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@smoothjk wrote:
Other than the obvious stuff, like "don't waste money, use it to pay your credit cards" ...
My question is more about ... method?
Like, should I try to pay down balances as soon as the next statement (with a due date) appears? Would this help avoid at least some interest from accruing? Should I try paying when it still says "$0 current payment due"?
How much faster does the balance go down if I do, say, twice the minimum? How long would it take to pay down if I was paying minimums or barely above?
Is it good to pay a big chunk once per month? When? Or is it somehow better to pay two smaller payments every two weeks or so?
/end
I realize there might not be any easy answers to these questions, but I just thought I'd take a shot. Sometimes, surprising info appears on these boards.
@smoothjk wrote:
Thanks for the informative responses so far, despite my lack of transparency. "Woopah," are you a "Friends" fan by any chance?
Here's more info:
I have basically two open credit cards and a few closed accounts (before I came to this forum, I thought closing was a good thing because "Hey, with less temptation, that's gotta make me a better credit risk, right?").
One of them is a BofA that has shot up to 24.99% APR (from 14.99%, I think) after a couple of lates in 2006. It has about $10K with a total limit of $13.6. Minimum payment of $239 -- part of the balance is still in a promotional 1.9% APR, bringing my effective APR to about 17% for now.
The other is a Capital One, 14.99% APR, and carries $2.7K out of $6.5K total. Minimums are $57 a month.
Summary:
BofA - 24.99% APR, ~17% until Jan. 2009, $10K/$13.6 balance, $239 minimum.
Capital One - 14.99% APR, $2.7K/$6.5K balance, $57 minimum.
For a few months, I've been paying about $300 to the BofA per month, and $100 to the Capital One. I'm soon going to switch that to about $400-500 a month to the BofA, and keep the Capital One at about $100 per month.
Hope this info helps for some more specific advice! Thanks.
smoothjk wrote:
Thanks for the informative responses so far, despite my lack of transparency. "Woopah," are you a "Friends" fan by any chance?
Here's more info:
I have basically two open credit cards and a few closed accounts (before I came to this forum, I thought closing was a good thing because "Hey, with less temptation, that's gotta make me a better credit risk, right?").
One of them is a BofA that has shot up to 24.99% APR (from 14.99%, I think) after a couple of lates in 2006. It has about $10K with a total limit of $13.6. Minimum payment of $239 -- part of the balance is still in a promotional 1.9% APR, bringing my effective APR to about 17% for now.
The other is a Capital One, 14.99% APR, and carries $2.7K out of $6.5K total. Minimums are $57 a month.
Summary:
BofA - 24.99% APR, ~17% until Jan. 2009, $10K/$13.6 balance, $239 minimum.
Capital One - 14.99% APR, $2.7K/$6.5K balance, $57 minimum.
For a few months, I've been paying about $300 to the BofA per month, and $100 to the Capital One. I'm soon going to switch that to about $400-500 a month to the BofA, and keep the Capital One at about $100 per month.
Hope this info helps for some more specific advice! Thanks.If I were faced with this senerio. I would pay $57.00 per month on the Capital One and pay $443 - $543 towards the BOA. After the BOA is paid off continue paying the $500 - $600 towards remaining ballance on the Cap1. If you keep spending to a minimum in the payoff time period you should be able to have it knocked out completely in about 24 months. I would deinitely work on the BOA first since it is right now till January 2% higher then your cap1, after january it shoots up to 10% higher. Good part of it all is your hovering right around the 700 mark on all 3 CRAs. When you get your Util down to under 9% you will see a big score increase. as your score goes up You may see offers coming in for 0% financing BT offers for say 6 month. Read the fine print and if it cost you less transfer fees then it does interest. It may pay to bounce the debt around.