The GREAT CC Payoff Challenge!!

[maiden_girl]

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@kalani91 wrote:

I need some help/Advice!

Here is the breakdown of my cards that have balances. All other cards have too high of APR % to mess with right now.

NFCU rewards 4.8k Balance --- 7.5k Limit 14% APR ( Also have a small loan with them 700$ Balance 18% APR)

DCU platinum 3.7k Balance - 4.1k Balance 11% APR

Chase Freedom - 1.7k Balance - 2k Limit 0% Intro APR started this month

Amex BCE -- 200$ Balance - 1K Limit 0% Intro APR Started this month

I Have about 600$-700 Monthly to pay off my cards. Should I pay off the Navy federal card more then hope for their 0% Balance transfer promo and transfer over some of my DCU balance?

 I'm hoping to bring my total UTI down to 15% for a car loan in February/March. I currently have 24.6K total Credit Limit -- UTI% of 40%

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I would put money toward your HIGHEST APR cards first and pay a little more than the minimum on the others so you can make up the difference in interest when you make payments. Some current creditors sometimes offer BT checks. Usually 3% fee with 0% APR at 12 months. I would look into that.

[maiden_girl]

UPDATE:

I paid off my Discover card. Balance was at 2,800. Now it sits at 0. The only card I have left to pay is Citi at 2,900. I can have this one paid off by the end of the year or early next year. My APR period doesn't expire until April. Happy to only have ONE bill now.

[Kennie02]

kalani91,

Thanks! I would def pay down that NFCU first. You would save the most in interest. If you do choose to do a BT also consider what the BT fee would be. Depending on the balance it can get pretty high. Good luck and I'm sure you will be posting success on this board soon!

[Anonymous]

Goodmorning, pupeitmeister thank so much for responding to my thread. I will do as you say and I will post back later with some results.

[rootpooty]

I had used about 92 percent of my total available credit which was about 25k.  Fortunately for me my job business picked up and I worked these past 3 mos everyday without a day off and just paid them all off.

APR ranges from 16.99 to 19.99.  I learned my lesson from it and it feels good to have no CC debt right now.  I'll soon be looking for better cards with better rates.

[Pupeitmeister]

Well, I know I started this thread, and I have not done a very good job of keeping up to date on it.  situations have caused me to get into much worse shape then I was.  Either way, I am still on a 2 year plan to take care of my own debt, when has shot up from 12k when this started to over 35k.... Doctor bills, living expenses from not working, etc etc... its been a tough year. 

I am back to work, its time to start chipping away.  and curb my spending as I have told others.  It is now time for me to practice what I preach. 

For those considering Balance Transfers... Keep in mind, the BT fee will cost you, so do the math on that before you do so... just saying.

I am still in this fight... ARE  YOU? ... ROCK IT FOLKS!!

[chrisw1968uk]

I have had an expensive few months - buying needed stuff for the house / new addition etc, I am comfortably affording to pay around $1200 a month towards my cc debt right now - will be clear in arounf 5 months. Looking forward to the day when they all report a 0 balance and I can be tucking that $1200 away into a savings account and forget about it, I have proven to myself that I can still live quite well without that $1200

Great job all and remember, take care of your debt and your scores will take care of themselves

[Stanic413]

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@Stanic413 wrote:

I will accept the challenge.....

Card	Balance	CL	Interest Rate	Utilization	Min Pmt
BoA	1368	1500	16.24	91%	32
Chase	2005	3000	22.99	67%	70
Discover	492	1500	22.99	33%	20
Kohls	0	300	21.99	0%	0
Total	3865	6300		61%	122

I want this mess GONE! 

My utilization was higher a couple months ago, but I got some funds and applied it all to the cards.  I paid off Kohl's and put the rest towards the two higher interest cards.  I want to close Kohl's, but waiting for an increase in CL to maintain util.  Still waiting for Discover to report new balance to see how much scores will improve.  I'm looking good for another chunk of change to apply to balances in May, but I'd really like to get a balance transfer card with 0% APR to really start making this all disappear.  I'm paying a little more than the min each month and paying way too much in interest.  I want an AMEX, but still not sure if I should go for it when all 3 scores are just inside 700 range, or wait until total util is around 40%.  I'd like to see if I can raise CLs on these cards but don't want hard pulls if I'm going to apply for an AMEX within the next couple months.  Also wonder if I should apply for BT card that's not an AMEX, pay down and then apply later in the year.  I don't really want that many cards, I just don't have a need for them, but if it would work well, then maybe I'd consider it. 

Ready to make the BT move, but not sure when or how....suggestions? 

---

OMG.  I don't know what made me re-visit this but I'm glad I did.  I sucessfully got a BT card.  And a TON more. While I increased my CLs significantly and my util went down, I more than doubled my debt in 6 months. I went through all my statements and was able to see where it all went.  There was one major expense, I noticed that a couple hundred here or there for a short weekend trip or new tires or an online class doesn't seem bad at the time, winds up looking like this: 

Card	Balance	CL	Interest Rate	Utilization	Min Payment
BoA Better Bal	405	5,000	16.24	8%	25
Freedom	0	6,000	22.99	0%	0
Discover It	370	2100	22.99	18%	20
Kohl’s	153	1,000	21.99	15%	25
Citi Diamond Pref	4,300	5,000	0	86%	70
Amex BCE	700	6,000	0	12%	35
Express	0	1,000	25.99	0%	0
Barclay Arrival+	1,931	5,000	0	39%	20
Southwest RR	498	5,000	15.99	10%	25
TOTAL	8,357	36,100		23%	220

I've had plans to pay it down and I monitor things, but it never looked bad because the util was decent.  I've been pretty blind to things, until I looked back at my original post.  I probably could've had a lot of the original debt paid off had I been more disciplined.  I'm not in a tough financial spot right now and I see I took advantage of that.  I've always paid way more than minimum, I'm just charging more thinking I can just pay it off.  I have almost $600 that goes towards CCs each month, I'm thinking maybe I need to SD all CC's and go back to my debit card/cash for at least two months to make a dent in this debt.  Who knows how much more damage I would've done had I not revisited this thread. Very disappointed in myself.   

[Pupeitmeister]

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@Stanic413 wrote:

---

@Stanic413 wrote:

I will accept the challenge.....

Card	Balance	CL	Interest Rate	Utilization	Min Pmt
BoA	1368	1500	16.24	91%	32
Chase	2005	3000	22.99	67%	70
Discover	492	1500	22.99	33%	20
Kohls	0	300	21.99	0%	0
Total	3865	6300		61%	122

I want this mess GONE! 

My utilization was higher a couple months ago, but I got some funds and applied it all to the cards.  I paid off Kohl's and put the rest towards the two higher interest cards.  I want to close Kohl's, but waiting for an increase in CL to maintain util.  Still waiting for Discover to report new balance to see how much scores will improve.  I'm looking good for another chunk of change to apply to balances in May, but I'd really like to get a balance transfer card with 0% APR to really start making this all disappear.  I'm paying a little more than the min each month and paying way too much in interest.  I want an AMEX, but still not sure if I should go for it when all 3 scores are just inside 700 range, or wait until total util is around 40%.  I'd like to see if I can raise CLs on these cards but don't want hard pulls if I'm going to apply for an AMEX within the next couple months.  Also wonder if I should apply for BT card that's not an AMEX, pay down and then apply later in the year.  I don't really want that many cards, I just don't have a need for them, but if it would work well, then maybe I'd consider it. 

Ready to make the BT move, but not sure when or how....suggestions? 

---

OMG.  I don't know what made me re-visit this but I'm glad I did.  I sucessfully got a BT card.  And a TON more. While I increased my CLs significantly and my util went down, I more than doubled my debt in 6 months. I went through all my statements and was able to see where it all went.  There was one major expense, I noticed that a couple hundred here or there for a short weekend trip or new tires or an online class doesn't seem bad at the time, winds up looking like this: 

Card	Balance	CL	Interest Rate	Utilization	Min Payment
BoA Better Bal	405	5,000	16.24	8%	25
Freedom	0	6,000	22.99	0%	0
Discover It	370	2100	22.99	18%	20
Kohl’s	153	1,000	21.99	15%	25
Citi Diamond Pref	4,300	5,000	0	86%	70
Amex BCE	700	6,000	0	12%	35
Express	0	1,000	25.99	0%	0
Barclay Arrival+	1,931	5,000	0	39%	20
Southwest RR	498	5,000	15.99	10%	25
TOTAL	8,357	36,100		23%	220

I've had plans to pay it down and I monitor things, but it never looked bad because the util was decent.  I've been pretty blind to things, until I looked back at my original post.  I probably could've had a lot of the original debt paid off had I been more disciplined.  I'm not in a tough financial spot right now and I see I took advantage of that.  I've always paid way more than minimum, I'm just charging more thinking I can just pay it off.  I have almost $600 that goes towards CCs each month, I'm thinking maybe I need to SD all CC's and go back to my debit card/cash for at least two months to make a dent in this debt.  Who knows how much more damage I would've done had I not revisited this thread. Very disappointed in myself.   

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It does add up fast, and we chalk it up as "need" vs "want"... don't beat yourself up too bad, as I have been told before, make a plan, and stick to it, and watch things happen!.. Grats on the new cards, and the 0%.. and you got what you wanted, the BCE... .. Now tighten down and chip it out.. Nothing to it, .. Right?

[RushXTC]

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@Stanic413 wrote:

---

@Stanic413 wrote:

I will accept the challenge.....

Card	Balance	CL	Interest Rate	Utilization	Min Pmt
BoA	1368	1500	16.24	91%	32
Chase	2005	3000	22.99	67%	70
Discover	492	1500	22.99	33%	20
Kohls	0	300	21.99	0%	0
Total	3865	6300		61%	122

I want this mess GONE! 

My utilization was higher a couple months ago, but I got some funds and applied it all to the cards.  I paid off Kohl's and put the rest towards the two higher interest cards.  I want to close Kohl's, but waiting for an increase in CL to maintain util.  Still waiting for Discover to report new balance to see how much scores will improve.  I'm looking good for another chunk of change to apply to balances in May, but I'd really like to get a balance transfer card with 0% APR to really start making this all disappear.  I'm paying a little more than the min each month and paying way too much in interest.  I want an AMEX, but still not sure if I should go for it when all 3 scores are just inside 700 range, or wait until total util is around 40%.  I'd like to see if I can raise CLs on these cards but don't want hard pulls if I'm going to apply for an AMEX within the next couple months.  Also wonder if I should apply for BT card that's not an AMEX, pay down and then apply later in the year.  I don't really want that many cards, I just don't have a need for them, but if it would work well, then maybe I'd consider it. 

Ready to make the BT move, but not sure when or how....suggestions? 

---

OMG.  I don't know what made me re-visit this but I'm glad I did.  I sucessfully got a BT card.  And a TON more. While I increased my CLs significantly and my util went down, I more than doubled my debt in 6 months. I went through all my statements and was able to see where it all went.  There was one major expense, I noticed that a couple hundred here or there for a short weekend trip or new tires or an online class doesn't seem bad at the time, winds up looking like this: 

Card	Balance	CL	Interest Rate	Utilization	Min Payment
BoA Better Bal	405	5,000	16.24	8%	25
Freedom	0	6,000	22.99	0%	0
Discover It	370	2100	22.99	18%	20
Kohl’s	153	1,000	21.99	15%	25
Citi Diamond Pref	4,300	5,000	0	86%	70
Amex BCE	700	6,000	0	12%	35
Express	0	1,000	25.99	0%	0
Barclay Arrival+	1,931	5,000	0	39%	20
Southwest RR	498	5,000	15.99	10%	25
TOTAL	8,357	36,100		23%	220

I've had plans to pay it down and I monitor things, but it never looked bad because the util was decent.  I've been pretty blind to things, until I looked back at my original post.  I probably could've had a lot of the original debt paid off had I been more disciplined.  I'm not in a tough financial spot right now and I see I took advantage of that.  I've always paid way more than minimum, I'm just charging more thinking I can just pay it off.  I have almost $600 that goes towards CCs each month, I'm thinking maybe I need to SD all CC's and go back to my debit card/cash for at least two months to make a dent in this debt.  Who knows how much more damage I would've done had I not revisited this thread. Very disappointed in myself.   

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Hah, Your total credit limites is my total debt!!! =P

And there's still 2 more accounts that don't report to my credit report, Which includes Bill me later (I owe $1,700) and NewEgg Preferred ($1,900)

So about $40,000! But I'm confident I will finish by the time I hit 2 years in the garden. (Around April 2016)