-year-old mother, who has paid cash for everything, including her home (!), and has no credit cards, laughed at it on sight. Never having seen a credit card offer, she said, “I bet you end up having to pay big interest or some kind of penalty to get that.” Grandma knows best.

By: Mighty Bargain Hunter » Roundup for week of 22 May 2006

Mighty Bargain Hunter » Roundup for week of 22 May 2006 — Fri, 26 May 2006 06:46:15 +0000

[...] Stop Buying Crap gets the best credit card offer ever! [...]

By: SkyeBlue

SkyeBlue — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:48:51 +0000

They know, with the spending habits of most Americans, that they will come out ahead in the end. That is why they tempt you with offers like the 0% Balance Transfers, or gifts.

I don’t know how many times I have heard people (including myself) say “I just want this credit card for emergencies”. But before you know it your balance is up to $2500.00 and you have 2 month left on your 0% balance offer!

I’ve paid off almost $2000.00 in credit card debt in the past 18 months by switching my balances to 0% cards. Then paying them off before the cut-off date expires on the offers. Let them keep their cheesy “gifts”! Give YOURSELF a gift and get DEBT FREE!

By: Jaro

Jaro — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:33:08 +0000

You forgot to offset the fees with interest made on $3,500 in let’s say average 18 month CD at 5%, that would make $252.50 interest.

I didn’t recalculate your figures, but if you’re right that you’d basically pay ~$563 then subtract the ~$263 you’d make on interest, and you’re looking at $300 laptop (although still crappy laptop if you ask me).

By: Cap

Cap — Thu, 25 May 2006 05:59:24 +0000

for this particular offer, the initial account opening transfers have no fee.. but if you transfer a balance afterwards, it’s the standard 3% but with a surprisingly low maximum of $50.

the offer says new laptops, so hopefully they keep their words and don’t send refurbish junk. and yeah the terms made very clear that the rates can change at anytime.

how many will take the bait? according to the offer site, over 70,000 people. (wow)

I didn’t mention it in the post, but like many others I have 0% BT offers going, so I definitely have the balance amount they’re looking for, and my credit score is currently craptacular, hence receiving the funky offer. It’s pretty interesting to see the varying amounts of offers you get as you score go up and down from 750+ to 600s.

Michael has a point though, if you’re carrying a balance already and it’s at some insane rate already, you might as well transfer & get a “free” laptop out of the deal.

Still, I would never suggest anyone to do this, even if they don’t expect to be able to pay off $3,500 in 18 months. Giving yourself a penalty (or incentive) to not pay off a credit card debt early is just asking for continue debt problems.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 25 May 2006 01:56:45 +0000

*IF* you expect to carry a balance of at least $3500 for the next 18 months, this might not be a bad deal. Sure it’s not good to carry that balance, but if you’re already in that situation, it might be worth it to surf the balance over there instead. IF you close the old account to not be tempted to spend more. I agree, going in to debt just to get this ‘free’ laptop is dumb, but if you’re already there, and hopefully working out of debt, this might be a small extra nicety to save you from going *further* in to debt by going to bestbuy or someplace else and buying a new laptop.

By: Steven

Steven — Thu, 25 May 2006 00:29:57 +0000

What is sad is that a lot of unfortunate people will look at this as a great way to get a new computer.

By: LSD

LSD — Wed, 24 May 2006 23:19:40 +0000

What is the BT/cash advance fee for this? Most cards have 3% BT fee so 5k * .03 = $150 right off the bat.

They can ofcourse “reevaluate” your credit standing at any time and jack up the rate to whatever they want before that 18 month period is up.

Lemme guess, they also give you a refurbished laptop with half of the keys broken and you have no rights since this is a “reward”. Great!

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 24 May 2006 22:39:52 +0000

Hmm, where can I sign up? It sounds like a great deal.

But the sad thing is I wonder how many people got that card and paid through the nose for that “free” laptop.

Dave