[neatdesign]

Ok, just thought I'd post a little update...

I submitted a balance transfer request to USAA online tonight. They will be sending Citibank $3300 in the next week or so. This is in response to the BT offer I got for 0% through July 2007. I transferred as much as I could but left a $500 buffer of available credit, just in case. (Always best to leave a little extra wiggle room!)

At first I wasn't going to do the BT when I discovered that it would be considered a cash advance and be at 15.9% APR after the 0% expires. But I figured that if I can obtain another 0% card a month or two before this current offer's 0% expires, then I can transfer some or all of it over.

Most credit card companies limit BTs to 1) accounts where the applicant is an account owner; and 2) accounts with other companies. However, since our USAA account is a joint account, and since the new card won't be with USAA (they don't offer 0% credit card intro rates), either one of us can apply for and do the balance transfer to the new card. That was a major reason I decided to take advantage of this BT offer now, even though it's technically posting as a cash advance.

I realize that some of the $3300 I'm transferring now might still be on there -- cash advances are almost always paid off LAST -- but the overall USAA balance will be much, much lower a year from now. It's a gamble but I figure it's not much worse than having that extra $3300 at 13% on the Citibank card starting in January. At least this will allow us to wait another year before we need to apply for a new card. (And, just to clarify, we'd only be getting that new card to take advantage of the low APR, not to spend it!)

I also went to Egreetings and sent myself an ecard, which I've scheduled to receive next April. This ecard will just remind me to start looking for a new 0% offer so I can do another balance transfer before the July 2007 expiration. (If you've never tried it, it's an excellent way to remind yourself of stuff you'd otherwise forget! You can schedule ecard deliveries a year in advance.)

~ Jenney