So you know..

2006, for a great new financially free year!

1950, A very bad practice was established.. One that actually has negative financial consequences for most Americans, Diners Club and American Express launched their charge cards in the USA, the first "plastic money".

In 1951, Diners Club issued the first credit card to 200 customers who could use it at 27 restaurants in New York. But it was only until the establishment of standards for the magnetic strip in 1970 that the credit card became part of the information age.

Just so you know, every time you transfer accounts from a higher interest to a lower interest card, or from a fixed interest to no interest card, or from one zero interest to another zero interest card as most Indians do, you damage your credit rating.

Simply because, each time you change cards.. The new credit card company does a credit check on you. The more credit checks they(credit bureau) see and the more card changes that are made simply to keep from paying off the cards, the more creditors presume you can't pay and the higher of a risk you become.

Insurance companies, for example, use your credit information to assign you a risk category. You are assigned a higher auto insurance premium if you have a lower credit rating than if you had a higher one. I also came to understand it is because there is a direct correlation between credit ratings and automobile accidents for instance.

If you go for a mortgage, you could find yourself paying a higher interest rate simply because you keep transferring balances just to avoid paying on principal.

The bottom line, is that there is a negative consequence to this kind of behavior that simply transfers balances without ever paying them off, and it actually costs you money even if you aren't aware of it.

So the best strategy is to pay off your cards as soon as you are able...Even with zero % cards....And you will actually improve your credit worthiness by doing so.