My wife has a card that has a $12000 balance at 12.9% interest. I was thinking of taking advantage of the NFCU BT special for 2.9% @ 12 years. We have a budget of about $1000 a month to pay it down. I'm afraid if I assume this balance transfer it will jack up my utilization for my card which currently has a zero balance on a $18,000 CL.
Are there any other ways to approach this? I was thinking of asking for another increase (I just received one in January) so at least it doesn't look like my utilization is so high.
Thanks in advance.
@sdsoccerdad wrote:@Anonymous wife has a card that has a $12000 balance at 12.9% interest. I was thinking of taking advantage of the NFCU BT special for 2.9% @ 12 years. We have a budget of about $1000 a month to pay it down. I'm afraid if I assume this balance transfer it will jack up my utilization for my card which currently has a zero balance on a $18,000 CL.
Are there any other ways to approach this? I was thinking of asking for another increase (I just received one in January) so at least it doesn't look like my utilization is so high.
Thanks in advance.
I'm thinking you meant to type MONTHS here not years. But I would not worry about util % personally if you have $1000/mo to throw at that balance. Util % really only matters if you are looking to maximize your score for a mortgage or car loan. You will be paying that balance down quick enough that in 6-8 mo you will be below 30% util on the card. So as long as you don't have any plans for a major credit purchase in the next 12 mo I say go for it...and quick! That extra 10% interest on that high of a balance adds up! Good luck!
@FroggieMom wrote:I'm thinking you meant to type MONTHS here not years. But I would not worry about util % personally if you have $1000/mo to throw at that balance. Util % really only matters if you are looking to maximize your score for a mortgage or car loan. You will be paying that balance down quick enough that in 6-8 mo you will be below 30% util on the card. So as long as you don't have any plans for a major credit purchase in the next 12 mo I say go for it...and quick! That extra 10% interest on that high of a balance adds up! Good luck!
Yes, Months For the car loan, I was possibly thinking of going for a car loan but may have to think that one over now. Also confirming that I don't have any major credit card purchases in the next year other than an emergency one that I have no control over.
Initially I was thinking of just paying $500 a month but thought if I can pay it down in one year, that would be awesome on all levels.
Thanks!
You can also consider moving only $9,000 to the NFCU card, throw the $1,000 per month at the existing card balance, minimum (or 2x minimum) on the NFCU until the $3k is gone, then shift to paying heavily on the NFCU.
