the richest man in atherstone

2005 is nearly over and a new year is just around the corner.

Since I began to follow the advice in George S. Clason's 'The Richest Man in Babylon' I now have a fatter purse and have controlled my expenditures. I've enjoyed the last 8 months and feel a great satisfaction for what I've achieved. I also feel a lot more financially secure and consumer-savvy.

Looking back, I have managed to achieve the target I set to create a £4'500 Emergency Fund by saving regularly. I started off with £2'600 of savings and have added £200 to that over the last 7 months. I've also managed to reduce the following expenditures:

• Telephone Bill
• ISP Bill
• Gas & Electric
• Petrol

I've also ensured that I get a little bit of money back whenever I make a purchase, using my Cashback Credit Card as well as taking adavantage of any offers available to make quick and easy Free Money.

Now that my Emergency Fund is in place, I plan to use the savings I make in 2006 in more interesting and exciting Investment Vehicles. I haven't decided what exactly but Premium Bonds look like a good idea, as well as Guaranteed Equity Bonds, Gilts, Regular Savings Accounts, Investment Funds and think I may even dabble on the stock market. I think I'm going to enjoy investing my money over the next 12 months.

The other day, I came across an interesting way of making money using Credit Cards. While I was investigating Cashback Credit Cards, I came across this website, which explained a technique called stoozing.

The basic idea is that you apply for a credit card that offers an introductory 0% balance transfer option. You then transfer the balance of the credit card to a savings account and earn interest on the borrowed money. You must remember to make the minimum monthly payments and, at the end of the introductory period, you must pay back the balance to the credit card in full. This can either be done by witdrawing the money from your savings account and transferring it back to the credit card or applying for another credit card (with a 0% balance transfer introductory offer) and shifting the balance to that. The interest earned would be yours to keep.

The amount of money that can be earned using this technique varies depending on your Savings Account interest rate, the credit limit of the card, the term of the introductory offer and the minimum monthly payment. As an example, say you get a credit card with:

• 0% balance transfers for 6 months
• £10'000 credit limit
• minimum monthly payments of £10

and a savings account with a 3.5% NET interest rate.

You would shift the balance of the credit card to your savings account and every month you would collect the interest in your savings account and pay the minimum payment (£10) on the credit card. Over 5 months, this would be:

• Month 1 - Balance: £10'000, Interest earned: £29.16
• Month 2 - Balance: £9'990, Interest earned: £29.13
• Month 3 - Balance: £9'980, Interest earned: £29.10
• Month 4 - Balance: £9'970, Interest earned: £29.07
• Month 5 - Balance: £9'960, Interest earned: £29.05

At around this point you would pay back the remaining balance on the credit card and keep the interest for yourself. In this simplified example, you would earn £145.51 for relatively little work.

This looks like a great opportunity to me but I'm going to delay experimenting with this technique for the time being. The main reason is that I don't want to screw up my credit rating by applying for too many credit cards. We're planning on moving house at the beginning of next year and I want to make sure that I can get the mortgage I want. However, when we're moved and settled, this method looks to be a fantastic idea to make a bit of extra money and I'll definetly be trying it out.

For more in-depth details of the technique take a look at www.stoozing.com.