What cc should I pay first? All or part?

dangerdave · ‎03-02-2016

Hello,

I'm getting my tax return soon and I need to put it all towards my credit card debt. I have 5000 I will be refunded but I owe much more on my credit cards. Should I pay any completely off or should I leave a small balance? Should I pay a little on each so I don't run into over limit fees? I'm really not sure how to best disperse my refund.

cc1 -10.65% $2,587.67
cc2 - 8.65% $507.34
cc3 -15.15% $775.39
cc4 - 20%-29%% $4500.00
cc5 - 21.9% $171.41

Where do I start?

Thanks.

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Chris679 · ‎03-02-2016

Make the min payment on each and you will avoid fees. Paying highest apr first is the fastest and cheapest way to pay off.

Anonymous · ‎03-02-2016

flat out pay off that $4,500 one and then the $171 one. put the rest to the $775 one and then the amounts you paid monthly on the two you just paid off apply both payments plus the minimum payment of the 775 one and pay that one off. then just snowball it on the $2,500 one

Anonymous · ‎03-02-2016

luckily you're not in too deep

dangerdave · ‎03-02-2016

Thanks for the advice!! Is it bad to pay a cc down to 0. Would I be in danger of them canceling the card? Should I leave a small balance?

Starting Score: 554
Current Score: 647
Goal Score: 700

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Anonymous · ‎03-02-2016

Pay off 4 and 5 then work on the rest from highest interest rate down

Anonymous · ‎03-02-2016

@dangerdave wrote:
Thanks for the advice!! Is it bad to pay a cc down to 0. Would I be in danger of them canceling the card? Should I leave a small balance?

NO. Pay off in full. Use your CCs responsibly and PIF every month. Make small charges you can afford, within your budget and no one will cancel your card due to inactivity. I have a card I haven't used in 2 years still open.

Anonymous · ‎03-02-2016

the least of your worries is score at this point. more money is better than score. your scores will go up as your utilization goes down

Callandra · ‎03-02-2016

@dangerdave wrote:
Thanks for the advice!! Is it bad to pay a cc down to 0. Would I be in danger of them canceling the card? Should I leave a small balance?

No, it is never bad to pay a card down to 0. If they lower your limit, it can always be raised again later. Pay off all your cards, get your grace periods back.

Once you have all your cards paid to 0 and grace periods restored, you can leave a small balance on one card every month for reporting purposes (for best results, allow 1-9% report).

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Kevin86475391 · ‎03-02-2016

@dangerdave wrote:
Should I pay a little on each so I don't run into over limit fees? I'm really not sure how to best disperse my refund.

cc1 -10.65% $2,587.67
cc2 - 8.65% $507.34
cc3 -15.15% $775.39
cc4 - 20%-29%% $4500.00
cc5 - 21.9% $171.41

Congrats on the influx of money and the opportunity to pay down some of your debt!

If you're concerned with running over the limit it would be very helpful if you also posted credit limits on these cards in addition to balance and APR. This will also allow people to interject based on utilization concerns.