balance transfer to lower high uti

Sgil · ‎04-18-2015

I have a Discover CC with a 14.4k limit and a 7k plus balance. My interest rate is at 19%. Paying the minimum this past year, i've made little progress in paying this thing off. Min. payments was like $124 and intrest was like $100.

After paying $3,000 to Discover, I decided to get a new CC a few months ago with 0% balance transfer till next April. My new Chase CC limit was 4k and I was able to BT $3,800 (plus 3% fee).

My question is, should I get another CC with a 0% BT for the CHase Card? I am at over 98% utilization and would think that would hurt my fico score.

I will pay the Discover Card off in a few months and plan to pay the Chase card off in 8-10 Months.

I have several other CC with Balances, but under 30% utilization

Thanks for the Help!!

DaveInAZ · ‎04-19-2015

@Sgil wrote:
I have a Discover CC with a 14.4k limit and a 7k plus balance. My interest rate is at 19%. Paying the minimum this past year, i've made little progress in paying this thing off. Min. payments was like $124 and intrest was like $100.

After paying $3,000 to Discover, I decided to get a new CC a few months ago with 0% balance transfer till next April. My new Chase CC limit was 4k and I was able to BT $3,800 (plus 3% fee).

My question is, should I get another CC with a 0% BT for the CHase Card? I am at over 98% utilization and would think that would hurt my fico score.

I will pay the Discover Card off in a few months and plan to pay the Chase card off in 8-10 Months.

I have several other CC with Balances, but under 30% utilization
Thanks for the Help!!

@Anonymous, yeah, I would think a 98% utilization would hurt your score - anything much over 10% util starts to lower your score. You might have a problem getting approved for another CC with that high a util, but the Barclays NFL Extra Points card has a 0% interest rate for 15 months for BTs made within 45 days of account opening. BT fee is 3%, but it has a bonus reward of $100 cashback for charging $500 or more within 3 months to offset that BT fee. You might also consider a debt consolidation loan from Prosper or Lending Club - I had a $5k Prosper loan @ 10.89% that I just paid off.

Sgil · ‎04-19-2015

Thats's what I am afraid of. I would hate to get a new CC and the limit is low. Having two CC with high utilization would hurt bad I'm sure. I keep getting letters in the mail about Lending tree, but always dismiss them as a scam. I'm only looking at 8-10 months before I pay this off. I'm finished with a $400 plus bill a month and will start paying $400 plus to Chase. Should I try and get anouth CC or just take the hit now and hope things get better as I pay this off?

Thanks

DaveInAZ · ‎04-19-2015

Well, you did recently get approved for Chase, and they are known as a fairly conservative/picky lender. If you're 8-10 months from paying it off, maybe a Capital One card would work for you, Quicksilver rewards card has 0% for purchases & BTs through Jan. 2016. Try their soft pull pre-qualification:

http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/

Pre-qual is a soft pull, and if quotes a specific interest rate to you then you are highly likely to be approved - applying for a card will be a HP on all 3 CRAs. And not paying 19% interest will help you pay those balances more quickly.

Sgil · ‎04-19-2015

Capital One Quicksilver CC only has till Jan. 2016 at 0% on balance transfers. I think that still could work. You recommended two different CC (Barclay and Capital One), both seem to fit my needs.

I tried the soft pull from Cap. One and looks like I pre-qualify for several CC......quicksilver, venture, plat. prestige.

What CC would benefit more?? Barclay NFL extra points or the Cap. One Quicksilver?

DaveInAZ · ‎04-19-2015

Well, I suggested Capital One as it has that SP pre-qual page so you could see if you would likely be approved, Barclays doesn't have a pre-qual page, you have risk applying and chance be turned down. Barclays NFL has the longer 15 mos 0% BT to make sure you get everything paid off. If 0% until Jan 2016 will do it for you, I think Cap One Quicksilver is a better card - it gives you 1.5 cashback points on everything, NFL only 1%, 2% + discounts on over priced NFL tickets & merchandise. And Cap One has been very generous on CLs lately, the gave me $10k CL on Quicksilver when they approved me in Oct., Barclays approved me for $5k on the NFL last month (but I already had $5700 CL on Barclays Rewards card).

Cap One is my main card for the better rewards, I got the NFL primary to use the 15 mos 0% BT to pay off my Prosper loan, I'll be able to pay off the $3780 balance within the 15 mos at 0% interest instead of the remaining 26 mos remaining on the Prosper loan at 10.89%.

So, whichever card you think works best for what you want to acheive is the "best" card for you.

Sgil · ‎04-19-2015

I was leaning toward Cap. One as I only go to very few nfl games(go Saints)

Thanks for the help you have given me. I am pretty clear how I should procede.

Thanks

takeshi74 · ‎04-20-2015

@Sgil wrote:
My question is, should I get another CC with a 0% BT for the CHase Card? I am at over 98% utilization and would think that would hurt my fico score.

While you definitely want to reduce utilization ASAP on the maxed card I don't recommend applying for another card. With high utilization your odds of getting approved are reduced and even if approved you're likely to get a low limit and high APR so it's not a sustainable practice to keep applying for 0% offers if you're carrying balances. Seeking credit under these conditions is likely to be considered risky behavior.

@Sgil wrote:
Paying the minimum this past year, i've made little progress in paying this thing off.

Yeah, the minimum doesn't really mean anything aside from the least that is required to keep your account current. Your statement should show you how long it would take to pay off the balance only paying the minimum. I'm carrying a balance on a 0% offer with Discover and my latest statement indicates that If I only paid the minimum it would take me 7 years.

Sgil · ‎04-20-2015

Yes, that was a concern for me as well.

My goal is to buy a new "used" vehicle by the end of the year, and a house (first time) in the next couple years. I have about $8k in total CC charges and want to pay most off this year. Then used one CC for small purchases. Maybe alternate CC use, but pay in full at end of billig cycle to not incur interest.

DaveInAZ · ‎04-20-2015

@Sgil wrote:
Yes, that was a concern for me as well.

My goal is to buy a new "used" vehicle by the end of the year, and a house (first time) in the next couple years. I have about $8k in total CC charges and want to pay most off this year. Then used one CC for small purchases. Maybe alternate CC use, but pay in full at end of billig cycle to not incur interest.

As a suggestion, I just bought a new "used" vehicle in February from HertzCarSales.com, best car buying experience ever. "No haggle price", the price posted on their website is the final price, none of the "well, let me go talk to my sales manager" BS. And the program is called Rent to Buy, you pick it up as a 3 day rental so you get 3 days to check it all out, if you don't like it or think something is wront with it just return & pay standard rental fee, if you decide to buy the rental fee is waived. I bought a Mazda2 hatchback for $10k, they cost $16-17k new, a nice discount over buying new while it has many years & miles to go. As it was priced well under Kelly Blue Book my local credit union financed the entire purchase price at 1.99% for 5 years, I just paid tax, title & license.

So, did you get the Capital One card?