I’ve been getting a few emails lately. Since many of the questions are similar, I thought it would be beneficial to answer them all here. Check out some of my responses to the emails this week:
From Victoria, she wrote:
Dear Hustler,
I’m a financial analyst and I’ve been reading your blog for a few months and subscribe to your feeds. There are so many blogs out there that talk about personal finance, how to manage money, and they all offer the same boring typical advice that I already know. But I love your blog because it’s about making money here and there doing things that people don’t talk about (like getting groceries for cheap or calling sprint for the dropped calls).
I have a question for you. I’ve read your App-o-rama blogs and I was wondering: If I do a balance transfer from my Amex consumer card onto my Advanta Business card, would my score not be hurt because anything on the business card (even if i go near max utilization) doesn’t count on my FICO scores? Would the only negative be losing 5 points for doing a hard pull to open the new credit card account? Also, does it matter if I get a balance transfer in the form of a check and then pay off my other card versus calling the credit card company to send the check directly to the other credit card company? Does it get recorded differently and affect the FICO score differently or it doesn’t matter at all how the balance transfers were done?
Thanks so much,
Victoria
Hello Victoria,
thanks for the kind words…especially one that came from a financial analyst. My career has nothing to do with finance so this is just a hobby for me.
App-o-rama is getting many cards at one time. If you are only getting one card to BT, then it is not apporama. I don’t think you can BT from one AmEx card to another AmEx card. Even if you BT in a form a check from AmEx, make sure there is a cap on BT fees. Most of the AmEx cards have no cap up to 3%, so it is not a good idea. I would suggest you go look for other cards that have no BT fees or a low one with cap.
It’s true that the only negative thing on a business card is the 5 points loss on your FICO score. They do not report your debt on a business card. If you are Balance transfer just to use the promo period to lower your other cards, I suggest you leave it blank on your application. Once you get your card approval, find out how much is your limit, how much is your fees for BT, and how long the promo rate. Sometimes you can haggle with them…then do BT directly to your current card.
Gregg asked about BOA accounts:
You mentioned that you have alot of the BOA accounts…I always keep my eyes on there deals, but I was under the impression it was for first time account openers….is that not the case? If it is not the case then I will take advantage of all of the account deals I see. But I have stay away from them because I assumed it was for new accounts only. Thanks.
Hey Gregg,
For the most part, most of their bonuses are for current members too. They allow you to have more than one account. So unless it is stated specifically that it is only for first timer, then current members can get it too. However, sometimes they attached conditions like you need to have a BOA credit card also, like the last BOA bonus i wrote about. Another plus is that since you already have an account with them, they won’t do a hard pull on you again.
Fahad wanted to know about App-o-rama:
I was hoping u could do me a personal favor. ive been reading alot on apporamas and am about to be doing my own soon.
the thing is, i kinda trust your judgment, im an avid follower of your blog and mymoneyblog. thats it.so i was wondering if you would take a little time and give me a list of cards u had before and what cards u used for the apporama. u know… bt transfer fee, rates annual fees etc.. the whole shibang… u probably have it saved swomewhere… copy and paste bro, copy and paste.
id really appreciate it, cos ill probably do mine similarly.thanks bro 😉
yours,
fahad.
About apporama, There is a good list on app-o-rama part 3, and i listed some cards on the front page too. My personal list is old, and most of the cards offers have expired. You can go to fatwallet and check out the recent AORs for all the best cards also.
Monika needed a little help:
Dear Hustler,
Hello my name is Monika, I have no idea how I even came upon your website, but man am I glad I found you!!!!!!
Being a Single mom this is really going to help 🙂Here’s my question, it may be stupid, but I am all new to this??? When I do a Bank deal like BOA and I need to do direct deposit from my ING account, How do I do that?
I mean do I just go to my ING account and have them send $1 each month or is there a little more work to do like filling out papers from BOA and faxing/sending/e-mailing
them to ING??
PLEASE HELP, I don’t want to do it wrong, then get stuck with the FEES.
Thanking you in advance for your time and help!
Monika
Hello Monika, I’m glad my website is helping you earning a little side income. For ING, I believe you can set up to three accounts with them to do transfer. A regular transfer from ING to BOA counts as Direct Deposit. I usually do my transfer from Paypal to BOA, it is less complicated. Check out their FAQ for more explanation.
Hustler
**Once you get your bonus, you can cancel your BOA account without any fees.
Love your blog. 🙂