My Balance Transfer Decision

Last week, I was trying to figure out what balance transfer to complete because one of my balance transfer offers was ending.

Here were the offers:
CC#2 – 6.90% for six months, no balance transfer fee
CC#3 – 7.99% for the life of the balance, no balance transfer fee

What I ended up doing is taking the offer for CC#2 and transferred $5,100. That leaves only a few dollars left on CC#4 which I will pay soon. The reason I took that offer was because I was hoping the six month timeframe would help motivate me to get it paid off. If I couldn’t pay it off, I was hoping there was a balance transfer offer I could use to shift the debt around again.

Yesterday, I received a change in terms for CC#3 in the mail. They will be imposing a maximum balance transfer fee of $250 (instead of $60).

That makes me uneasy because it seems that lately there are fewer “no balance transfer fee” offers. I felt I really fortunate with the two offers that I had to choose from. I also fear that the raising of the maximum fee for one card could signal a wind of change for other credit card companies.

I’ve refered to shifting debt around as playing the balance transfer game. I just wish I had a better look at their cards!