How to Stooz (Advanced Fast Stoozing)

This Full Guide provides detailed step-by-step instructions for Advanced Fast Stoozing - the most profitable form of stoozing. If you are you new to Stoozing, you may prefer to start with one of the simpler forms of stoozing which are described in our Quick Start Guide.

Preparation

Before embarking on this money making adventure, please ensure that you fully understand the contents of this guide. If anything is unclear, please ask for advice on our friendly discussion forum. Make sure you know what credit cards and loans you already have and check that you are fully up to date with all payments. You can check this online using the free trial from Experian to view your credit report (for other ways to get access to your credit report, see our Credit Reports Table).

You may also wish to review our risks section. This Stoozing.com guide is provided on an 'as-is' basis and is believed to be correct, but we do not provide any warranty or guarantee of its accuracy.

Step 1

Open up a good savings account that can be easily managed online and that pays a high interest rate.

Step 2

Apply for 1 or 2 credit cards that offer a 0% introductory period for a good length of time. there are occasionally some for longer, but a 6 month period is perfectly workable. The longer the period of the offer, the less work you have to do to keep the ball rolling.

step 3

At least one of the credit cards should have a way of paying money directly into a bank account, called Super Balance Transfer (SBT) Cards: either as a balance transfer or by a credit card cheque for which there are no charges. see the SBT card table for current cards that can do this.

N.B. most credit card companies charge you for a credit card cheque but there are some cards that do not. Egg and MBNA platinum+ have both offered this facility.

Choose carefully.

step 4

Ask each credit card issuer for the precise date by which you have to pay the complete balance in order to avoid any interest payments. Ideally you should get this in writing. If you get the information verbally, make a note of the date and time you called Customer Services and the name of the person you spoke to, so that you can refer back to it if necessary.

step 5

Read all the Terms and Conditions of your new credit card(s) so that you understand exactly how the card operates.

step 6

Ask your SBT credit card issuer to do a balance transfer from your bank account to your credit card.(see "6. BT" in fig.1). The request can usually be made by phone, online or by completing a balance transfer form sent by your card issuer. The credit card issuer will put the requested funds into your bank account. [This is referred to as a balance transfer FROM your bank account because the assumption is that you are transferring a negative balance from the bank account].

fig.1 Credit Card to stooz pot

step 7

If the bank account that you specified in the previous step was your high interest savings account (stooz pot) then the money is now where you want it, earning interest for you. If the account specified was your current account then you now need to move it into the savings account.

(see "7. Move" in figure 1).

step 8

If you have a second credit card that can also pay directly into bank account then follow the above steps for this card too.(this is a repeat of "6. BT").

step 9

If you have a second credit card that only allows Balance Transfers from other credit cards (i.e. not from a bank account), then you need to route the money to your savings account via a SBT card that does allow a bank transfer mentioned in Step 6.

The steps are

(a) Ask card issuer 2 to Balance Transfer from your SBT Credit Card to card 2 (this moves money from card 2 to your SBT Credit Card). [See "9. BT" fig 1].
(b) Ask your SBT card issuer 1 to Balance Transfer from your bank account to your SBT card (this moves money from the SBT card to your bank account). [a repeat of "6. BT" fig 1]

step 10

At this point you have moved the money from your credit cards into your savings account and these free 'loans' are earning you interest, so much of your work is complete. However, during the course of the 0% introductory period you must still make the minimum monthly payments requested by your card issuer. These can be made from your bank account or from your savings account.

Pace yourself! Don't get all excited and apply for 6 credit cards after reading this. You need to convince the lenders that you are in control and that you can meet your debt repayments. The more applications you make in a short period of time, the more you look like a desperate borrower. Each time you apply for credit (a new credit card, a personal loan, a free finance offer on some furniture, a new mobile contract etc), the lender will do a credit check. They will see who else you have been trying to borrow money from over the last 6 years. Experience shows that one credit check per month is perfectly acceptable as is 2 or 3 checks in one month followed by 6 months with none. Try to do no more than about 10 a year if you can

step 11

About 2 months before the end of the introductory period of your card(s), you should start researching which cards you should apply for as replacements for your current card(s).

step 12

About 5 or 6 weeks before the end of the introductory period you should start to apply for your new card(s).

step 13

As soon as you get your new card(s), ask the new card issuer to do a balance transfer from your existing credit card(s) so that you pay them off in full before the end of the introductory period. Keep a close eye on this. If there is any chance that the balance transfer will not go through before the end date of your introductory period, then cancel the balance transfer request and pay the existing cards off from the money in your savings account (known as your 'Stooz Pot'). Whatever happens, you do not want to pay any interest at all.

step 14

Once you have paid off your original cards, ask the card issuers to close the accounts and ask them to inform the credit reference agencies of the closure.

step 15

At this point you have moved your 'debt' from your first set of credit cards to your second set of credit cards while keeping all the money in your savings account. Ensure you that you adhere to the Ts & Cs of these new cards and pay them off by the end of their introductory periods, exactly as you did with the first set.

step 16

2 months before the new cards start charging interest, start researching cards for your next set ... and so the process continues to repeat itself. And guess what? Many card issuers will let you apply as a new customer if you have not had an account with them for at least 6 months, so if you closed down your old credit card accounts when they came to the end of their introductory period, then you can reapply for them in the future.

Still got questions? ask them in the Stoozing Forum

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