How should I pay down my CC debt?

[Anonymous]

Hey everybody,

Right now I'm hitting a road block on how I should pay down my credit card debt, so I can boost my credit score and hopefully get a car loan by years end.

Here's my card usage and score statistics right now:

Experian FICO is 668

Valero balance is $538 out of $550(98% usage)

Discount tire balance is $503 out of $1500(34% usage)

Walmart balance is $1334 out of $1400(95% usage)

Capital one secured balance is $177 out of $200(89% usage)

Gap balance is $60 out of $300(20% usage)

Kohls balance is $0 out of $300(0% usage)

Care credit balance is $305 out of $1700(18% usage)

My first thought was pay off all my small balance cards as soon as possible, and then start paying down my large balance card in increments of usage percentage. But then I thought maybe I should pay my small balance cards to 20% of usage and get my high balance card(walmart) to 40% usage by end of July and then to 20% usage by end of August and have all my cards paid off by end of October. What do you guys think?

My goals by end of December are to have no CC debt, a 725+ credit score, and be able to get my own car loan.

[Anonymous]

My first thought is tackle the smaller balances and then hit the bigger balances hard. Then again, your high usage cards need to be 30% or below so perhaps you'd want to hit those first. It all depends on really what your budget is like each month. I'd say anything you do will help at this point. I hope your strategy you go with gets you a good score for your car loan!

[Anonymous]

I assume you are the owner of all the accounts rather than an AU.
Since you can pay them all off by year end it won't matter much when loan time comes how you did it as long as CRAs have the 0 balances. I prefer the cascading method to pay off all debt (focus on highest interest card being paid down first then the next highest etc). If you want best fico results along the way I would knockout the Gap, the Valero, and the discount tire to cut down on accounts with balances. Then go after the Walmart as much as you can to reduce that individual CU before the car loan HP.

[Anonymous]

Well I just went a little crazy but it should work. I just paid $137 on my capital one card so it is down to $40(20% usage) and $75 to my discount tire so it is now at $428(29% usage).

Along with that I increased autopayment on my valero card to $120 a month, $200 on walmart, $50 on discount tire, and $60 on care credit.

Starting in September I will only have balances on my valero($278), care credit($120), Walmart($734), and Discount tire($330), but will take the extra $50 a month now avaiable and add it to valero which will be paid off in October along with care credit. Then I will take that extra $230 and add it to paying down walmart, which will leave me with Walmart at about $120 and discount tire at $180 at the end of November and will pay both off with a lump sum payment.

The only thing that worries me about this method is that I am not sure if it will show low enough credit useage by the time I apply for the auto loan along with a lower FICO score. Is my concern a valid one?

[Anonymous]

Experian FICO is 668

Valero balance is $538 out of $550(98% usage) - Pay it down

Discount tire balance is $503 out of $1500(34% usage)

Walmart balance is $1334 out of $1400(95% usage) - Pay it down

Capital one secured balance is $177 out of $200(89% usage) - Pay it down

Gap balance is $60 out of $300(20% usage)

Kohls balance is $0 out of $300(0% usage)

Care credit balance is $305 out of $1700(18% usage)

The ones I pointed out are affecting you badly...