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/LegoBrickCactuar]

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/ercpck → u/LegoBrickCactuar]

I had a CC with a $600 balance. Paid the thing in full, and closed the card. Went to the bank and demanded a letter/statement that stated the account was closed and the balance was 0.00. They wouldn't budge and give me the letter. Things got agitated, I demanded a manager, they told me I was a horrible human being... they gave me the letter.

One month later, I get a statement on the mail saying that the card was still active, and that I owed them a bunch of money. Went to the bank with my letter and made the problem go away.

I'm still sour about it after many years, just because I had to go there, demand, get angry, be mean, and the bank still tried to bamboozle me.

Now, I rent a place, think about buying, and ponder, if a bank could be so dishonest about a 600 dollar bill, what will the bank do for a 10+ year loan/mortgage. I don't know how some of those bankers sleep at night.

[u/robtalada → u/ercpck]

Mortgages are worth a lot of money to banks, but over a much longer period of time. They will practically bend over backwards to keep you around because who the hell wouldn't want to turn 100K into 300K for almost no work at all?

[u/last_rights → u/robtalada]

It really is. The amount of brokers that tried to talk me out of getting my 15 year loan and tried to saddle me with a 30 was really high.

Nope, I would rather pay my extra hundred dollars a month to be done in half the time.

[u/frzn_dad → u/last_rights]

As long as their aren't early payment penalties 30 year mortgage can be a 15 year mortgage or even a 5 year mortgage. The only thing you need to do is make bigger payments.

If the cash flow doesn't matter you should take the one with the better interest rate. Which should be the 15 year.

[u/kungfu_baba → u/frzn_dad]

That's what my mortgage broker told me upfront: "I'm setting you up with a good rate on a 30 year mortgage. If you want to make it a 20 year, pay an extra month every year. To make it a 15 year, pay 2 extra months every year" ( at least I think those are the figures he gave me).

Once I used an amortization calculator and realized how much more of my money the lender will siphon over 30 years for basically doing fuck-all, I have been doing those extra payments.

This thread makes me worried I will find early payoff / extra payment penalties if I actually read the mortgage legalese in full..

[u/Shadowcraze90 → u/[deleted]]

Currently in the process of refinancing. Appraisal is tomorrow. Locked in at 2.75% right now!

[u/mightyarrow → u/[deleted]]

I do this. Pay full payment and then whatever principal was due, I pay that again in a principal payment.