Credit cards are usually regarded as costing money, but the savvy consumer can make money by stoozing. Stoozing is the act of using the credit facility of your credit card to fund investments that pay more interest than the credit card charges.

Credit cards often offer an introductory balance transfer rate of 0% for the first 6-9 months, some even offer the special rate for up to a year. This is in an attempt to attract new customers. A stoozer will make good use of these offers by investing the money for the period of the offer, and then paying back the money to the credit card before the interest rate changes to the lenders standard rate.

Regular stoozers are known as ‘rate tarts’ and are disliked by credit card companies, although they are perfectly within their rights to stooze. They are simply playing the credit card companies at their own game. Special offers are there to be taken, and really they are offering something for nothing, although they hope that you will fall into the trap of debt so they can profit from you.
If you stooze be careful not to damage your credit rating. Applying for credit too often and having too many lines of credit have potential to damage your credit rating, as can defaulting on credit card payments. Whether or not to close your credit card accounts once you have stoozed them is a subject of much discussion.
Be sure to keep a tight control over your stoozing money, remember that the credit card has to be repaid! If you are not a strong person who can control money well then you shouldn’t stooze! But the potential profits from stoozing make it worth exercising some self control.
When the introductory period on your stoozed credit card is about to end, it is possible to apply for another credit card to stooze. Make sure you apply for your new credit card in plenty of time, it often takes six to eight weeks for a new credit card to be approved. The balance can then be transferred from credit card to credit card.
Many stoozers use mini-cash ISA accounts to get the best income from their credit card money. Interest paid on a ISA is free of tax, which means that you get to keep between 20-40% more of your interest than in a normal deposit account. Everyone with savings in the UK should make sure that they make full use of their ISA allowance each year.

More than a third of all Britons did not have a sufficient current account balance to meet their living costs in the first month of 2011, if new figures regarding credit card usage throughout January are anything to go by.

In news which may be of note to those with Post Office credit cards, the financier yesterday (January 31st 2011) revealed that more than a third – 34 per cent – of all Britons were reliant on credit to fund their day-to-day expenditure last month.

This equates to a total of more than 11.5 million people, while the study also established that in excess of 2.4 million members of the population are planning to spend more on their plastic over 2011, with17 per cent indicating that this increase will be by up to £200 extra every month.

In related news, Mark Bower, managing director of Money Maxim, stated recently that monetary pressure on UK households will not decrease in the new year.

Meanwhile, students have been offered advice on credit.

Students considering the possibility of taking the time to compare savings on personal finance options such as credit cards due to the low amount of cash in their current account may wish to take note of some expert advice.

This is because yesterday (January 25th 2011), the National Union of Students and charity Credit Action teamed up to produce the Credit Crunching -a student guide to credit handbook, which is aimed at providing impartial advice to scholars on how they can spend money wisely while at university.

It is estimated that the average student now graduates with around £23,000 worth of debt attached to them, meaning that being well-informed about personal finance options could be essential to help people make sound monetary decisions.

Joanna Parsley, associate director of Credit Action, commented: “With the future of student finance in the spotlight it is essential for students and graduates to both understand credit and use it wisely.”

Meanwhile, having sufficient home insurance cover may also be vital for students due to the fact that areas where scholars live are often targeted by thieves.

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The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator was largely unchanged in trend terms throughout December, it has been revealed.

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) Business Sales Indicator (BSI) has recorded its best reading for more than a year.

It is positive news for retailers in Australia as the BSI tracks the value of Aussie credit and debit transactions through the financial organisation’s point-of-sale terminals.

The result was mainly unchanged in trend terms but there was good news for firms.

Craig James, chief economist of the bank’s broking subsidiary CommSec and author of the BSI, pointed out this result was particularly positive because there was some activity in New South Wales and Queensland in December.

He said: “While growth in economy-wide spending remains elusive, the good news is that the majority of industry sectors are still expanding rather than contracting.”

What’s more, Mr James stated December 2009 saw the BSI decrease in terms of a trend basis, while executive general manager of local business banking at the CBA Matt Comyn noted Retail Stores has now experienced its fourth consecutive rise as it increased by 0.5 per cent in December.

He added: “We must also remain mindful of the impact of the recent flooding on small businesses operating in affected communities across Australia.”

And this natural disaster has led many financial organisations to pledge money to flood relief, as well as produce emergency packages for those affected.

Some of services provided by the banks have included extensions to credit card limits, as well as waiving charges on the withdrawal of term deposits.

Mr Comyn stated: “There will undoubtedly be negative short-term effects on business activity including continuing supply-chain disruptions and a tightening on cashflow.”

This comes after the CBA revealed in December there were positive signs for companies, despite continued negative spending growth in its last BSI.

It fell for the 12th month in a row in November, but Mr Comyn pointed out the declines recorded by the BSI had been getting lower.

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