5k in debt, how bad is this???

[Anonymous]

So I have a total of 15 cards of which I own on 7 of them. I just did a balance transfer to my penfed promise card for the 12/mo @4.99% to pay less interest and only make 1 payment. But I wonder if this amount of debt is keeping my scores down and if moving it to 1 card will hurt things further. I was feeling a little stressed with multiple payments so I decided it was best to move them to my largest limit it card (19.5k). Total utl is 11% which shouldn't  change but now it's all one 1 vs spread out on 7. I'm still working on rebuilding from a bk in 2012 and while that is already 5 years behind me, I didn't start rebuilding until last year. 

[MyLoFICO]

A single card at 25% UTIL @ 4.99%apr is a good move. Pay it down quickly but you will be fine. Just don't add to it or run the other cards back up. 

[grillandwinemaster]

I agree with MyLoFico, you made a good move.  A single card at 25% uti is considered good.  Of course

under 10% would be best.  I am in the same boat as you are.  At my peak, I had about 15-20 credit card

accounts I was managing.  That became very stressful, real fast.  I'm down to only 5 open accounts, with

only 1 card reporting a $4,500 balance.  However, my $4,500 constitutes a maxed out card, to your 25%.

Personally, I was happy to close most of my accounts.  I don't know if that's something you would consider

doing.  Different strokes for different folks.  Hang in there, we can do this!

Best credit wishes to you!

[HeavenOhio]

Because we don't know what your total credit limits add up to, we don't know if you're positioned for your best possible score or something below that. But ~25% on a single card with the rest reporting zero is going to keep all of your lenders happy. Nothing's going to raise a red flag.

Under 9% gets you the best possible scoring for overall utilization. You may be there already. If not, I'd guess you're fairly close.

[grillandwinemaster]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

Because we don't know what your total credit limits add up to, we don't know if you're positioned for your best possible score or something below that. But ~25% on a single card with the rest reporting zero is going to keep all of your lenders happy. Nothing's going to raise a red flag.

Under 9% gets you the best possible scoring for overall utilization. You may be there already. If not, I'd guess you're fairly close.

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I think  OP is at 11% total uti, so he's real close to the 9% or under for total.  25% exposure on the single card.

[HeavenOhio]

I missed the part about 11% utilization. The OP's in excellent shape right now. Paying off a thousand dollars or so should ice the cake with a score bump.

[Anonymous]

The plan is to put every extra penny in to pay down this amount. By summer I plan to be down at least 1500 dollars.... however I go on vacation in July and need new clothes for it and of course some of my spending money will end up on the card. Then I'll come back and start paying down again but I need to fly to miami beach  for thanksgiving and book a hotel as my family is all out there this year.... that's an expensive city! OMG! And I can never go into target because well, they have such cool stuff. Ugh! It's hard not to spend  

[AverageJoesCredit]

No worries CJ, i did this myself, move all debt to one card with 0% promos and attack that one card. This is my plan to eliminate my cc debt. . I only wish my card had a 19k limit

[Anonymous]

When you start to feel the pressure of making your payments for whatever reason, dont worry about your score.....

Make your moves to take the pressure off of you so you can focus on paying your bills...

The last thing you should focus on is your score at this point. If moving it to one card will help you pay it down and ease your stress then do it. Your scores will recover.

You are not in a position where a good scroe will matter as the last thing you should be doing is seeking credit in this situation. So if they drop, who cares. If you get a CLD, who cares. Pay you debt, get in a comfortable place, and move forward.

5K may not be that much to some and may be the end of the world to others.

You made a good move, your just worried about the wrong thing....

[grillandwinemaster]

Very well put! 

Worrying about scores when in debt is akin to "not being able to see the Forest, because of the trees!"