The GREAT CC Payoff Challenge!!

[-Wade-]

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@myjourney wrote:

I'm at 1% now can't go any further 

I'll be the odd ball in the thread  

I'm increasing to 2% to see if I get a scoring bump

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@I am in the same boat as MJ... I'm @ 1% also. I will be an odd ball like MJ .

Pupe good luck on your journey and i wish you all the best my friend   Also my best wishes to all of you that has a lot of debt.

Wade

[ayles]

@Pupe: Proud of you for doing this my friend.

I'd like to join in but I don't know how to put my debt down in a fancy grid like everyone else 

So I'll just go old school with this:

I have 15 ccs between bank and store cards.

11 include pifs or with small amounts that will be pif by Jan 31st.  Most of these are in sock drawer.

Now for the others:

1. CareCredit: 371.70/1000 (0% interest through June; paying min now but it will be pif by June)

2. Sears: 530.77/2000 (I pay the statement balance in full so not paying interest; not sure how this one will work out because I use it for car and optical so I'm thinking it'll always have a balance but plan on always paying statement balance to avoid interest)

3. Walmart: $100/$600 (I use this one to buy gas at Sam's Club and pif each month)

4. Discover: $130/$1000 (I use this for food for the 5% cash back; also pif each month)

Then there's my CU CC but honestly I just shift money around between all my accounts (auto, personal, savings etc) loans there so really it's hard to tell.  I don't have any accumulated debt on that one; just a statement balance that gets pif most months. 

My total available credit is 10750 out of which I'm using approximately 25% currently if you include the CU CC.  If that and then the pifs at the end of the month are excluded then my current uti is about 16%. 

Don't know if any of this makes any sense!!!!

[yudeology101]

Great job Pupe for a potential great thread.  Mine is as follows:

Issuer	Credit	Current	Available	Credit
	Limit	Balance	Credit	Utilized
Overall totals:	$29,650	$5,541	$24,109	18.7%
TJX	$850	$0	$850
Cap1 SonyCard	$1,000	$335	$665	33.5%
Bloomingdales	$1,500	$0	$1,500
Citi AA	$2,000	$556	$1,444	27.8%
Cap1 QS	$1,500	$446	$1,054	29.7%
BOA Alumni	$1,000	$0	$1,000
Citi Best Buy	$300	$0	$300
CSP	$5,000	$0	$5,000
CHASE Hyatt	$5,000	$900	$4,100	18.0%
AMEX Green	NPSL	$0	$0
AMEX Delta	$2,000	$300	$1,700	15.0%
Chase Ritz Carlton	$8,000	$3,000	$5,000	37.5%
Discover IT	$1,500	$4	$1,496	0.3%

Planning paying everything off by end of April or in May at the latest. 

The Plan:

a) Planning on reducing dining out as I've been creating a habit of cooking each night. So far 3 weeks in w/o dining out,  saving $500+ per month in calculation.

b) Utilizing paying all my bills/utilities, including rent w/ CC (grateful that I can even pay rent & car payment w/ CC!), maximizing all the rewards & etc.

c) Paying down/ PIF w/ highest balance first, then highest APR, respectively.

Thanks.

[Stralem]

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@Pupeitmeister wrote:
Shameless bump!

Anyone have a status update?

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Had a minor setback.

I helped my mother out with a past due utility bill. This woman is old school and pays her utilities at the local currency exchange (fellow Chicagoans know what I'm talking about).  She does not, has not, nor will ever believe in paying for things over the internet, and by extension, using autopay. So when things happen that prevent her from making the monthly pilgrimage -- like they did last week (won't go into details) -- bills become past due.

Having just finished paying my own bills, I had no choice but to use one of the cards I had JUST paid down to take care of hers. I... was not happy. Now granted, most of my debt will be wiped out with my tax return and left over grant monies beginning next month, but it still sucks.

[H4LO]

I'll bite.

6% util. 

$29,000 CL, $1,700 debt. 

Hopefully will be paid down here soon. 

[titanofold]

Creditor	Balance	Limit	Utilization	Interest	Minimum	Due	Payment	TTP
Chase Freedom	$509.25	$700.00	72.75%	22.24%	$15.00	13th	$70.00	8
Capital One (MC)	$928.14	$1,500.00	61.88%	8.15%	$25.00	27th	$25.00	43
GECRB/Belk	$520.65	$950.00	54.81%	24.49%	$25.00	2nd	$25.00	28
CB/Victoria's Secret	$410.03	$930.00	44.09%	24.99%	$25.00	3rd	$25.00	21
GECRB/JCP	$1,240.64	$3,000.00	41.35%	26.99%	$42.00	11th	$42.00	50
GECRB/CareCredit (TitanOfOld)	$145.10	$500.00	29.02%	26.99%	$25.00	16th	$54.00	3
GECRB/CareCredit (Fiancée)	$1,397.36	$4,400.00	31.76%	26.99%	$46.00	5th	$47.00	50
Capital One (Visa)	$588.82	$2,250.00	26.17%	19.80%	$15.00	3rd	$15.00	64
GECRB/Dillard	$0.00	$1,250.00	0.00%	21.99%	$35.00	1st	$0.00	0
Subtotal	$5,739.99	$15,480.00	37.08%	22.51%	$218.00		$303.00	24

So, this chart is fibbing a little bit. Things are a bit messing this upcoming month. I only have one CC to my name. I'll let you guess which one that is.

I'll actually be paying out $400 per month to our CCs. (We also have installment loans but we're not worried about those.) Dillard's is going to be paid off at the end of the month and I got a little trigger happy on the spreadsheet. My plan is to pay no more than 10% of the CL on each card while maintaining $400 per month going with a top down approach based on utilization.

I'm not doing more than 10% of CL to coax out a little auto-CLI luv by showing I can afford larger payments over the long run.

Once we have these debts paid off we'll be able to start using the cards like they're supposed to be: Maximum rewards! And I can be added on as an AU.

I'll be back to update on 2013-02-28.

[newmomnewme]

Thanks for starting this thread Pup!!! I am going to pay off the cashRewards Visa, QS Visa, and Barclays on 2/1, then concentrate on paying the NavCheck off in 3-4 months vs. 5-6.   I need to get a neat spreadsheet like the rest of you. Templates anywhere or should i simply google to find an app....

Best of Luck all!!!

[Pupeitmeister]

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@ayles wrote:

@Pupe: Proud of you for doing this my friend.

I'd like to join in but I don't know how to put my debt down in a fancy grid like everyone else 

So I'll just go old school with this:

I have 15 ccs between bank and store cards.

11 include pifs or with small amounts that will be pif by Jan 31st.  Most of these are in sock drawer.

Now for the others:

1. CareCredit: 371.70/1000 (0% interest through June; paying min now but it will be pif by June)

2. Sears: 530.77/2000 (I pay the statement balance in full so not paying interest; not sure how this one will work out because I use it for car and optical so I'm thinking it'll always have a balance but plan on always paying statement balance to avoid interest)

3. Walmart: $100/$600 (I use this one to buy gas at Sam's Club and pif each month)

4. Discover: $130/$1000 (I use this for food for the 5% cash back; also pif each month)

Then there's my CU CC but honestly I just shift money around between all my accounts (auto, personal, savings etc) loans there so really it's hard to tell.  I don't have any accumulated debt on that one; just a statement balance that gets pif most months. 

My total available credit is 10750 out of which I'm using approximately 25% currently if you include the CU CC.  If that and then the pifs at the end of the month are excluded then my current uti is about 16%. 

Don't know if any of this makes any sense!!!!

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This makes perfect Sense to me Ayles.  It looks like you have a plan!.. Stick with it and you will succeed!.. How great that will feel also when you finish !

[Pupeitmeister]

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@yudeology101 wrote:

Great job Pupe for a potential great thread.  Mine is as follows:

Issuer	Credit	Current	Available	Credit
	Limit	Balance	Credit	Utilized
Overall totals:	$29,650	$5,541	$24,109	18.7%
TJX	$850	$0	$850
Cap1 SonyCard	$1,000	$335	$665	33.5%
Bloomingdales	$1,500	$0	$1,500
Citi AA	$2,000	$556	$1,444	27.8%
Cap1 QS	$1,500	$446	$1,054	29.7%
BOA Alumni	$1,000	$0	$1,000
Citi Best Buy	$300	$0	$300
CSP	$5,000	$0	$5,000
CHASE Hyatt	$5,000	$900	$4,100	18.0%
AMEX Green	NPSL	$0	$0
AMEX Delta	$2,000	$300	$1,700	15.0%
Chase Ritz Carlton	$8,000	$3,000	$5,000	37.5%
Discover IT	$1,500	$4	$1,496	0.3%

Planning paying everything off by end of April or in May at the latest. 

The Plan:

a) Planning on reducing dining out as I've been creating a habit of cooking each night. So far 3 weeks in w/o dining out,  saving $500+ per month in calculation.

b) Utilizing paying all my bills/utilities, including rent w/ CC (grateful that I can even pay rent & car payment w/ CC!), maximizing all the rewards & etc.

c) Paying down/ PIF w/ highest balance first, then highest APR, respectively.

Thanks.

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This does look like a great Plan!.. When you finish, you need to take yourself out to eat for a treat!.. I recommend the Grilled Salmon and a baked sweet potato!

[Pupeitmeister]

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@Stralem wrote:

---

@Pupeitmeister wrote:
Shameless bump!

Anyone have a status update?

---

Had a minor setback.

I helped my mother out with a past due utility bill. This woman is old school and pays her utilities at the local currency exchange (fellow Chicagoans know what I'm talking about).  She does not, has not, nor will ever believe in paying for things over the internet, and by extension, using autopay. So when things happen that prevent her from making the monthly pilgrimage -- like they did last week (won't go into details) -- bills become past due.

Having just finished paying my own bills, I had no choice but to use one of the cards I had JUST paid down to take care of hers. I... was not happy. Now granted, most of my debt will be wiped out with my tax return and left over grant monies beginning next month, but it still sucks.

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My mother always told me that Family comes first.  This has always been the case in my household.  I applaud you for helping your mother, even if she will not change with the technology.  You are a great inspiration to me for this reason.  I wish you the best in getting things back "under control".  There are times like these that it is good to have the available credit to help others as well as ourselves.  BRAVO!