Hello all! Well, my paying off journey starts now. I am paying off my Barclay's card today for $290 ($350 is my low limit, but hey, what can I say). Then, Orchard Bank paying off in 2 weeks for $239 ($300 is my limit). I'm keeping the Barclay's but likely closing the Orchard. My next one is slightly larger limit and that will be PIF and closed at the end of March, which will be around $600 owed for 1st Premier card (limit is $700). After that, I will not get a large chunk of $$$ again until June, so I'll take the payments I'll be saving from those PIF cards, and apply it towards my Credit One or Merrick Bank (both have limits of 1k, with balances owed around $800 range on each). I have a couple other cards, but I am wanting to PIF those with annual fees and/or monthly maintenance charges and higher interest rates. I will be strategically closing these accounts over the course of the year, as I don't want to close them all at/close to the same time. I'll be closing a card every 2-3 months.
So, to make myself happy since, a) I am not apping for any accounts until next year, and b) the only card I have that has any quasi rewards is my Barclay's card; I've opened a Nordstrom Bank checking account. Their rewards program isn't as generous as their Visa Siggy card, or their Nordstrom Store card, but it's still pretty decent. For every $1 you spend at Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack/Online, or their restaurant, you get 2 points, and for all other charges it's 1 point for each dollar. Once you get 2,000 points you get a $20 gift certificate/nordie bucks sent to you. I'm happy. It's not fancy like those rebates that good credit people get, but I'm stoked!
Hope all is well in everyone elses credit world 
**Forgot to add, while I know it's best to throw money at all bills, I've stashed $750 in my ING Savings account, I want to rebuild my savings back up, and you have to start somewhere. I could use that $750 to pay off stuff, but I figure if I have a car issue, or something else (knock on wood that comes up), I won't have to reach for any CC to pay for it, as I'll have some savings. And as we ALL know, most anything that comes up unexpectedly is always $500! Actually, I read that from some financial blogger. 
@BlessedHappiness wrote:
Great job! Try to get a pay for delete from your creditors showing naddies before you pay in fiull. If not pay it and good will them. Paying off a collection wont improve your credit unless its gone, but it means alot to wipe the debt clean, never having to be bothered with it and sleeping peacefully. That is priceless!!
Thanks BlessedHappiness! Sorry for the confusion though, these cards aren't bad/delinquent, they were just cards I got immediately after I filed for BK at the end of 2010. My attorney, while good, recommended that I get these (awful) cards to assist me in rebuilding my credit. And while I appreciate that it did assist some, as I have established some positive tradelines, most of them are those predatory cards (which I understand serve their purpose), so they have awful fees, etc. In short, I just want them paid and closed. I have 9 accounts (two of which are business cards, but they report to my personal credit report 
) I plan on keeping, MAYBE 3 cards, the rest are being closed throughout this year.
I'm happy though. The good thing is that my total balances owing is less than 5k, so my plan is to have all this debt paid off by September, or worst case December of this year. I'm taking some of my tax money, as well as money throughout the year from bigger projects (where I make good money), and throwing it at my bills and at savings. I have two businesses (one recently launched in November), and I also work part-time too in Sales, so I am grinding it out! My goal is to have: debts paid off by end of year (excluding student loans, 'cause, well, that's never happening, LOL), and have >10k saved (5k will go to a secured credit card I'm opening in June, and the remainder in my savings account). It's all doable if I continue to just live small and not waste money, and grow my businesses!
@jmoney3457 wrote:Hi Queen, congrats on all your success! The only thing is you mentioned closing some cards. That can actually go *against* your score, because it reduces your overall available credit. Why not just pay them off, and put a couple minor charges/pay them off every couple months to keep them from closing due to inactivity.
Yeah, I know I will take a "hit" on my score, but I am ok with that (discussed on another thread in great length). These cards have VERY high annual and/or monthly maintenance fees; hence the reason they will be closed. The only ones that don't are my Barclay's and one of my Cap One cards (those two I'll be definitely keeping). I'm on the fence about the other Cap One (as it has a small annual fee), and the Orchard Bank has an annual fee too, I believe it's $39, but people have mentioned they've had success in getting it waived, so again, I may retain it if I can get it waived, as the two Cap One Cards & the Orchard were opened immediately after my filing (along with a couple of the other high fee cards that are getting closed).