0% Interest Credit Cards:
The Art Of The Tart

See Also Other Pages In This Section:

How To Negotiate Credit Card Settlement

Credit Card Home Page

Credit Card Balance Transfers

Can You Be Sued For Credit Card Debts

If you have a decent credit rating, there are a constant supply of 0% interest credit card offers available for fixed periods. These deals are always only for a relatively short period of time, after which they revert to a 'normal' credit card interest rate. In order to make their money, the lenders rely on people signing up after being attracted by the special offer, but carrying on using the card after the offer runs out. Clearly this must work, or they wouldn't keep on doing it.

However, if you are organised and disciplined enough, you can take advantage of these offers to get interest free credit almost indefinitely. This has become known as 'credit card tarting', or being a 'credit card tart'. I stress that you have to be organised and disciplined for this to work, and if you have any doubt about whether this is you, you should steer clear of this, as you will almost certainly end up falling into the trap and paying interest.

0% Interest Credit Cards - Tarting With Existing Credit Card Debt

If you have a lot of credit card debt already and cannot pay it off in a few months, credit card tarting with balance transfers is a way of avoiding any interest charges while you pay off your debt.

You have to look for the longest offers on 0% interest credit cards for balance transfers and shift your balance to the best card. There will almost certainly be a fee, and you need to weigh up the cost of this against the saving in interest payments.

Now comes the bit where you need to be organised. In order to avoid paying interest when the 0% deal runs out, you must transfer your balance again to another credit card with the best 0% interest offer at that time. The timing of this is crucial. To take full advantage of the offer you have, you don't want to transfer any sooner than you need to, but it can take quite a while to process, so it is best to start the change about six weeks before your deal runs out.

You need to do whatever works best for you in terms of reminding yourself about this deadline and acting on it. I work to a diary every day, so I put anything like this in my diary, knowing that I will definitely see it and be reminded when the time comes.

0% Interest Credit Cards - Tarting for New Purchases

You can be a credit card tart even if you don't have any existing credit card debt. When savings interest rates were quite high, you could actually make money from credit cards by tarting. The idea being that you look for a credit card with a 0% interest offer on purchases, then use this card for all your normal spending and bills, instead of whatever other payment methods you would normally use.

For everything you buy under the credit card 0% interest offer you are in fact getting free credit, meaning you don't have to spend the actual money that you would have normally spent. So you take this money that you would have used and put it into a high interest savings account where it gathers interest for you. The balance gradually grows and grows, as does your interest.

For example, imagine you go to the supermarket and spend £100 and then fill your car up with petrol for another £50, using your new 0% interest card for both. Now you move that £150 from your current account (where the money for these items would normally have come from) into a high interest savings account.

When the interest free period is about to run out, you can either pay the debt off with the money you have saved (leaving just the interest or your 'profit') or you can do a balance transfer to another card and continue saving the money and gathering interest. Again, the timing of this is crucial if you are to avoid any interest charges or penalties.

This system used to be good for hundreds of pounds a year in interest, but since the credit crunch it is not really worthwhile. Its time will come again though...

0% Interest Credit Cards - Finding The Best Offers

If you are going to transfer balances or find the top card for purchases, you will need to compare the best credit card 0% interest deals on a regular basis. To do this you need to use a good website to find out what the best deals are, because they change constantly. The best site for this (for the UK) is the brilliant moneysavingexpert.com

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