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Need advice...Please be nice

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stealthc63
New Contributor

Need advice...Please be nice

I'm going to try and make a long story short here. I recently traded in a car that I was about 12k upside down on for a car that was priced 20k below blue book. I couldn't pass up the deal. Not only did I get a better car but I am now 8k ahead of the game. The unfortunate thing is I was required to come up with a pretty good chunk of change for the down payment. I didn't have the entire amount in cash so I had to put about 6,500 on cc's. 5k of which is 0% until Dec. On my Amex blue which was just opened this past Dec. In doing this I brought my utl to about 55% and the Amex is now about 90%. I don't wanna lose Amex at all since they are my biggest CL at the moment at 7.5k. My problem is I've put myself in a situation that it is difficult to pay much more than the minimum on all my cards (about 6) every month. I'm not sure how to attack this. I will be getting a raise in a few months that should help but not by much. My plan is to wait it out till next tax season then put my return which is roughly 4k on the cards then apply for a personal loan and consolidate. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what my approach should be. I'd like to bet another 3x increase from Amex but I don't know how much of that balance I need to have paid off before I do so. Any advice would be appreciated. And please, be gentle LOL.

Message 1 of 46
45 REPLIES 45
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice


@stealthc63 wrote:

I'm going to try and make a long story short here. I recently traded in a car that I was about 12k upside down on for a car that was priced 20k below blue book. I couldn't pass up the deal. Not only did I get a better car but I am now 8k ahead of the game. The unfortunate thing is I was required to come up with a pretty good chunk of change for the down payment. I didn't have the entire amount in cash so I had to put about 6,500 on cc's. 5k of which is 0% until Dec. On my Amex blue which was just opened this past Dec. In doing this I brought my utl to about 55% and the Amex is now about 90%. I don't wanna lose Amex at all since they are my biggest CL at the moment at 7.5k. My problem is I've put myself in a situation that it is difficult to pay much more than the minimum on all my cards (about 6) every month. I'm not sure how to attack this. I will be getting a raise in a few months that should help but not by much. My plan is to wait it out till next tax season then put my return which is roughly 4k on the cards then apply for a personal loan and consolidate. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what my approach should be. I'd like to bet another 3x increase from Amex but I don't know how much of that balance I need to have paid off before I do so. Any advice would be appreciated. And please, be gentle LOL.


-What are your current FICO scores??

-Any recent negatives??

 

 

 

 




EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 2 of 46
thom02099
Valued Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice


@stealthc63 wrote:

I'm going to try and make a long story short here. I recently traded in a car that I was about 12k upside down on for a car that was priced 20k below blue book. I couldn't pass up the deal. Not only did I get a better car but I am now 8k ahead of the game. The unfortunate thing is I was required to come up with a pretty good chunk of change for the down payment. I didn't have the entire amount in cash so I had to put about 6,500 on cc's. 5k of which is 0% until Dec. On my Amex blue which was just opened this past Dec. In doing this I brought my utl to about 55% and the Amex is now about 90%. I don't wanna lose Amex at all since they are my biggest CL at the moment at 7.5k. My problem is I've put myself in a situation that it is difficult to pay much more than the minimum on all my cards (about 6) every month. I'm not sure how to attack this. I will be getting a raise in a few months that should help but not by much. My plan is to wait it out till next tax season then put my return which is roughly 4k on the cards then apply for a personal loan and consolidate. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what my approach should be. I'd like to bet another 3x increase from Amex but I don't know how much of that balance I need to have paid off before I do so. Any advice would be appreciated. And please, be gentle LOL.


Based just on this information, I think the first thing you need to do is get that AMEX util down from that 90%.  If you can do the personal loan now rather than waiting, if I were you, that's what I would do;  basically a consolidation loan and pay those balances off.  You'll have a fixed interest rate and set payments. I wouldn't want to spook the AMEX Gods! Smiley Surprised

Message 3 of 46
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice


@thom02099 wrote:

@stealthc63 wrote:

I'm going to try and make a long story short here. I recently traded in a car that I was about 12k upside down on for a car that was priced 20k below blue book. I couldn't pass up the deal. Not only did I get a better car but I am now 8k ahead of the game. The unfortunate thing is I was required to come up with a pretty good chunk of change for the down payment. I didn't have the entire amount in cash so I had to put about 6,500 on cc's. 5k of which is 0% until Dec. On my Amex blue which was just opened this past Dec. In doing this I brought my utl to about 55% and the Amex is now about 90%. I don't wanna lose Amex at all since they are my biggest CL at the moment at 7.5k. My problem is I've put myself in a situation that it is difficult to pay much more than the minimum on all my cards (about 6) every month. I'm not sure how to attack this. I will be getting a raise in a few months that should help but not by much. My plan is to wait it out till next tax season then put my return which is roughly 4k on the cards then apply for a personal loan and consolidate. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what my approach should be. I'd like to bet another 3x increase from Amex but I don't know how much of that balance I need to have paid off before I do so. Any advice would be appreciated. And please, be gentle LOL.


Based just on this information, I think the first thing you need to do is get that AMEX util down from that 90%.  If you can do the personal loan now rather than waiting, if I were you, that's what I would do;  basically a consolidation loan and pay those balances off.  You'll have a fixed interest rate and set payments. I wouldn't want to spook the AMEX Gods! Smiley Surprised


If OP's credit is above 660 I would recommend checking out Lending Club. Should be able to get a decent loan at a decent rate.

 




EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 4 of 46
stealthc63
New Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice

My highest score is a 710 which is TU. EX and EQ are 660ish. I have a bk that will fall off in Jan so I'm anticipating a boost in score once that drops. Other than that I have no baddies with a 4.5 year AAoA.

Message 5 of 46
swpopham
Established Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice

get us more info,

 

1. age-  need to know how much credit you have

2. fico scores.

3. derog info

4. income

5 credit cards and limits- and balances

6. ammount of car payment...

 

 

 

Ive rolled 20k on an auto loan and never put  penny down but Im going to try and help you out of this before something happens and you fall behind...

"As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance," he said. "We're still dancing."---Prince CEO Citi Bank

"Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the "gotta have it" scale". ~Zig Ziglar
Message 6 of 46
stealthc63
New Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice

I've tried lending club and I think they use a different scoring system because it's always lower than what FICO states. Hence, I've never been able to utilize their services.

Message 7 of 46
LS2982
Mega Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice


@stealthc63 wrote:

I've tried lending club and I think they use a different scoring system because it's always lower than what FICO states. Hence, I've never been able to utilize their services.


They definitely use FICO and its a SP on TU to see if they can approve you. Did they give you any reasons?

 




EQ FICO 548 3/3/16
Message 8 of 46
stealthc63
New Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice

I can check right now and see what it says....I don't remember the reasons

Message 9 of 46
stealthc63
New Contributor

Re: Need advice...Please be nice

Score came back at 666. Reason for denial was too many recent inquiries which is due to the new car.

Message 10 of 46
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