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 view your credit report online using the 30 day free trial from Experian to check this. For other ways to get access to your credit report, see our Credit Reports Table. Finally, you should review the risks section before proceeding.

Step 1 - Choose a Savings Account

Open up a good savings account that can be easily managed online and that pays a high interest rate. Select yours from our Savings Account Table if you don't already have one.

Step 2 - Choose your Stoozing Card(s)

Apply for 1 or 2 credit cards that offer 0% interest on balance transfers. Most card issuers now charge a fee for balance transfers so you need to choose your cards carefully. As a rule of thumb, select a card that has no fee (or a small capped fee) with at least 6 months at 0% or choose a card that has an uncapped fee but offers at least 12 months at 0%. To take the guesswork out of it, you can check a card's profitability using our Stoozing Calculator.

Step 3 - SBT cards, Routing (Muling) & Egg Money

Most balance transfer credit cards are designed to pay off another credit card debt, but there are some cards that can be used to pay money into a bank account. These are called Super Balance Transfer (SBT) cards and are the way a stoozer routes credit card money into a savings account. If the cards you chose in Step 2 are all SBT cards, then you can use them to pay money directly into a bank account and life is simple. However, to make the most of Advanced Fast Stoozing, you need to find a way of exploiting non-SBT cards too.

To get the money from a non-SBT card into a bank account you have to send it via an SBT card. This is known as 'routing' or 'muling'. If you have chosen cards that are not SBT cards, then you need a routing/muling card and should apply for one now. Although there are a number of SBT cards available, only one does not charge a fee and this is the Egg Money card. This is the routing/muling card of choice. Note that the Egg Money card does not have a 0% BT period itself, so it is solely used by the stoozer as a routing card. The steps that follow will explain stoozing with and without muling.

Step 4 - Understand Offer End Dates

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 - Understand Terms & Conditions

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

Step 6 - Stoozing with an SBT card

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 - Move to Savings Account

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 - Muling/Routing in Action

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 card that does allow a bank transfer transfer i.e. via the mule card mentioned in Step 3 (normally an Egg Money card).

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 - You've done it!

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 - Preparation for Phase 2

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 - Applying for Phase 2 Cards

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

Step 13 - Put Phase 2 Into Action

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 - Housekeeping

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 - Phase 2 in Operation

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 - And so it goes on ...

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 stooz Forum

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.

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