Pay off a CC with another CC?

[suorkaterina]

My husband and I are having a debate. We are trying to save for a move across country in two months. We have two store cc's that are close to being paid off, around 200$ altogether. My thought was that we could kill two birds with one stone by making a payment on a lower interest visa card of 200$(Effectively making the months payment) and then charge the balance of the two store cc's to be done with them for good. He thinks that we should just pay off those two cc's at the 200$ and pay the minimum monthly payment on the visa as per usual.

WHat do you think? Which one will help us save for the move?

[Petunia 100]

My husband and I are having a debate. We are trying to save for a move across country in two months. We have two store cc's that are close to being paid off, around 200$ altogether. My thought was that we could kill two birds with one stone by making a payment on a lower interest visa card of 200$(Effectively making the months payment) and then charge the balance of the two store cc's to be done with them for good. He thinks that we should just pay off those two cc's at the 200$ and pay the minimum monthly payment on the visa as per usual.

WHat do you think? Which one will help us save for the move?

Cash advances typically have a higher rate than purchases. Do you mean you would do a balance transfer?

I'm not sure how either choice would help you save for the move. Either way, you are paying out $200 plus minimum payments. You haven't told us how much the minimum payments are, but I assume they are similar.

[disneysteve]

Neither will help you save for the move. You would only be transferring debt from one place to another. You can't borrow your way out of debt.

You can't just pay one CC with another CC. You either need a cash advance, a balance transfer, or a convenience check. All of those things typically have fees associated with them. I can't imagine doing any of that is worth it for a $200 balance. The amount of interest you are paying is minimal, maybe $5/month tops. If you have the $200, just pay them off.

[btctony]

I agree. Neither is going to help you save for a move that is two months away. How do you plan on saving money by doing this?

Doing a cash advance or a balance transfer to the Visa will include a fee and the fee isn't worth moving $200 of debt from one place to another. Even if it were free, it's certainly not freeing up money for the move, if you're going to turn around and put that $200 on the Visa. You're just throwing it all in one pile at a cost.

Just pay the $200, get that Visa paid off, and stop borrowing money on credit unless the cash to pay the bill is sitting in your checking account. If you get into the habit of doing that, you'll never need to ask a question like this ever again And that is a very good feeling.

[neatdesign]

Stay away from cash advances. Just don't even go there. Not only do they charge you high fees to take the advance, but (unlike a balance transfer) cash advance balances usually accrue finance charges DAILY, not monthly.

I agree with the others: Just pay off the store credit cards and be done with them, then shift your focus to the Visa balance. Honestly, it's not worth the hassle and extra fees to just to do balance transfers for $200.

[snafu]

Moving is very expensive. What is your plan? Do you already have employment lined up in your new location? Are you moving furniture, appliances and personal effects like clothes, dishes and pots and pans? Do you expect to rent a U-haul trailer to attach to your car or rent a truck or hire movers? Will you need to have deposits for electric, cable and heat in your new location? If renting will you need 1st and last month's rent + damage deposit?

Most people conclude it's more cost efficient to sell furniture, kitchenware, and the stuff they no longer use/wear/love if they're comfortable with the idea of buying gently used replacements at their new location. It means you can only take what you can box and shove in your car. It's too much work and cost to pack, move and find a new place for stuff that you don't use, don't wear or don't love and enjoy.

Is there any way you and DH could earn extra money for the next two months like over time or part time employment? I hope you'll take the advice and pay off the two CCs and slay that VISA as quickly as possible. Interest rates are heading upward and bad for us all.

[Gailete]

Definitely pay them off with cash so they will two less bills hanging over your head and whatever their minimum balance was, you can either put towards the Visa or into savings.

I too hope that you have some good money set aside for the move. Depending on how far you are going it can be expensive driving a car and paying for meals and motels and gas and the inevitable breakdown. I can't imagine getting rid of everything before a move and buying all new 'gently used' stuff. Of course, some of that depends on if you are moving for your job and are getting help with the moving costs or if you are just making this move 'because' with no new job in site or place to live. Take care.

[bjl584]

Pay them off and be done with them. As stated above there are fees associated with cash advances and balance transfers. $200 isn't worth it. If you came to the forum with $10,000 in cc debt my answer may be different.

[Aristippus]

Pay them off and be done with them. As stated above there are fees associated with cash advances and balance transfers. $200 isn't worth it. If you came to the forum with $10,000 in cc debt my answer may be different.

This, mostly. There are certainly times when your proposal makes sense. For example, I get a solicitation every few weeks from Bank of America, offering me a cash advance up to the limit of my card with them for no fees and 3.99% interest for the first year; if I had a large debt I felt confident I could pay off in a year, I'd take that offer. But $200 wouldn't be worth the effort, imho.

[Gailete]

I've never seen a transfer cash to a different card have no fees. Usually their regular rate for cash transfers is charged. I get these offers all the time. Usually I don't even open them up any more, but the other day I did to find I could have an interest fee loan for something like 15 months but you would still have to pay a transfer fee.

Most credit cards if you use them in stores like a drugstore or grocery store will allow you to get cash back, so technically if you are willing to make several additional charges on your credit card, you could get your $200 or so with no transfer fee, go put it in your checking account and then write a check for it, but of course on the credit card that you used, you will now have that $200 plus whatever you bought as new charges on the card.

The best thing is to make (if you have the cash) a cash payment and pay them off in full. Charging more to pay off a credit card just keeps the cycle going and growing!