No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
@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
@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.
@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.
@Repo-ed wrote:
from highest apr to lowest apr
+100000000 This
Do what you can to pay those off (highest to lowest apr first) asap. Not going to ask because circumstances can get tough.
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.
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
What happened to OP?
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.
@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 1AMEX
DiscoverChase (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.