This is the fifth in a series of posts on my experiences with credit card arbitrage. See others here: Part 1,Part 2 ,Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
The finance charge that I got was related to the cash advance after all. To ensure that I minimized the damage, I executed Plan B from post 4, which was to pay back all the money that was borrowed. I was reluctant to do this because it dips into my emergency cash fund, but keeping the $2500 cash advance at 7% interest would be devastating to the small returns I'm expecting from this venture. I really should have verified that the cash advances were or were not covered before I payed off my car loan, but live and learn. Since a credit card company will apply any payments made to the lowest APRs first, paying everything back was the only way to avoid future finance charges. Actaully, I still expect some future finance charges because I carried the balance for a few weeks while checks were clearing.
So as of right now, I'm back at square one. Zero credit card and loan debt, but not very much money in savings either. My plan of action now is to call USAA tomorrow, verify how long the fee waiver and 0 APR is still good for on convenience checks, and if there is enough time remaining, send in two checks to myself for a total of $15000. I'm thinking two check would be easier because any amount over $10000 draws attention. I should still have plenty of time since the offer was for 60 days, and I applied on May 18th. If I execute this plan, I may still have to pay a minimal finance charge on the finance charges that I accrued on the money I paid off. This should be only on the order of a dollar a month.
Comments