Updated 25 April 2009:  Due to many changes in offers from this copany, this article was pulled to prevent confusion.

On Friday, February 15th, yet another 0% apr no fee balance transfer offer will be removed from the market. This time it is one of the best offers available, the Citi Home Rebate card. This credit card offered a 0% APR on balance transfers for a full year.

Once Friday comes, there will only be two solid 0% APR, no fee balance transfer offers left on the market, neither of which offer a 0% interest rate for 1 year. These no fee cards offer 0% rates for 6 and 9 months respectively.

If you’re looking to transfer a balance to Citi Home Rebate card before the no fee balance transfer offer expires, you can do so at SmartBalanceTransfers.com before the offer expires. Additionally, you can view all current no fee balance transfer offers at our website at any time.

I received an email from a visitor detailing a bad balance transfer situation that she wanted me to share with other visitors. The visitor received a mail offer from her current credit card company offering her a 0% APR on balance transfers for 1 year. When she received the offer, she had a $5000 balance with the company extending the 0% offer and a $3000 balance with another company. Hoping she could save some money and consolidate her payments, the visitor initiated the balance transfer. That’s where the problems began.

First, she was charged a $75 balance transfer fee. If you’ve been here before, you know I strongly recommend no fee balance transfer credit cards. However, the $75 in balance transfer fees was only the tip of the iceberg. When the visitor made payments to her consolidated credit card bill, she was surprised to find out that every dollar she paid reduced the portion of her debt being charged 0% interest, not the balance being charged 14%. Fortunately, she realized this nasty credit card trick after only a few statements.

After finding my site on Google, she applied for a no fee balance transfer card and sent me an email asking that I share her story with my visitors. I was more than happy to oblige as this highlights one of the nastiest little tricks in the credit card industry. Buried in the fine print of just about every credit card’s terms and conditions will be a statement such as this: every payment will be applied to the balance with the lowest interest rate. In a nutshell, this means that if you have a balance on your credit card and you are offered a 0% balance transfer deal, you’re best off putting it in the shredder and consolidating your credit balances on a new 0% APR credit card that charges no balance transfer fees.

Updated April 25th 2009:  Due to the constantly changing nature of offers from this company, we recommend referring to www.capitalone.com for details on these offers.  However, at the time of publication, in December of 2008, no fee balance transfers were available.

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.

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.