furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

Has anyone done this?

I hate credit cards - I have a great credit score and I use it, but I pay it off in full every month. I can't stand lingering debt.

I was contemplating opening up a furniture store credit card that is 0 interest if paid in full by a year. I would have it paid off, but I just hate the whole idea of it...I guess because I know they want you to NOT be able to pay it off in a year and then hit you with interest.

Can anyone share their experience? The good, the bad, and the ugly?

Do a lot of people do this?

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

I did it with JC Penney when I bought my new sectional bc they offered an additional 10% off if you chose that payment plan. We went in planning on paying in full off the bat so we just paid it off the following month. I'm not a fan either. If you do not pay it off, you get hit with all the accrued interest. I hate having monthly payments hanging over my head, there are enough already that can't be controlled so the idea of adding another is unappealing. And I don't see the point of not paying month to month and then paying in full at the end. Those things have a way of not working out IMO and then that interest is added. So unless there is additional incentive to open the card like I had, I would not.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

Good points......I was wondering if you DO pay it off early (or right away, as you did) if there is a penalty?

I will have to find out. I always feel like they try to get you one way or another! I am so distrustful of credit cards and their antics.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

We do it with a lot of things - LOVE no - interest financing. However, certain companies - you have to spend a certain amount to get no interest financing. For example, I had to spend 2500 to get no interest financing through raymour and flanigan until 2013 :)

No penalties if you pay it up before though. And there is still a minimum payment most of the time!

Message edited 3/23/2011 11:38:23 PM.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

We got no interest financing through Rooms Unlimited. It wasn't a credit card but you pay more for the furniture if you finance it so you are paying either way. I didn't like the service, they were awful and just didn't care so I don't recommend them. Any furniture shopping I'll go to R&F or Bobs.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

We did it like 5 or 6 yrs ago with Levitz when they were around. It was 2 years no interest/no payments but if you don't pay it off in the 2 years all the interest from those 2 years gets added on. We paid it off so it worked out for us... loved that we didn't have to shell out all that money up front.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

I never liked doing this either. But then we bought a house and we were pretty broke after the closing so we had to. We did 0% financing for a year for our furniture through Raymour & Flannigans and we finished paying it off a couple months early. I'm really glad we did it, otherwise we probably would have gotten not-so-nice furniture and I'd regret it.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

When we moved to SC and had to buy furniture this is what we did.

We got 3 years interest free as long as we make their minimum payment.

We also usually do this when we buy appliances/electronics.

We always make sure we watch the 0% period and pay it off.

I would not want to be stuck with the interest at the end.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

i have...and i thought it was great. i didn't have all the money up front, so it allowed me to get the furniture i wanted and not have to settle. I did it because i knew i could pay it off in the timeframe & handle the monthly payments. If i was unsure that i could pay it off within the time frame, i would not have used the interest free credit cards.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

I don't like owing anyone money and hate monthly payments, BUT we just did tons of work and the idea of laying out $3K for new couches and a recliner for the living room was too much... so we did do it at R&F, no interest until 2014. Right now we are paying it monthly, but we plan to pay the whole thing off early...I am happy we did it... but I would not do it often, it was a big purchase and good timing this time tho!

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

DH and I did this when we first moved in together and had nothing. We got 4 years interest free financing and paid it off in just under the 4 years. When we got our first bill I calculated how much we needed to pay each month and paid that amount until we were down to like $200 and then paid that in full.
THey can catch you if you miss a payment, some will back charge you all the interest, so setting up and automatic payment can be helpful.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

I did this with the bed we bought a few years ago. We got one year interest free so I just divided the payments by 12 and watched the due date. I also hate oweing money but if it is interest free I don't think its necessary to pay it off at once - you're better off taking that money and putting it somewhere that earns interest IMO.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

Thanks so much for all the responses!

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

I've done this before and I plan on doing this again soon when we buy a new sectional - just make sure that you pay it off in time or you get hit with all of the interest.

I usually pay my credit cards off in full each month too so it was hard for me to do at first but, it's worth it.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

DH and I are the same way - we believe in paying cash for everything.

However, we have done the 0 interest thing several times. We just did it with our bedroom furniture. We have the $$ set aside to pay for it, but we would rather have the cash sitting in our account than spend it. We just make sure we pay it off in the specified time.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

just make sure you ask them what the cost of the furniture would be WITH the financing and WITHOUT. a lot of stores are offering the interest free financing and you think they are getting most of their money back from people who don't pay in full on time. but now stores are charging you more for the item than if you did not choose the financing.

we purchased a new sectional earlier this year. i did not plan on using their financing and got a pretty nice deal on it (let's say it was $1500). i then asked about the financing and he flat out told me he would have to charge me $1700 for the couch if we used their interest free financing. i'm not sure if they all do this, this is just my experience at one store. my advice, better to ask.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

We do this. Buy furniture on a store card, no intrest, pay it off before time and cancel the card.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

We have done it with Levitz, Home Depot (although HD you need to send the minimum now each month) and fortunoffs.

We have never had any issues and both DH and I have great credit scores.

We have a spreadsheet with all our bills each month where we track everything so I just put a notice in the workbook a month or 2 prior to its payoff date, as well as marking it on the calendar in our home office so we can't mistakenly forget.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

When DH & I got married, we moved in together. We paid for the wedding ourselves so furnishing an apartment from SCRATCH was expensive. We did the interest free financing, got 2 or 3 years of no interest and we paid it all off before the term expired. Worked out perfectly for us.

I'd do it again if we needed to.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

We do this all the time

For example we had a large purchase over 12k with ethan allen, instead of taking the money from our savings, and plunking it down, god forbid of an emergency we might of needed it

Instead we just paid 1000 a month and it was paid off before time.
Why give them all your money up front if you don't have to


Now if you are going to spend thousands and dont have any way of paying it off after the no interest period is over then thats something totally different

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

i've done it with JCP and Crate and Barrel and it was so worth it IMO.

Re: furniture & no interest for a year credit cards

I don't carry a balance so don't focus on the interest rates on my cards.

I prefer cash back cards.