While most of us are taught to treat credit card debt like a radioactive substance, there is a specific, tactical way to use it that actually puts money back in your pocket.
Martin Lewis has long championed a move known as stoozing, which effectively involves taking the banks for a ride by using their own interest-free offers against them. The idea is simple: instead of spending your own cash, you live off a 0% spending card and shove your actual wages into a high-interest savings account. By the time the interest-free period ends, you’ve built up a tidy sum of interest on money that wasn’t even yours to begin with.
It sounds like a bit of a loophole, but if you’re disciplined enough to never miss a payment and avoid the temptation to overspend, it’s one of the few ways to turn a boring plastic card into a genuine profit-making machine. It’s not for the faint-hearted or the unorganised, but for those who can play the system, it’s basically free money from the big lenders. Here’s what you need to know about trying it for yourself.
Stoozing is pretty straightforward.
Stoozing is all about using borrowed money without paying interest, then making that money work for you. Again, the basic idea is to take advantage of 0% credit card offers, where you can spend or borrow without being charged interest for a set period. Instead of using your own cash for everyday spending, you put those purchases on the credit card and keep your actual money sitting in a savings account.
That means your own money stays untouched and earns interest while the credit card balance sits at 0%. When the interest-free period ends, you simply use the savings to pay off the card in full. The extra interest you’ve earned along the way is yours to keep, which is where the “free cash” comes from.
Some people are making over £1,200 a year doing this.
On his podcast, Martin Lewis spoke to a couple who had built up around £30,000 using this approach. Instead of letting that money sit in a current account earning very little, they placed it in a high-interest savings account paying around 4%. At that level, £30,000 can generate roughly £1,200 a year in interest.
That’s the key to making it worthwhile. The larger the amount you’re able to stooze, and the better the savings rate you find, the more you can earn. Some people also combine this with other tactics like bank switching bonuses, which can add even more on top, although those are separate from the stoozing itself.
Of course, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Even though the idea is straightforward, the execution takes discipline. You have to keep track of when your 0% deal ends, make sure you never miss a payment, and avoid spending more than you normally would just because you’ve got access to credit. If you slip up on any of those, the interest charges can wipe out any profit very quickly.
There’s also a mindset challenge. You’re effectively sitting on a large amount of debt, even though it’s controlled and temporary. Not everyone is comfortable with that, and for good reason. If you lose track of it or your financial situation changes, it can become stressful rather than helpful.
Martin Lewis warns people of several risks with this practice.
Martin Lewis is very clear that stoozing is not for everyone. It only works if you’re financially organised and able to stick to a plan without drifting off course. Missing even one minimum payment can end your 0% deal early, which means interest kicks in straight away and the whole strategy falls apart.
There’s also the risk of relying too heavily on credit. Even though you’re not paying interest at first, you’re still borrowing money. If you don’t have the savings set aside ready to clear the balance at the end, you could end up in a worse position than when you started. That’s why this is often described as a technique for people who are already confident managing their finances.
The average person can make it work, but it’s not for everyone.
The main takeaway isn’t that everyone should rush out and try stoozing. It’s that there are ways to make your money work harder if you understand how the system works. For most people, simply making sure their savings are in a decent interest account will be the easier and safer win.
Stoozing sits at the more advanced end of money-saving tricks. Done properly, it can bring in hundreds or even over £1,000 a year without extra work. Done badly, it can cost you. That’s why Martin Lewis always frames it as something to consider carefully rather than an easy shortcut.
To find out more of what Martin advises on stoozing, visit the MoneySavingExpert website.
