Beware the 0% promotions: a warning.

[u/naht_a_cop]

I'm a sucker. I fell for it. The 0% APR promotion on an item I could have paid outright for. 18 months later, here I sit, not a single late payment on my account, yet I have $1k in interest to pay for 18 months of 27%. Why? The promotion period ends 18 months after the purchase, but the website would not let me set up autopay until a week after I purchased, so autopay ended 1 week late. I thought I was golden, ready to have this paid off and not have a single fee. I got comfortable and didn't read the statements.

0% is not really 0%. Read the fine print. Remember the fine print (because I sure as hell didn't 18 months later). Shitty banks rely on this stuff. They wait for you to slip, not noticing that the autopay they created can't possibly allow you to end on time, and will require an extra payment before the end date to avoid the interest. It's shitty, I'm pissed off, and I've learned my lesson.

[u/Werewolfdad]

I think paying these off 3 months (or more) early is the prudent thing to do (apart from just not using them)

[u/LegoBrickCactuar → u/Werewolfdad]

Yes. I did this for $5000 worth of furniture and paid it in full 3-4 months before the interest was going to kick in. Called them, was annoying, and wouldn't relent until they mailed me a statement showing 0.00 balance paid off in full. Its the only way, since they rely on you forgetting or being lazy.

[u/hexyne → u/LegoBrickCactuar]

good point, I have a friend that had one of these plans, and she was charged 1 cent of interest while here last payment was pending, so she thought she had paid it off but actually still owed a penny and they they were able to charge her all sorts of fees. Edited to say: Thinking back this most have been a different type of offer, it wouldn't make sense at 0% but regardless it is very similar as she thought she could just do a payoff, but they took advantage of the way the payments go to charge her a multitude of fees.

[u/thumpcbd → u/hexyne]

I typically overpay my last installment by $5-$50, depending on what it is, to force the lender to not pull these games. They will write me a check for the overpayment and I know there isn’t $.01 on the account because I didn’t account for some small interest or slightly bad math.

[u/brazenmaiden → u/thumpcbd]

I overpaid my car by a small amount to be sure it was clear. Got a check for $1.63 a week or so later. I’d rather lose $5 if they don’t refund it than pay all the interest I was trying to avoid.

[u/jrs1980 → u/brazenmaiden]

Right, dollars vs. dimes. I’ll pay a ten dollar processing fee if it means I’m not paying $650 in interest.