suggestion cc use for me please

Anonymous · ‎07-25-2010

im waiting for my new card to be arriving at my house. its my first cc. 5k limit. 0 apr for 9 months...

i make decent money. i have one college loan in the amount of 8k and a car loan with a balance of 17k. i know that its in your best interest to have utilization under a certain percentage if you are trying to increase your fico or your in the market for a major purchase within the next several months. well im not in the market for a mortgage in the next several months and while im not aggressively trying to increase my score to 800 i dont want to hurt my score in any way shape or form,...i think im around 720 now.....

id like to take pay down college loans by 4-5k using the card...either transfer a balance or just paying like im making a purchase?!? any negative consequeces of this action besides getting jacked in interest if i dont pay off the 4-5k withing 9 months?!?!

or maybe pay down my car loan with the same premise??

my utilization will be very high for a limited tim but im not looking to buy a house until late next year of after. i can pay back 5k in a couple months. i have a limited time to take advantage of the APR so i would do this as soon as i get the card?? would you say only do it if i can afford to do this or would you think this is a horrible idea based on unforseen consequences i have not factored??

in theory....9 months from now i will have a zero balance on my credit card, my ratios will be much better because the principal will be reduced substantially either with car or college loans and i will have created a decent track record with the cc???

Tazman81 · ‎07-25-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
im waiting for my new card to be arriving at my house. its my first cc. 5k limit. 0 apr for 9 months...

i make decent money. i have one college loan in the amount of 8k and a car loan with a balance of 17k. i know that its in your best interest to have utilization under a certain percentage if you are trying to increase your fico or your in the market for a major purchase within the next several months. well im not in the market for a mortgage in the next several months and while im not aggressively trying to increase my score to 800 i dont want to hurt my score in any way shape or form,...i think im around 720 now.....

id like to take pay down college loans by 4-5k using the card...either transfer a balance or just paying like im making a purchase?!? any negative consequeces of this action besides getting jacked in interest if i dont pay off the 4-5k withing 9 months?!?!

or maybe pay down my car loan with the same premise??

my utilization will be very high for a limited tim but im not looking to buy a house until late next year of after. i can pay back 5k in a couple months. i have a limited time to take advantage of the APR so i would do this as soon as i get the card?? would you say only do it if i can afford to do this or would you think this is a horrible idea based on unforseen consequences i have not factored??

in theory....9 months from now i will have a zero balance on my credit card, my ratios will be much better because the principal will be reduced substantially either with car or college loans and i will have created a decent track record with the cc???

My recommendation would be to just use your credit card for some minor bills each month and keep your utilization under about 10%. Likely that 0% APR is only for purchase you make on the card and not transfers. Also, you have to be careful with doing transfers via convenience checks because depending on what you do, it can be considered a cash advance and you will be hit with the 4-5% cash advance fee along with high percentage APR which is likely 2 or 3 times the amount you are paying on your student loan or vehicle. I recommend just not charging up your card and just make extra payments on the loan that has the higher APR.

Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830
Goal Score: Eq: 850 Tu: 850
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Anonymous · ‎07-25-2010

ok...make sense...

out of curiousity, i can pay online for car and student loan. if i were to pay 5k through my online billpay for student loan instead of my monthly 97.99 wouldnt that register as a purchase and not a cash advance/balance transfer avoiding the fees and higher interest?

wmarat · ‎07-25-2010

If your billpay accepts CC as account paid from, it would be purchase, but in my experience with BOA such a purchase is not eligible for rewards and has limited disputing possibilities.

IN VINO VERITAS.

Wolf3 · ‎07-26-2010

This is a good idea if the interest savings are significant and your are very sure you can pay it off. Make sure it is a purchase and not a cash advance with fees. What are the intererst rates on other loans? Remember, the reason the CC companies offer a 0% APR, is that many customers will not be able to pay it off on time and they make a lot of money on that.

You are right in utilization only counting when you are applying for credit, so that is not a concern.

Using your card for everyday purchase will build a decent track record on its own.