I recently received an email regarding no fee balance transfer offers from Capital One. I have been aware of these offers for some time, but have not mentioned them because, although Capital One offers no fee balance transfers, they do no offer a 0% APR on balance transfers. Instead, they offer a 0% APR on purchases and, while charging no balance transfer fees, charge consumers the standard interest rate on all balance transfers.

Consequently, one can save 3% in balance transfer fees, but in all likelihood will end up paying in excess of 12% to 16% a year in interest. In a nutshell, these offers offer a negligible amount of savings compared to a no fee balance transfer credit card that offers a 0% APR for 1 year.

For more information on credit cards that offer no fee balance transfers and a 0% APR, you can review all current offers in the no fee balance transfers section of SmartBalanceTransfers.

Yes, I actually spend a lot of time searching for no fee balance transfer offers. Most of that time is wasted, as searching for these deals is like looking for D.B. Cooper. However, I did stumble upon a credit card from my favorite charity that offers no fee balance transfers for 6 months and 1.9% APR. The credit card is the Make a Wish Visa, and this is a great card because the issuer, makes a contribution to your local Make-A-Wish® chapter every time you make a purchase with your card.

Last year, I had the pleasure of making two special contributions to Make-A-Wish. The first was a donation of two Red Sox ALCS tickets (even though I’m a Yankee fan) to a young child in a wheelchair. The second donation was three Giants tickets to a young man, so he, his brother and his father could go to the game. It was great to give an experience to kids who struggle every day with illness. For a few hours, it lets them forget about their problems.

If you’re in the position to make a charitable donation, the Make a Wish foundation is a great place to consider. Extra sports tickets, concert tickets…really, little things we take for granted can really brighten someone’s day.

If you are interested in applying online for the Make A Wish Visa, you can view the online application here.

If you are interested in learning more about the Make A Wish foundation, please visit their website at www.wish.org.

Lastly, if you’d like to compare additional no fee balance transfer offers, you review all current offers in the credit card directory of Smart Balance Transfers.

Although this is miles off topic, I wanted to take a moment to comment on the unfortunate death of Brad Renfro. I had the opportunity to meet this talented and under-used actor while working as a key set production assistant on a little seen movie titled, “The Job.” One of my tasks was ushering the movie’s stars from their trailers to the set. Another task was giving cues to the actor’s. From day one, Brad Renfro proved to be a humble, friendly, and wholly unconceited young man. Over the course of the 30 day shoot, Brad and I became friendly. He spoke openly about his past problems and seemed determined to overcome them. He was, I imagine, deeply unsettled by his early fame and succumbed early to the dangers of Hollywood life. At the time I knew him, however, I thought he stood a chance of overcoming his demons.

Unfortunately, he never had a chance to step out of the Indy/B movie genre, as his many problems made him too big a risk for major film roles. And his unfortunate, untimely death will prevent him from ever demonstrating the tremendous talent he possessed.

So I offer my sincerest condolences to the friends and family of Mr. Renfo. You have lost a talented and, more importantly, a truly earnest and decent person.

No fee balance transfers are the best deal in the credit card market. Not only do you get up to 1 year to enjoy a money saving 0% APR, you can also save anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars on balance transfer fees. I’ve received a number of emails from visitors of SmartBalanceTransfers.com asking for an explanation of how it is possible to save hundreds of dollars with a no fee balance transfer, so I will answer this question here.

With 99% of credit cards, there is a 3% balance transfer fee. With most of these credit cards, the maximum balance transfer fee is $75. With others, the maximum fee is $99. With others, there is no limit on balance transfer fees. Since most credit cards charge 3% with a maximum of $75, we’ll focus on how no fee balance transfer fees help you save compared to the standard offer.

The standard balance transfer credit card charges 3% for each balance transferred, not for the total amount transferred. If, for example, you are transferring a $7500 balance from 1 credit card, you’re total balance transfer fee will be $75 or only 1% of the balance transferred. However, if you spread this amount to 3 cards with $2500 balances, your balance transfer fees skyrocket to $225 or $75 per card.

Clearly, a no fee balance transfer credit card offers substantial savings over a 0% balance transfer credit card that charges a balance transfer fee, especially when you transfer balances from multiple cards. However, when you are only transferring balances from a single card, a no fee balance transfer may not always be the best option. The reason for this is straightforward. No fee balance transfers rarely, if ever, offer a 0% APR on purchases. If you know you will be spending more money on your credit cards during the next year, apply for a credit card that offers a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers may provide more savings than a credit card that offers only 0% APR no fee balance transfers.

For example, if you spend $2000 on your old credit card with an average interest rate of 14%, you could pay up to $300 over the course of a year in interest. In other words, four times what you would pay in balance transfer fees if you only transfer one balance.

Ideally, transferring your balances to a 0% APR, no fee credit card and not using credit cards at all would save you the most money. However, if you will be using a credit card, you may want to consider applying for a no fee balance transfer credit card and a credit card that offers a 0% APR for 1 year on purchases or, to simplify things, applying for a credit card that offers a 0% APR for 1 year on both purchases and balance transfers.

At SmartBalanceTransfers.com, you can compare current 0 APR no fee balance transfer credit cards and apply online.

While saving money with a 0 APR balance transfer credit card is one of the easiest ways to cut down on monthly bills, making a costly balance transfer mistake is also very easy. Here are a few quick tips to help you maximize the money you save when transferring balances online.

1.) If you are transferring balances from more than one credit card, take advantage of a no fee balance transfer offer. Most credit card companies charge a balance transfer fee of 3% up to $75 dollars for each balance transferred. (Some credit cards have even taken the consumer un-friendly approach of putting no maximum fee on balance transfers.) However, you can avoid these altogether by applying for a no fee balance transfer credit card.

Applying for a no fee balance transfer card provide a great deal of savings if you are transferring balances from multiple cards. For example, if you transfer $3000 from one credit card, $2000 from another card, and $1500 from a third card, you’ll end up paying $180 in balance transfer fees. With a no fee balance transfer offer, all that money stays in your hands.

2.) Don’t run up new bills on your old credit cards. If you know you will be spending more money on your credit cards, you may want to apply for a credit card that offers a 0 APR on purchases as well as balance transfers. This will allow you to avoid paying interest on all of your credit card balances for a full year.

3.) Don’t rush to pay off your 0% balance. Take advantage of the 1 year interest free grace period by putting some extra cash in a high yielding savings account. At the end of the 0% period, use that money, plus the interest it has earned, to repay your credit card bill.

For more information on 0% APR no fee balance transfer credit cards, you can review current offers on Smart Balance Transfers and apply online for approval.

Although losing weight and quiting smoking are among the top New Year’s resolutions, the easiest, and perhaps best resolution should be to save money. What makes this resolution so easy? The fact that there are hundreds of ways we waste money every day.

As our specialty is credit cards, we’re dedicating our first post of the new year to simple ways to save hundreds of dollars with balance transfer credit cards. Firstly, if you carry a balance on your credit card, you probably waste about $140 for every $1000 you carry on your credit card. With a 0% balance transfer, then, you can save $520 by transferring a balance of $3000. Not too bad for something you can accomplish online in five minutes. You can compare current 0% APR balance transfer credit cards in the card comparison section of Smart Balance Transfers.

Want another way to save money? Get a new credit card that offers a 0% interest rate on both purchases and balance transfers. With one of these credit cards, you not only save money on the interest you would be paying (wasting) on your old credit card balances, but also on any new purchases you make. You can compare these offers and apply online at Smart Balance Transfers to start saving money in minutes.

Lastly, you can add an extra fifty to seventy five dollars to your savings by apply online for a no fee balance transfer credit card. While there are only a few of these offers available, they offer yet another way to start the new year by putting extra cash in your pocket.

We wish you all a prosperous and happy new year and hope we’ve helped you kick start a plan to save money in 2008.