Applying with 50% Overall Util. for BT vs. Keeping On?

[Anonymous]

Hey, guys, it's been a while. Life's been pretty busy.

My mother's work accident has left her jobless, so I've been taking the brunt of her bills. The worst of it is over, thankfully, and I've managed to pay off one of my cards. However, my other card is roughly at 75% util., and with a ≈ 23% APR, the interest is killing me.

My profile is as such:

• 30k income
• EX score hovers between 700-710
• Chase Freedom: $1500/$2000 (75%)
• Chase Slate: $0/$1000 (0%)
• 50% Overall Utilization
• 8 Student loans on Deferment
• Oldest account ~ 5 years
• AAoA: 3 years, 1 month
• 1 INQ about to fall off next month

I didn't want to apply for something else until my Freedom util. was at least down to 50%, but the current payment I can make isn't much (~ $100) because I don't want to put the rest of the bills on the cards. The interest just eats that up (min. payment is ~ $40). Next tax return should pay it off, or at the very least lower that to almost nothing.

What should I do? Should I simply keep on until my tax return, then apply for whatever balance is left? Should I apply for a card to get a BT? I don't want to spend so much on this interest, but I also realise that I may not be given enough on any card to cover the BT.

Any thoughts? I'm really lost.

[Anonymous]

Where do you bank currently? With your income you might get a higher starting limit at a bank you have a good relationship with? Have you checked any pre-quals? I know Citi has a long 0% intro period but can be kinda stingy. With only 1 inquiry it wouldn't hurt to apply for another card to avoid paying that interest. Personally I would. 50% Utilization is normally the most any lender wants to see....

[Kevin86475391]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Where do you bank currently? With your income you might get a higher starting limit at a bank you have a good relationship with? Have you checked any pre-quals? I know Citi has a long 0% intro period but can be kinda stingy. With only 1 inquiry it wouldn't hurt to apply for another card to avoid paying that interest. Personally I would. 50% Utilization is normally the most any lender wants to see....

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Yeah, I agree. You might try just applying for any decent card with 12 months or more of 0% intro APR. Then instead of doing a BT, just funnel all bills/expenses to the new card and all money you would have been paying to bills/expenes to the Chase Freedom instead. That way you won't have any BT fees and you will also have a lot more options for 0% intro APR cards as opposed to dedicated BT cards. Of course I guess it also depends on your cash flow situation. Do you normally spend about the equivelent or more of the Freedom balance on bills/expenses every month and offset it with income? If so then I think doing it the way I mentioned is beneficial. If your new cards has rewards you'll even be able to get rewards from doing this, which never happens with BTs. On the other hand if you have relatively low expenses/bills and would only be able to 'shift' like $200-$400 a  month or something, then it's a lot less advantageous since you're paying interest in the meantime, and you probably would be better off just eating a BT fee.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Have you tried for a Discover it card? With only one inq i think its worth a shot at getting it with decent sl as they always seem to have good bt offers. I think they would like that you only have 2 cards, leaves room to make them your #1 ,lol . Best of luck

[Creditplz]

I was at about 50% UTL when I got 13.3k at nfcu??

[austinguy907]

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@Creditplz wrote:
I was at about 50% UTL when I got 13.3k at nfcu??

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I was just going to say that you'd be a prime candidate for NFCU whether through relation or Navy League of San Diego for 10-25K out of the gate with your slim profile but goo dage of accounts.  There's been several postings with similar profiles where they practically cut you a blank check for a CC / CLOC which will take some of the pressure off and cut that APR in half.  

[Anonymous]

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@austinguy907 wrote:

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@Creditplz wrote:
I was at about 50% UTL when I got 13.3k at nfcu??

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I was just going to say that you'd be a prime candidate for NFCU whether through relation or Navy League of San Diego for 10-25K out of the gate with your slim profile but goo dage of accounts.  There's been several postings with similar profiles where they practically cut you a blank check for a CC / CLOC which will take some of the pressure off and cut that APR in half.  

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Can I ask.. How do I specifically get into the san diego chapter, when i signed up, i didnt specify, but i emailed them right away, they called me about it.. and then i told them id like to belong to my local san diego chapter. But I just received my letter and card in the mail yesterday, and it stated the national or what have you.. I want to be ready once im done gardening, so i can apply for my IT and NFCU..

And to help the OP, my wife just applied for a Slate, because she wanted to consolidate a little, she had a BB citi at like 90% a CapOne at like %50 and another capone at %30. She got a good SL for the Slate ( she does not bank with chase, has an account but does get used ) and BT it all over to the slate. I know you already have one, but maybe you can apply for another no BT fee card and just BT and usually wont have to worry about interest for a year minimum (normally)

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear the worst is behind you!

Allow me to take things in a different direction.

1500 x .23 /12 == $28.75 in monthly interest

If you can pay this off when your taxes come I would just wait.  You're only 4 months away.  That $100 (or more) can be snagged back on a signup bonus some time next year when you util is lower.

I think the best thing you can do is increase your income.  Not so easy, but maybe start by trying to find a way to make that $30 a month.  It will be a moral victory against the interest and it might get you in the mindset of starting to look for a different job or advance your career.  With 8 loans in deferment I'm concerned about your long term budget even after this balance is paid off.

Keep up the good work.

[Anonymous]

Lynraquel, the place I bank with is terrible (Santander--the only reason I'm sticking around is because it's the student checking I had since 18, and there's a lot of locations where I live. Will be leaving them soon), so I'd rather not have a card with them. I'm going to do a runthrough on pre-quals and see what I get.

Kevin, I don't spend my card anymore. I'm using cash/debit until I pay this down, which is also why I can only make that amount as a minimum payment.

Creditplz, austinguy, I'll take a look into NFCU.

Dakine_Mike, yeah, I made a huge mistake applying for the Slate. Down the road I'll apply for a card that has a free EX score so that I can close it and age off the bonus.

jtfan, I'm really concerned too. This emergency stripped all of my savings. I was hoping, currently, that by forgoing the interest, I could use some of that money lost to get started on rebuilding my savings. I'm doing what I can, looking for more work. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Glad to hear the worst is behind you!

Allow me to take things in a different direction.

1500 x .23 /12 == $28.75 in monthly interest

If you can pay this off when your taxes come I would just wait.  You're only 4 months away.  That $100 (or more) can be snagged back on a signup bonus some time next year when you util is lower.

I think the best thing you can do is increase your income.  Not so easy, but maybe start by trying to find a way to make that $30 a month.  It will be a moral victory against the interest and it might get you in the mindset of starting to look for a different job or advance your career.  With 8 loans in deferment I'm concerned about your long term budget even after this balance is paid off.

Keep up the good work.

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I think this is the best option too. Excellent advice jtfan80.