I want to transfer a credit card balance to another card that would offer me a 0% interest rate for a few months. But I'm worried that the credit crunch has made it difficult or impossible to do such balance transfers. Is this the case? A little bit about me: Citizen and resident of the USA. I have one card with a few thousand on it. I'm pretty close to maxed out; I only have a few hundred left before I reach my limit. My credit is OK but probably not excellent -- it's been a while since I've checked. I worked very steadily in the past but the situation is shaky right now. Nowadays, I get work in bits and pieces and supplement that with unemployment insurance. I have always paid my credit card bill on time and I have never exceeded the limit. I'm holding my own but not prospering.

My sister and her husband are in serious debt. My wife and I are going to act as their financial advisors to help them get it together. Can anyone recommend any programs/products we can look into? My wife is a financial genius and helped me get out of severe debt when we met. We need to do the same for my sister, KC. KC and her husband are totally on board and have seen the light once my wife laid all their bills out on paper for them. They are prepared to change their spending habits and work hard to get turned around. However, there are some challenges. The tally was basically this:

Help! What 'eight digit' number regarding my Visa credit card are the Abbey National call centre trying to get from my fiancé? We're in the UK. I have a Co-op Visa credit card. It has two important numbers you normally need to know for paying money into the account: the sixteen digit account code (card number) and the six digit 'sort code' for the bank. Fiancé, who banks with Abbey, is trying to transfer much-needed money to me using Abbey's telephone banking system, but they're being extremely unhelpful, and insisting that he must also give them an eight digit 'account number' for my card, which I've never heard of. They don't mean the card security number (it's not eight digit), and my account statement has nothing eight digit on it. Does anyone know what this number could be and how I would get it from my bank?

Does this make sense? I'd like to use a credit card "convenience check" that is offering 1.99% APR for 12 months to pay down some of our home equity loan that is hovering at 8.25%. Assuming I am very diligent and do not miss any minimum monthly payments on the credit card, can't I just pay off the credit card balance in 12 months with the HELOC? That way I get 12 months of a lower interest rate? This seems so simple, yet I can't find good guidance via Google, etc.

Is there any reason NOT to apply for an Amazon Visa card? A simple question, really: is there any risk to getting a credit card for a one-time discount and then never using it again? I'm a student with a little (positive) experience with credit cards. My current card is set to expire in August, though I'm sure Citi will try to bring me back -- but this isn't really relevant. Amazon will give me a $30 discount (as they offer everyone, I think) if I sign up for their Amazon Visa card -- Student or Regular type. Is there any reason not to sign up for it, get the discount, and never use the card again? Would it make more sense to start using this Amazon Visa card as my regular, everyday card? Its terms are among the best I could get as a student anyway.

I've paid off all my credit cards.... now what? Over the past 6 months. I have managed to zero out the balances of all my CC's down from 10k. Any help as to how long before this gets reflected in my credit score, and what if any tips you have for boosting that score. If it helps, I'm keeping the lines open, and use them sporadically for small item purchases. Thanks in Advance. It is certainly a great day when you look online and see all zeros in the cc balances. --Credit Debt Free

Applying for my first credit card soon. What should I be looking for? I'm currently in my last year of college. I have saved up some money and just received a job offer that starts next summer after I graduate. I'd like to start building credit by getting a credit card, buying a few large things that I have need for and paying them off promptly with money I already have. However, I'm absolutely clueless about credit cards. Can anyone share some information or resources so I can learn about the different rates, limits, and other policies that I need to keep in mind when I choose what to a

Applying for my first credit card soon. What should I be looking for? I'm currently in my last year of college. I have saved up some money and just received a job offer that starts next summer after I graduate. I'd like to start building credit by getting a credit card, buying a few large things that I have need for and paying them off promptly with money I already have. However, I'm absolutely clueless about credit cards. Can anyone share some information or resources so I can learn about the different rates, limits, and other policies that I need to keep in mind when I choose what to a

SketchyDebtCollectionsFilter: Someone calling and demanding payment on a credit card that was paid off and cancelled in 2002. Fraud? Error? What can be done? Asking for a friend who wanted to remain anonymous. Their words follow: Someone left a message for me today about an "overdue Mastercard" -- a "Very Serious Matter" that I needed to get back to him about immediately. I called the 800 number he left and spoke to him, at which point he brought up a Visa account I'd paid off and closed in 2002 to the best of my knowledge. I had a bad run in with credit card debt and international life and not getting mail back in the first two years of this century, but in 2002 I paid off and closed nearly all my accounts.

Do I want an American Express Gold Card? I pay off my balances every month, and have for over seven years. Right now I have a blue card that pays me cash back, and an Amazon card I use for Amazon purchases. I rarely use cash, and spend about $30,000 a year on my credit cards, including ten or so round-trip plane tickets a year and some business expenses. I make a comfortable income, but am not rich by any stretch. AmEx wants to promote me to a gold card, free for the first year, $90/year afterwards. They've been mailing me monthly with this offer. Are the benefi