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NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?

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ashtysmom
New Member

NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?

Got a slightly better than expected tax refund and we want to use a good chunk of it to pay down debt.

I have a Sears MC with a balance of $2k at 24.99%. This is the card we've been attacking with any extra money. Current minimum payment is $70, have been paying $150. The original plan was to pay this off and throw that money to the next thing.

But, we have 3 promotional balances on a Sears Home Improvement card that will expire before I can pay them off.

$1,158.73 accrued interest $336.38 exp 09/26/13
$2,994.82 accrued interest $452.81 exp 10/26/13
$5,091.89 accrued interest $749.15 exp 10/26/13

(APR goes to 14.40%)

Would it be better to pay off the MC or throw the $2k at the largest promo balance expiring? The minimum for the SHI is $211. I could possibly have one of the balances paid off by the expiration in any case.

 

Thanks for any help!


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Message 1 of 23
22 REPLIES 22
Barris
Established Member

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?

Well, if you ask me, I would recommend that you bury the Sears MC first. The minimum monthly might be low but the high APR means that over time you would bleed more money in general. After that, if your finances permit, go for the largest balance of the SHI and get that out of the way. The two other balances are relatively smaller and the APR is lower that the Sears MC. But thats just my take on the matter.

Message 2 of 23
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?

IMO, when tackling which cards to pay off. Highest APR first. How much will be left over from your refund after you pay off Sears?
Message 3 of 23
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?


@Barris wrote:

Well, if you ask me, I would recommend that you bury the Sears MC first. The minimum monthly might be low but the high APR means that over time you would bleed more money in general. After that, if your finances permit, go for the largest balance of the SHI and get that out of the way. The two other balances are relatively smaller and the APR is lower that the Sears MC. But thats just my take on the matter.


I agree with this, pay off the MC first then SD.




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Message 4 of 23
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?


@ashtysmom wrote:

Got a slightly better than expected tax refund and we want to use a good chunk of it to pay down debt.

I have a Sears MC with a balance of $2k at 24.99%. This is the card we've been attacking with any extra money. Current minimum payment is $70, have been paying $150. The original plan was to pay this off and throw that money to the next thing.

But, we have 3 promotional balances on a Sears Home Improvement card that will expire before I can pay them off.

$1,158.73 accrued interest $336.38 exp 09/26/13
$2,994.82 accrued interest $452.81 exp 10/26/13
$5,091.89 accrued interest $749.15 exp 10/26/13

(APR goes to 14.40%)

Would it be better to pay off the MC or throw the $2k at the largest promo balance expiring? The minimum for the SHI is $211. I could possibly have one of the balances paid off by the expiration in any case.

 

Thanks for any help!


Paying off the MC is very bad advice! 

 

It is only costing you about $40 a month in interest to carry that balance.

 

Everyone of the these Promos that you pay off by the deadline will save you about $500 to $900 roughly.  It is better to run up more debt on another card or BT or whatever you can do to meet the deadline.   It is a big money difference.

Message 5 of 23
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?


@Wolf3 wrote:

@ashtysmom wrote:

Got a slightly better than expected tax refund and we want to use a good chunk of it to pay down debt.

I have a Sears MC with a balance of $2k at 24.99%. This is the card we've been attacking with any extra money. Current minimum payment is $70, have been paying $150. The original plan was to pay this off and throw that money to the next thing.

But, we have 3 promotional balances on a Sears Home Improvement card that will expire before I can pay them off.

$1,158.73 accrued interest $336.38 exp 09/26/13
$2,994.82 accrued interest $452.81 exp 10/26/13
$5,091.89 accrued interest $749.15 exp 10/26/13

(APR goes to 14.40%)

Would it be better to pay off the MC or throw the $2k at the largest promo balance expiring? The minimum for the SHI is $211. I could possibly have one of the balances paid off by the expiration in any case.

 

Thanks for any help!


Paying off the MC is very bad advice! 

 

It is only costing you about $40 a month in interest to carry that balance.

 

Everyone of the these Promos that you pay off by the deadline will save you about $500 to $900 roughly.  It is better to run up more debt on another card or BT or whatever you can do to meet the deadline.   It is a big money difference.


I'm admittedly not up on promo expiration, but I thought they simply started accuring interest from the date the promo expires? 

 

Or is their a penalty clause where pay an aggregate interest charge from the opening or some other date for anything not paid off?

 

In the first case, highest APR wins; in the second one if we're talking penalty phase, Wolf's absolutely right.




        
Message 6 of 23
Creditaddict
Legendary Contributor

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?


@Wolf3 wrote:

@ashtysmom wrote:

Got a slightly better than expected tax refund and we want to use a good chunk of it to pay down debt.

I have a Sears MC with a balance of $2k at 24.99%. This is the card we've been attacking with any extra money. Current minimum payment is $70, have been paying $150. The original plan was to pay this off and throw that money to the next thing.

But, we have 3 promotional balances on a Sears Home Improvement card that will expire before I can pay them off.

$1,158.73 accrued interest $336.38 exp 09/26/13
$2,994.82 accrued interest $452.81 exp 10/26/13
$5,091.89 accrued interest $749.15 exp 10/26/13

(APR goes to 14.40%)

Would it be better to pay off the MC or throw the $2k at the largest promo balance expiring? The minimum for the SHI is $211. I could possibly have one of the balances paid off by the expiration in any case.

 

Thanks for any help!


Paying off the MC is very bad advice! 

 

It is only costing you about $40 a month in interest to carry that balance.

 

Everyone of the these Promos that you pay off by the deadline will save you about $500 to $900 roughly.  It is better to run up more debt on another card or BT or whatever you can do to meet the deadline.   It is a big money difference.


RIGHT!!!

 

Your interest about to come down on even just the first Sears promo would be over 1 year of interest on the MC... although a 24.99% stinks to look at and 14% ongoing would be WAY better on Sears, clearly this interest has been promo for a bit.  Pay PROMO FIRST! TRY TRY TRY to get at least 2 of them.

 

You have over $9k+ on a Sears card backed by citi and is the sears MC the citi version (sounds like it at $2k, or the Household Bank Version?, You can't get a card to transfer these that can't be paid off with taxes with say Chase, Barclay, any of them offering 18 months to transfer these expiriing promo's so you pay a 3% transfer instead of a deferred interest of over $1600!!!

 

Message 7 of 23
Woolfman
Established Contributor

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?


@Revelate wrote:

@Wolf3 wrote:

@ashtysmom wrote:

Got a slightly better than expected tax refund and we want to use a good chunk of it to pay down debt.

I have a Sears MC with a balance of $2k at 24.99%. This is the card we've been attacking with any extra money. Current minimum payment is $70, have been paying $150. The original plan was to pay this off and throw that money to the next thing.

But, we have 3 promotional balances on a Sears Home Improvement card that will expire before I can pay them off.

$1,158.73 accrued interest $336.38 exp 09/26/13
$2,994.82 accrued interest $452.81 exp 10/26/13
$5,091.89 accrued interest $749.15 exp 10/26/13

(APR goes to 14.40%)

Would it be better to pay off the MC or throw the $2k at the largest promo balance expiring? The minimum for the SHI is $211. I could possibly have one of the balances paid off by the expiration in any case.

 

Thanks for any help!


Paying off the MC is very bad advice! 

 

It is only costing you about $40 a month in interest to carry that balance.

 

Everyone of the these Promos that you pay off by the deadline will save you about $500 to $900 roughly.  It is better to run up more debt on another card or BT or whatever you can do to meet the deadline.   It is a big money difference.


I'm admittedly not up on promo expiration, but I thought they simply started accuring interest from the date the promo expires? 

 

Or is their a penalty clause where pay an aggregate interest charge from the opening or some other date for anything not paid off?

 

In the first case, highest APR wins; in the second one if we're talking penalty phase, Wolf's absolutely right.


The interest accrues from date of purchase but not applied unless its not paid off by the time the promo ends.  I would get rid of the promo's first .. You have currently 1538.34 deferred interest hanging out there. Which i am sure by the time it hits the end of the promo will be closer to the 2k mark.  So if you pay off the first card.. The other three will just put you right back in the same spot as you were at with  2k more debt.   I would use the whole tax return to pay down as much as the three cards you can. Then look for another card to transfer the rest of the debt to.  I would also go to your HR department and adjust your deduction to stop giving the IRS an interest free loan and that way you will have more income immediately to add to paying off these debts.

 

 

Message 8 of 23
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?


@Woolfman wrote:

@Revelate wrote:

@Wolf3 wrote:

@ashtysmom wrote:

Got a slightly better than expected tax refund and we want to use a good chunk of it to pay down debt.

I have a Sears MC with a balance of $2k at 24.99%. This is the card we've been attacking with any extra money. Current minimum payment is $70, have been paying $150. The original plan was to pay this off and throw that money to the next thing.

But, we have 3 promotional balances on a Sears Home Improvement card that will expire before I can pay them off.

$1,158.73 accrued interest $336.38 exp 09/26/13
$2,994.82 accrued interest $452.81 exp 10/26/13
$5,091.89 accrued interest $749.15 exp 10/26/13

(APR goes to 14.40%)

Would it be better to pay off the MC or throw the $2k at the largest promo balance expiring? The minimum for the SHI is $211. I could possibly have one of the balances paid off by the expiration in any case.

 

Thanks for any help!


Paying off the MC is very bad advice! 

 

It is only costing you about $40 a month in interest to carry that balance.

 

Everyone of the these Promos that you pay off by the deadline will save you about $500 to $900 roughly.  It is better to run up more debt on another card or BT or whatever you can do to meet the deadline.   It is a big money difference.


I'm admittedly not up on promo expiration, but I thought they simply started accuring interest from the date the promo expires? 

 

Or is their a penalty clause where pay an aggregate interest charge from the opening or some other date for anything not paid off?

 

In the first case, highest APR wins; in the second one if we're talking penalty phase, Wolf's absolutely right.


The interest accrues from date of purchase but not applied unless its not paid off by the time the promo ends.  I would get rid of the promo's first .. You have currently 1538.34 deferred interest hanging out there. Which i am sure by the time it hits the end of the promo will be closer to the 2k mark.  So if you pay off the first card.. The other three will just put you right back in the same spot as you were at with  2k more debt.   I would use the whole tax return to pay down as much as the three cards you can. Then look for another card to transfer the rest of the debt to.  I would also go to your HR department and adjust your deduction to stop giving the IRS an interest free loan and that way you will have more income immediately to add to paying off these debts.

 

 


If you are normally getting a tax refund.   You can increase your deductions to get more money in your paycheck now to pay these things.   I adjust mine throughout the year, to try to hit the owe just a little when tax time comes.  

Whatever tax flow tricks you have, now is the time to use them.

 

Message 9 of 23
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: NEED HELP ASAP: Pay off med balance/high APR or high balance with promo ending?

OP, how much money are we talking about? $2k? Or more?
Message 10 of 23
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