$33k of credit card debt and fair credit - how can I pay it off without accruing more interest?

[Anonymous]

Hey all,

New to the forums. I have about $33k of credit card debt, and my FICO score just rose above 700, but I have a number of recent hard inquires, and have been rejected by a few banks recently . I'm wondering if there is a way to secure a card with a relatively high credit line and 0% intro APR so I can transfer some of this debt , to prevent it from  accruing further interest while I pay it off. Any suggestions would be appreciated by this credit newbie!

Thanks,

Rob

[Discover2016]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey all,

New to the forums. I have about $33k of credit card debt, and my FICO score just rose above 700, but I have a number of recent hard inquires, and have been rejected by a few banks recently . I'm wondering if there is a way to secure a card with a relatively high credit line and 0% intro APR so I can transfer some of this debt , to prevent it from  accruing further interest while I pay it off. Any suggestions would be appreciated by this credit newbie!

Thanks,

Rob

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Honestly, the best thing you can in this situation is cut back on expenses and start paying down the debt, the last thing you want is to get approved for a $500 limit which would do you no good.

[Anonymous]

Your likely getting denied for new credit because of increasing utlization over the past months or years, when the banks see utilization patterns going up this is seen as a warning sign that you have taken on more debt than you can handle.  Most likley you won't get approved for any zero percent interest cards that will allow you to transfer a significant chunk of that 30k. My suggestion would be to work on a budget that allows you to pay off a decent chunk of that over the coming months to change the tide of denials.  If you want more specific information you should post income, AAOA, information on your credit card limits and balances and actual fico scores.  With that information someone might have some better short term solutions. 

[Anonymous]

If you have good income and no bad things on your credit-maybe...... MAYBE.... a credit union, either DCU, NFCU, Penfed, Or a local one... would give you a debt consolidation loan but it would probably require talking to a loan officer and explaining your situation and providing income docs. Even then it's a maybe.

Other than that if you have any other creidt cards already open maybe they have a Balance Transfer option for you.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey all,

New to the forums. I have about $33k of credit card debt, and my FICO score just rose above 700, but I have a number of recent hard inquires, and have been rejected by a few banks recently . I'm wondering if there is a way to secure a card with a relatively high credit line and 0% intro APR so I can transfer some of this debt , to prevent it from  accruing further interest while I pay it off. Any suggestions would be appreciated by this credit newbie!

Thanks,

Rob

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To give you a plan of action we would need to know what cards you have, and what the present limits and balances are.

But I agree with the other posters that your best bet at this point is to just bite the bullet and start paying things down.

I think the most workable method is the 'snowball' method:

1. stop using your credit cards

2. pay down the card with smallest balance, while paying minimum + $5 on all the other cards each month

3. after smallest balance is paid off, tackle the next smallest balance... and so on.

The passage of time + the absence of new inquiries + the absence of new accounts + the aging of your existing accounts + the reduced utilization = higher scores

[Anonymous]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey all,

New to the forums. I have about $33k of credit card debt, and my FICO score just rose above 700, but I have a number of recent hard inquires, and have been rejected by a few banks recently . I'm wondering if there is a way to secure a card with a relatively high credit line and 0% intro APR so I can transfer some of this debt , to prevent it from  accruing further interest while I pay it off. Any suggestions would be appreciated by this credit newbie!

Thanks,

Rob

---

To give you a plan of action we would need to know what cards you have, and what the present limits and balances are.

But I agree with the other posters that your best bet at this point is to just bite the bullet and start paying things down.

I think the most workable method is the 'snowball' method:

1. stop using your credit cards

2. pay down the card with smallest balance, while paying minimum + $5 on all the other cards each month

3. after smallest balance is paid off, tackle the next smallest balance... and so on.

The passage of time + the absence of new inquiries + the absence of new accounts + the aging of your existing accounts + the reduced utilization = higher scores

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+1 I agree. Take a deep breath and committ to a long-term plan and above all, stick to the plan. Focus on needs vs wants. Good luck in your journey. (Happy to have you participate in the forums. )

[degs138]

My advice would be one:

1) Stop using your cards

2) Map out all of your expenses and your income and come up with a monthly plan on paying down cards.  Whatever the amount you can pay down is, stick to this ammount and only exceed it, never come up short.

2) Pay down the card with the highest intrest rate first, making minimum payments on other cards.

2) Proceed onto the next card with the highest intrest rates while paying other cards mimum payments.

3) After 3 - 6 months of your credit utilization going down you may look into a balance transfer card.  I could only give you advice if you listed all your cards with balances and your total revolving credit for all your cards.

4) Keep paying down cards with the highest interest first.

5) Once you pay everything off learn to only use Credit cards like cash.  Don't spend anything that you don't have avaliable to cover in your checking/savings account.  Credit cards are great if you never pay interest.  If you pay interest or get into the habit of paying interest you might as well stop using them as they are only making you poor.

[MyLoFICO]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey all,

New to the forums. I have about $33k of credit card debt, and my FICO score just rose above 700, but I have a number of recent hard inquires, and have been rejected by a few banks recently . I'm wondering if there is a way to secure a card with a relatively high credit line and 0% intro APR so I can transfer some of this debt , to prevent it from  accruing further interest while I pay it off. Any suggestions would be appreciated by this credit newbie!

Thanks,

Rob

---

To give you a plan of action we would need to know what cards you have, and what the present limits and balances are.

But I agree with the other posters that your best bet at this point is to just bite the bullet and start paying things down.

I think the most workable method is the 'snowball' method:

1. stop using your credit cards

2. pay down the card with smallest balance, while paying minimum + $5 on all the other cards each month

3. after smallest balance is paid off, tackle the next smallest balance... and so on.

The passage of time + the absence of new inquiries + the absence of new accounts + the aging of your existing accounts + the reduced utilization = higher scores

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I see you are new so I am going to try and make using this site as easy on you as possible. First, take nothing here personally. Your struggle is not unique to you but your story is well documented here and many different plans of attack have been tried by many members. You came here for help and that is the first step. Now just take in the information offered and understand it rather than taking any of it as a frontal assault on your budgeting and spending habits. There are some brilliant folks on this site but they do not sugar coat it. The time for that is past for you and me anyway. 

That being said, My situation is almost identical to yours. 32k in debt, lots of cards, denials and no pre-quals and I am looking for a way out. So, I feel your pain. If I had my own thread it would be darn near identical to your post. I only read it because it struck such a chord with me in regards to my situation. We even have the same name. I just hope I am not talking to my "other earth" self via an interdeminsional tear in the time-space continuum, that could be bad. 

I have been attacking my debt for only a month or so since I stopped using my cards. But the plan I am using is this one posted by SouthJamaica. It seems to be working. I have $4k in tax refunds coming this week so I will get a small boost from that which should help. 

[Anonymous]

I get emails that say I am qualified for unsecured, personal loans for $40,000 alot.  Since most of my profile is credit cards, it would even help diversity of my portfolio.  Maybe you can try that.  You must stop spending on your cards though.  Would suck to owe $33,000 on a loan and watch your CC debt rise back up real high again shortly.  Seems like most CC companies would simply feel like they don't want to take on your debts you can't handle.  It's also hard getting a starting limit of that size.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all for the helpful suggestions. It is refreshing to see people offer sound advice with no personal gain other than helping someone who is struggling. It looks like I underestimated the total debt. Here is the breakdown, any further advice would be greatly appreciated!

AAOA: 3 years and 2 months.

Citibank:

Mastercard, Citi ThankYou Plus and Checking Plus (credit line)

18.75% APR (v)

Total Balance: $12,507.42

Total Credit Line: $23,900

Chase: (Sapphire Reserve)

APR:16.49% (v)

Balance: 13,930.32

Total Credit Line: $13,000

Discover: (Discover it)

APR: Balance is all from a transfer, 0% until July 2017, then 19.49% V

Balance: $2,467.38

Total Credit Line: $15,000