Good Credit, Denied Balance Transfer

[Uniqua]

That one inquiry did nothing to hurt your credit, so I wouldn't worry about it at all.  From the information you've provided, the only thing hurting your score is the high util.  Inquiries may ding your score when you've had too many in a short time frame.  I once had 3 and I think I got a 2 point score drop.  One inquiry in two years is actually good.  Inquiries really don't sting as much as new accounts can.  That's where your concern should be if you are worried about your score.  You've added no new accounts in a couple of years so there is no need for paranoia.   If you plan on apping again, make sure you know which CR the company is going to pull.  Try not to have too many inquires on one report.  Shuffle it around.  Having one inquiry on each CR would probably be best for you if you are shopping for a balance transfer offer.  Have you tried Barclays?  They have a good reputation for approval on recon and they pull TU exclusively.

[superjeep]

I had no idea you could pick and choose what CRs company's looked at.  How does that happen?  I'm obviously very naive about how this all works.  All I know is I got credit that I needed, I pay it off as I can, and somehow it all reflects on my reports and credit scores lol.  The details are all very fuzzy to me though.  And yes, I plan to have AmEx paid off soon.  Been trying to roll over $350 per month from my med bills that I finished paying but had a set back this month.  Once I get that done with though, I'll have about $600 per month to go towards my MC.  This actually brings me to my next concern though....and maybe this isn't the place to bring this up but....

Right now I basically have no savings because of my situation over the last few years.  This really concerns me, especially if something big happens and I can't afford to, for example, fix my car.  If I put all $600 towards my card, I'll be happy to be paying that off but....I'm still not getting any further with creating a savings.  Does anyone have any recommendations on how to handle this?  Is it best to just pay off the card faster, be broke a little while longer and focus on savings later?  Or how much would be wise to set aside for savings out of that $600?  Honestly, I almost even hate to have savings knowing I could be paying down my card instead.  I get addicted to seeing the balance get smaller!  But...I don't want to get in another bind down the road.  Suggestions?

TIA.

[Anonymous]

You cannot pick which CR the company looks at.  But you can pick which company you apply for credit with, and research which CR they normally look at. 

Putting cash in savings at 1.5% interest as opposed to paying off that same amount of debt at 20% interest is not financially sound.  Your best way to save money right now, is pay off your CC debt.  If something comes up, you have your credit cards as a safety net.  Sure, you will get set back a bit in your quest to pay off your cards...but you'd still be debt free faster in the long run, and will have paid less money to get there.

[Anonymous]

superjeep, 

What is APR on your MC?

Have you considered to get a personal loan?

If you can get a personal loan with same or lower APR than your MC ... that will be great.  

And if so, you will save the BT fees and you can pay off your MC and just keep paying to your new loan.

[superjeep]

That's why I'm hesitant to even deal with a savings right now since I'm spending more than I'm earning in interest between the card and the account.  At the same time, I am paycheck to paycheck.  While I have a retirement account, etc., I'm thinking in terms of access to cash (and cash I don't get charged a bazillion percent for).  There are still some places that don't accept cards or...the cards I have....and god forbid any merchant's machine breaks down.  As it is, I'm preparing for layoffs at work and if that happens....that's the only way I'd really have to pay for anything seeing as my MC is maxed out right now and I dread using my AMEX (which isn't accepted everywhere anyway, compared to, say, Visa).  Then again, to your point, if I take $200 to put aside for cash every month....over 12 months, that still doesn't seem like much saved compared to what I have to pay off.  :/ 

As for getting a loan, I hadn't considered it.  I've actually never applied for a loan before and with everything else as it is I'm nervous about doing so.  My MC's APR is currently 9.9%.  I think I would rather just work on paying it off than mess around with another loan to have to pay back.  Thanks for the suggestion though. 

[Chris123nTx]

Like others have said it is not the inquiry that is hurting you right now, it is the balances compard to your available credit. The credit card companies, as a rule, hate high balances compard to avaiable credit.

If you continue to apply though for more crdit cards, then it will look like you are over extending yourself and you could be denied for both the balances and the inquiries. Sometimes it is hard to figure how an individual company will respond to those things, but generally it is the debt/availble credit ratio that is the real big flag.

You need to try to get at least below 50% and ideally under 10% before you can realisticaly have a shot at new credit.

I feel your pain with the medical stuff. I have more health issues than most and sometimes those things can overwhelm. Try to keep some cash on hand and thorw the rest at that mc.

My opinion only of course. Be careful about trying to hard with your current cards; it would suck bad if they look things over and cut your limits. Card companies have been known to do that, even if you have always paid them on time.

Good luck with it all.

[Anonymous]

I never pay for a balance transfer.

We just use all available cash to pay on the card we want freed up, then charge everything (gas, food, everything) to the card we are wanting to put the balance onto.

Just make sure to have enough cash to make more than a minimum payment on the cards youre moving the balance to.

Works like a charm.

We dont owe much so we can do it in one month, but with a big balance it would just take longer.

Once the free transfer is complete, just get back to your normal budget.

Doing it this way doesnt show as a transfer but it does show that you paid off a huge balance.

[haulingthescoreup]

Quick note: please see message 15 above.

A new member tried to start a new topic on this old thread, bumping it back to life, and then two members replied to it. Nothing wrong with that of course, and certainly understandable since someone had resurrected the thread.

I just wanted to point it out, since some of the posters on the 2010 thread are no longer active here in the forums.