@Anonymous wrote:
Instead of always worring about your FICO score and paying extra to your credit cards. You should take that extra money and have it work for you. Do you have an IRA, Roth, Univerisal Health Policy? If you said yes, you should be putting that extra money into these accounts and have it work for you, instead of putting an extra 50 or 100 dollars on a credit card, which does very little to your balance. But if you did that every month for 20 years, just about the aveage time it takes to pay off a 10k credit card, you will have a retirement savings in the 100's of thousands!!!
I'm all in favor of Roth's--I've got one myself--but IMO it's incredibly important to get a handle on credit usage first. Stop shopping, get the utilization on the cards down, and then start investing. It's not just worrying about scores--high util might result in not getting lower interest rates or higher credit limits or getting them to drop an annual fee. My money is working for me by putting me in a stronger position when I want to borrow. I don't have to pay interest or monthly minimums, and that money goes to the Roth.
Sure, I wish I'd started saving earlier, but at least we could get a 5.75% mortgage and a 6% car loan. Try doing that with high credit usage and not particularly caring about scores. I don't plan to obsess about scores forever--I figure I've got about a month's more curiosity in me--but I know that what I'm doing will pay off later.
Sorry, OP--you asked how to start paying them down, one at a time or simultaneously. You'll get a zillion answers, but probably the answer is "yes." Maybe the 75% one first, if you'd feel better. Your CCC will probably feel better! But it will feel sweet once you don't have to pay finance charges any more. good luck
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007