I need some advice on credit cards and general issues.

[Anonymous]

First let me list all of our credit cards.

Hsbc mastercard-  cl 1000  balance 845.73 APR 29.99 % 

Capital one- cl 750  (went from 500 to 750 in like 3 months automatically)  balance  580.63 APR18.4%

                        AF $39

Best buy- cl 1900 balance 1618.34  APR differs   -  829.21 @ 22.15%

                                                                               -  733.76  @10.9% till 2/10/10

                                                                                - 27.98    @10.9% till 2/10/10

                                                                                - 92          @ 0% till 1/17/08  then 22.15

Firestone- cl 1200 balance 700 APR )% till 2/5/2008  then 21.84%

homedepot-  cl 3000 balance 907.93 APR 0%interest till   6/22/2008  then 21%

                                                 640  APR 0% interest till  6/1/2008  then 21%

Sears-  cl 900 balance 785.8  APR 24.4%

applied card bank- cl 500 balance 0 APR AF $50

american car care center- cl 1000 balance 0 APR 22.99%

America First Credit Union-  line of credit of 1800 interest rate at 10.25%

                                          -   line of credit of 500 interest rate at 10.25%

                                           -  personal loan balance 1320 interest rate at 10.25

                                          -   truck loan balance 21200 interest rate at 9.15%

scooter loan- balance +/-3500 interest rate about 17%

newegg card - cl 2400 balance 0  interest rate 21.99%

Mortgage 172900 interest rate at 6.75%

we dont really have much more money extra eachmonth besides like 25-50 dollars each month.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to whether to save the money each month for an emergency fund or something or to pay of our debts first?  I think i should start paying off credit cards and line of credits since with line of credits i can always reuse that cash if something comes up.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what to focus on and in what order to go?

Thanks any response/suggestions appreciated.

[marty56]

Since you posted in a FICO forum I will assume you are looking to improve your FICO score in whcih case I would pay down the balalnces on your credit cards.

It makes sense to pay them off anyway since the interest you make on a Savings account is far less then what you are paying on your CC.  Also with a higher FICO score, you are more likely to be able to get credit if you really need it.

Just paying the minimum each month will probably land you in more debt or worse.  Take it from someone who had 70k in CC debt and sepnt 4.5 years in a DMP.

[Anonymous]

Yes, thanks for the reply I do want to get my credit score up.  My goal is to get mine and my husbands creditscores up 720+  as soon aspossible and also to get our monthly payments down.  

Thanks for the response.

Also does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get lower interest rates on our cards?  Our hsbc card was at 19% and they raised it to 29% because we were only paying the minimum on it.

Let me know if you have anymore suggestions

[Anonymous]

For best scores when dealing with CC  Bal should be below 10%.....not easy to due for most of us!

Never close a good standing account........when a CC has a Bal $0...use it once every 6 months to keep it reporting as current.

Pay high int.rate cards first....If possible pay more then the min. payment....also make a payment before it collects int.  examp:  Cap1 shows new statement online  01/01/2008  due date is 01/15/2008....if you pay on 01/01/2008 or anytime before 01/15  you save int. for that month.

CC counts more towards scores then any other loans!

[Anonymous]

regarding the mention of accounts in good standing we have no lates or any other derogatories on any of our cards loans or anything. 

thanks

[marty56]

Good, then when you get the balances down, your scores should rise.  Also check out the score simulator, it may help you in determining how much of your balances need to be paid down to get to your target score.

Also having no lates is the single most important thing you can do to keep a great score since you can always pay down a balance but it takes 7 years for lates to come off or at least 2 years for them not to count so much.