Which to pay off first

sunnie_321 · ‎02-04-2009

So I have an extra 3k that I can devote to my cc bills. My question is which do I pay off first to better increase my credit scores. Here is my list:

Capital one- $937/1k limit

Carnival Sea Miles - $837/1k limit

Pet Smart - $1899/2k limit

NavyFCU LOC- 3,500/4,500 limit

Would it make more sense to dump it all on NavyFCU or to pay off the little ones and then put the rest on the monsters?

Anonymous · ‎02-04-2009

I would pay the cap one and the sea miles both off, and then pay the balance to the one with the highest interest rate. IMHO its not as important to raise your score as it is to reduce the amount of debt you have, unless you are going to make a major purchase soon.

sunnie_321 · ‎02-04-2009

I should have added, I plan to purchase a home within the next 6-7 months

Anonymous · ‎02-04-2009

I'm not sure how the LOC reports...revolving or installment? If it reports installment then pay down as much as you can on the petsmart card. in addition to paying off the others, that should give you the biggest boost

Creditaddict · ‎02-05-2009

@sunnie_321 wrote:
So I have an extra 3k that I can devote to my cc bills. My question is which do I pay off first to better increase my credit scores. Here is my list:

Capital one- $937/1k limit
Carnival Sea Miles - $837/1k limit
Pet Smart - $1899/2k limit
NavyFCU LOC- 3,500/4,500 limit

Would it make more sense to dump it all on NavyFCU or to pay off the little ones and then put the rest on the monsters?

I agree... Payoff Capital One and Carnival, put the remaining money on the petsmart.

having less of your accounts reporting balances will give you more of a score boost.

Anonymous · ‎02-05-2009

@sunnie_321 wrote:
I should have added, I plan to purchase a home within the next 6-7 months

Um - if you plan on purchasing a home in the next 6-7 month, how do you not have more than 3K to pay off your cards? Take the 3K and part of your downpayment - payoff all cards which I am sure are charging you higher interest than a mortgage will, save the interest and save as hard as you can over the next 6 months and hopefully you will go into your home buying process with better FICO, no CC debt and almost as much of a down payment

Anonymous · ‎02-05-2009

I would continue to use my cards during this period between payoff and buying your home. You want to keep all your cards active, if you don't it will cost you points. Just make sure you don't carry more then 1-9% balances and only on one card at a time.