cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What Credit Cards should I pay off?

tag
chnceit
Valued Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all!

I am new to this board and it appears to be a great resource to get some solid advise.

 

I am coming into some money ($18,000) in January and would like to take the best approach in paying off some Credit Cards. Both for Credit Score and peace of mind!

 

Here's my situation (listed by highest ARP):

 

Cap 1 (17.9%) - $575 balance ($5,000)

AMEX (17.24%) - $7,722 balance ($8,000 limit)

Discover (12.99%) - $6,118 balance ($7,200 limit)

Chase (12.24%) - $4,913 balance ($5,500 limit)

BOA (9.24%) - $9,927 balance ($11,100 limit)

Citi (6.24%) - $9,355 balance ($9,500)

 

 My thoughts are: Cap 1, AMEX and BOA....OR.....Cap 1, AMEX, Discover and Chase (most of)

 

Any input would be great!!

 


All I gotta say is WOOOOOOW thats some high balances! But yes pay off the highest balance first then work your way down! 

 

But if you cannot pay that off quick enough I would try to get a loan to consolidate your debt. Maybe even close them after so you dont go that deep again


Last Pulled EQ: 809
Last Credit Card App: 02/05/2016
Last CLI: 02/06/2016
Find Me: Gardening
Message 11 of 22
maiden_girl
Valued Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?


@chnceit wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all!

I am new to this board and it appears to be a great resource to get some solid advise.

 

I am coming into some money ($18,000) in January and would like to take the best approach in paying off some Credit Cards. Both for Credit Score and peace of mind!

 

Here's my situation (listed by highest ARP):

 

Cap 1 (17.9%) - $575 balance ($5,000)

AMEX (17.24%) - $7,722 balance ($8,000 limit)

Discover (12.99%) - $6,118 balance ($7,200 limit)

Chase (12.24%) - $4,913 balance ($5,500 limit)

BOA (9.24%) - $9,927 balance ($11,100 limit)

Citi (6.24%) - $9,355 balance ($9,500)

 

 My thoughts are: Cap 1, AMEX and BOA....OR.....Cap 1, AMEX, Discover and Chase (most of)

 

Any input would be great!!

 


All I gotta say is WOOOOOOW thats some high balances! But yes pay off the highest balance first then work your way down! 

 

But if you cannot pay that off quick enough I would try to get a loan to consolidate your debt. Maybe even close them after so you dont go that deep again


All I have to say is HOLY SHIZNITZ! And I thought I was in debt....Pay AMEX and CAP1 off first. Highest APR on down like others have said.

As of 2017, rebuilding...
Message 12 of 22
sakhalin070
Frequent Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all!

I am new to this board and it appears to be a great resource to get some solid advise.

 

I am coming into some money ($18,000) in January and would like to take the best approach in paying off some Credit Cards. Both for Credit Score and peace of mind!

 

Here's my situation (listed by highest ARP):

 

Cap 1 (17.9%) - $575 balance ($5,000)

AMEX (17.24%) - $7,722 balance ($8,000 limit)

Discover (12.99%) - $6,118 balance ($7,200 limit)

Chase (12.24%) - $4,913 balance ($5,500 limit)

BOA (9.24%) - $9,927 balance ($11,100 limit)

Citi (6.24%) - $9,355 balance ($9,500)

 

 My thoughts are: Cap 1, AMEX and BOA....OR.....Cap 1, AMEX, Discover and Chase (most of)

 

Any input would be great!!

 


You could knock out your Capi 1 really fast.  Assuming your $18,000 is used to pay off debt (of course, this may not be the case) I would then set AMEX as your priority (PIF!!) , and spread the remaining amount you have on your other cards.

 

AMEX BCE, Discover IT, Citi Forward, BoA Travel Rewards, Barclaycard Cash Forward
Message 13 of 22
visorboy1974
Valued Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?


@Repo-ed wrote:
from highest apr to lowest apr

+100000000 This 

FICO Scores Updated 07/15 EQ08 748 EX08 748 TU08 818
Message 14 of 22
espnjunkie
Established Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?

Do what you can to pay those off (highest to lowest apr first) asap. Not going to ask because circumstances can get tough.

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” ~Unknown
Citi Prestige World Elite Mastercard ($35,000.00), Merrill+ Visa Signature ($25,000.00), Amex BCP ($29,700.00), Amex Green (NPSL), Capital One Quicksilver World Mastercard ($10,000.00), Chase Ink Business Bold (NPSL)
TU-778 (12/03/2014))
EX (Plus) - 777 (10/21/2013)
EQ - 735 (April 2013)
Message 15 of 22
Croselx
Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?

Highest APR should be paid off first so you have more money leftover to pay the remaining cards.
You can pay off Cap 1, Amex, Discover and most of Chase on the first month (finish paying it on Feb unless you have saved up money to pay it off on Jan).

 

You are at $38610 / $46300 or 83.4% of overall utility, assuming you put the full amount in your new util will be 44.5%. If your overall credit picture is looking good you can try to get a card with 0% balance transfer so you pay the maximum amount to the principal and save some money (wait for the cards to report the new $0 balance). If you can't get the card then you should apply the freed up money from the paid off cards to pay off the remaining BOA and Citi cards.

 

 

 

As of Feb: AAoA 1 year, 10 months
CK TU: 740; Wal-Mart TU FICO: 721
CS EX: 715
8 CCs, 15 total accounts.
Negs on report: 1 30 day late aged 3 years
5 inquiries
Message 16 of 22
Thunderstruck
New Member

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?

This is my proposal:

 

Pay in full Cap 1 ($575)

Decrease utilization down to 30% in AMEX paying off $5,322

Decrease utilization down to 30% in Discover paying off $3,958

Decrease utilization down to 30% in Chase paying off $3,263

Decrease utilization down to 70% in BOA paying off $2,157

Decrease utilization down to 70% in Citi paying off $2,705

 

Total cost = $17,980

Message 17 of 22
Dustink
Valued Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?

What happened to OP?

Too many INQs & low AAoA so I'm off to tend the Garden.     Age:23    


     $17k       $8.5K          Closed          $19k      $6.5k        $24.2k        Closed         $5k       Closed     $8.5k        Closed      @2.49%
Message 18 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?

I want to thank everyone their input. It is very valuable. The "plan" is to stop using the cards altogether and continue to pay down. We went to a single income and had our second child over the last year which pushed these balances up. Our goal is to be CC debt free by February 2014.

With the help and advise of the group, I think we will be paying off highest APR's in January:
Cap 1

AMEX
Discover

Chase (most)...then rest over coming months.

 

We'll continue to knock down the last two over the next 13 months.

Message 19 of 22
Dustink
Valued Contributor

Re: What Credit Cards should I pay off?


@Anonymous wrote:

I want to thank everyone their input. It is very valuable. The "plan" is to stop using the cards altogether and continue to pay down. We went to a single income and had our second child over the last year which pushed these balances up. Our goal is to be CC debt free by February 2014.

With the help and advise of the group, I think we will be paying off highest APR's in January:
Cap 1

AMEX
Discover

Chase (most)...then rest over coming months.

 

We'll continue to knock down the last two over the next 13 months.


That looks like a good plan. I would recommend you keep some money in savings. So, if your accounts are completely dry. You should put a little away.

 

Also, I would think about paying the high utilization cards down some. Your citi is maxed, but since it is your lowest interest card. It is a tough choice. Maybe after you pay down your other cards, you can get citi to give you an increase on your limit.

 

Good luck getting them all paid down.

 

After you start getting them paid down well and your credit score refects it. It might be worth getting a loan so that you have one payment for all the credit cards and then your score will shoot up after everything gets paid off.

Too many INQs & low AAoA so I'm off to tend the Garden.     Age:23    


     $17k       $8.5K          Closed          $19k      $6.5k        $24.2k        Closed         $5k       Closed     $8.5k        Closed      @2.49%
Message 20 of 22
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.