121
votes
Accepted
Should I pay for a computer up-front or on finance?
This is pretty simple, and doesn’t require too much math.
First, talk of liquidity is not necessary. You are currently paying $3000 extra on your mortgage every month. (Nice!) You certainly would ...
- 115k
61
votes
Is it possible for me to keep my credit card APR at 0% permanently?
If you pay your statement balance in full before the due date you will never pay a cent in interest no matter what your interest rate is.* In fact, I don't even know what my interest rates are.
...
- 49k
58
votes
Why does my car loan interest go up despite making payments on-time?
Interest is calculated daily.
Doing the math:
Between 6-17 and 7-25 are 38 days, 200.29 / 38 = 5.27 interest per day.
Between 7-25 and 8-17 are 23 days. 120.02 / 23 = 5.22 interest per day.
The ...
- 37.6k
55
votes
Accepted
Is 0% APR ever a bad idea?
I think the main question here is an administrative one: do you want the hassle of having to deal with the payments for 4 years?
Often these contracts have terms that mean that if you miss a single ...
- 27.9k
54
votes
Accepted
20% APR means only 10% interest? (UK)
The APR is the amount of interest that you would pay if you held their money for a whole year. If you borrowed the £100,000 for a year, didn’t pay anything until the end of the year, and then paid it ...
- 115k
53
votes
Why am I being declined for credit card offers?
You are probably being declined for the same reason your interest rate spiked. Contact all the credit rating agencies and ask for a copy of your report; in the US they're each required to give you one ...
- 43k
52
votes
Accepted
Debt management: 0% CC APR for 15 months vs 7% student loan debt
Paying 0% on $400 instead of 7% saves you ~$2.33 each month. You'd still have to make minimum payments each month on the credit card, so you can't put all of that $400 toward the student loans anyway. ...
- 69.1k
47
votes
Accepted
What is Cash Advance APR?
A "cash advance" is when you use your credit card in such a way that you receive cash. For example, if you use your credit card in an ATM machine and receive cash.
You should never ever use your ...
- 49k
34
votes
Is 0% APR ever a bad idea?
Yes, there are circumstances, including perhaps yours, where taking the “0% financing” option is a bad idea.
Generally, the fine print of these types of arrangements include a snarl: The interest ...
- 115k
25
votes
Accepted
Is it possible for me to keep my credit card APR at 0% permanently?
Banks do not profit by your fiscal prudence
Banks are in it to make money. But they're expected to provide a social good which powers our economy: secure money storage (bank accounts) and cashless ...
24
votes
Accepted
Can I get a late payment on my credit card if apr is 0% for the first 21 months?
Even if your APR is 0% for any particular statement billing cycle, there is nonetheless a minimum payment (typically 1% or 2% of the statement balance) that must be paid by the due date marked on the ...
- 31.6k
23
votes
Trying to lower my credit card APR; how to know what I should ask for?
Ideally you should stop paying interest altogether, which means stop using the card and get it paid off as fast as possible. Then your interest rate is meaningless.
The bank has zero incentive to ...
- 131k
23
votes
Why am I being declined for credit card offers?
From one of your comments:
It would take next paycheck (1/2 of month's pay) to pay off current
credit card amount to $0. The only reason I keep using it, is using
debit card is dangerous, I'm ...
- 136k
21
votes
20% APR means only 10% interest? (UK)
Your mistake is that in your calculation of interest ("10%") you divided the total amount of interest paid by the original amount you borrow. However, you don't pay interest for the original amount ...
- 1,211
21
votes
What is Cash Advance APR?
A cash advance from a credit card is either using the card to get cash from an ATM, or sometimes you get checks that you can use. Any outstanding balance on these transactions will accrue interest at ...
- 69.1k
19
votes
Accepted
Trying to lower my credit card APR; how to know what I should ask for?
First I'm going to make some assumptions based on a single sentence:
We've already stopped using the card, the goal is to get out of debt completely.
I assume:
You and your wife are on the same ...
- 47.2k
19
votes
Should I pay off mortgage or invest in CD?
Assume I have $50,000 loan that I could pay off (2.875 rate) which I
could invest in CD with 5.5 rate for 12 months, could anyone please
tell me what would be the correct calculations? Thanks!
...
- 69.1k
18
votes
Why does my car loan interest go up despite making payments on-time?
The interest probably accrues daily, regardless of whether your payments are on time.
- 811
16
votes
Debt management: 0% CC APR for 15 months vs 7% student loan debt
So what you're saying is, for 15 months, you'll let the $400/mo. of credit charges accumulate, and pay the $400/mo. toward the student loan instead. Over 12 months that will be somewhat shy of $6000. ...
15
votes
Should I pay for a computer up-front or on finance?
There is a third possibility. The cost of which is free. Use a company provided laptop.
Why: cost for the employee is zero. The company is responsible for purchase, upkeep, warranty. The company also ...
- 136k
15
votes
Accepted
Is it ever worth it to refinance an auto loan for a higher APR?
Strictly looking at the loan numbers:
Your original loan was $20,000 at 4.75% for 60 months. That equates to a monthly payment of around $375. You'll pay a total of $2,508 in interest over those 60 ...
- 13.8k
13
votes
Is 0% APR ever a bad idea?
The big thing that some people miss is that this is a loan. They will do a credit check, and it will appear in your credit file. Sometimes at the end of the process you essentially have a credit card ...
- 136k
13
votes
Why am I being declined for credit card offers?
You have a number of helpful rights that you can assert any time that you are denied credit. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act requires creditors to explain to you exactly why you were denied credit ...
- 2,557
12
votes
Trying to lower my credit card APR; how to know what I should ask for?
This has been my experience, take it for what you will. I've started a couple small businesses in the past that at one time or another would require the use of my credit card(s). I got in the habit ...
- 49k
12
votes
Does increasing loan term increase APR?
Yes, typically longer term loans have higher interest rates since it's more risk for the lender (among other reasons).
I would choose the shortest term loan that you can afford - you'll pay less ...
- 131k
10
votes
Debt management: 0% CC APR for 15 months vs 7% student loan debt
Chase, and any other commercial bank, are not offering you free money out of the goodness of their hearts. They know that, statistically, you will end up paying them back significantly more than that. ...
- 240
10
votes
Is 0% APR ever a bad idea?
IF YOU MISS ONE PAYMENT...
they make you pay ALL the interest.
That's the trick.
- 13.8k
9
votes
Can I get a late payment on my credit card if apr is 0% for the first 21 months?
Read the terms of your credit card, period.
Odds are there is a clause in there which states that failure to make minimum payment will retroactively make you accountable for the full APR.
- 8,287
8
votes
Should I pay for a computer up-front or on finance?
Question: is there any advantage to purchasing the more-expensive laptop using interest-free finance, as opposed to purchasing the cheaper laptop now?
(from one of his comments) Either is fit for ...
- 50.6k
8
votes
Should I pay off mortgage or invest in CD?
I think you have a decided advantage with the limited duration of 12 months on the CD. The difference between the rates is minor, but not insignificant, especially when you consider the return on ...
- 874
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