@mgs2010 wrote:
I have too many credit cards and too many balances, but for some reason a pretty decent score (692 EQ, 688 TU)
I owe: Limit: Interest Rate:
Bank of America 6,500 7,200 0% until Oct 2009, then 14.9V
Citi Cards 1,800 18,000 2.99 until May 2010, then 7.24 V
Chase ZERO 10,0000 currently 6.24 V
Chase Freedom ZERO 14,500 currently 7.24 V
Discover 1,100 3,100 1.9 until November 2009, then 14.9 V
HSBC MC 1,600 3,500 0% until October 2009, then 11.9 V
Capital One 1,500 7,500 1.99 for LIFE (i've been paying on this one for 2yrs now)
I'm only 21 years old and i'm really scared for what the next few months is going to do to my budget, I make about 40k/year never had any lates on anything and I am VERY on top of things when it comes to paying my bills and just want some advice on what to do///how to consolidate these
Are there any credit cards out there that I would qualify for with a BT promotional offer for 0% or something close to it? Also, are my credit lines decent enough and my ratios decent enough to qualify for a new card or will I be turned down becuase I have too much credit?
Does your Citi provide any BT offers or convenience checks any more? This is the account you have the most CL on and the next best BT rate.
If you moved all of your expiring balances to Citi, this would put a $12,500 balance on an $18,000 CL, which is just under 70%.
THE GOOD: You reduce the number of balances outstanding from 5 to just 1, which is a FICO positive. You haven't changed your percentage of total utilization, so that will be neutral. You also won't really be creating any worse of a "maxed" out card situation, because your current BoA has a percentage of over 90%. So your total Utilization will stay the same, but your individual card utilization would go from over 90% to under 70% which is a positive.
This is, however, dependent on being able to get a good BT rate. Even if the rate isn't what you would prefer, it probably isn't any worse than the rates that you will be paying once the promos expire. And as mentioned above, by reducing the number of balances and reducing your highest balance card from 90% to under 70% will improve your odds of getting approved for another (new) card with BT.
PSECU: If you are from PA, do you still have family there? PSECU only requires that you have a family member who is "eligible" for membership in order for you to joing. The family member does not have to join. Also, you may be eligible if you went to one of the qualifying schools.
PSECU has a 3.9% BT, no fees, offer which goes till December 2010. The rate after that is 9.9%. They have good CL's and they have shown to be easier to qualify for credit than many other places. So you might check into them. I suggest the PSL/V which is the LOC and VISA combo account.
If none of that pans out, then I would look into putting those balances on your 6 % 7% cards, if you can move the balances at that rate to minimize interest.
Good luck.
Message Edited by txjohn on 09-05-2009 05:56 AM
