topic Re: Which order would you pay these? in Personal Finance

Which order would you pay these?

User001z — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 23:50:53 GMT

Well it was nice being at 0% debt for two months, but unfortunately life happens so now I must determine the best way to pay off my new debt. The good news is I am very disciplined with how I use my money so taking down this debt should not cause any unneeded stress. The repairs were actually necessary to get back and forth to work and to pass inspection. I mainly just need a good gameplan on what order to pay these off in. I would think the 0%'s should be tackled first, but I just want to make sure.

Firestone - $1093.79 0% interest if paid off in 6 months (Car repair *Multiple Misfires, power loss, bad head gasket *oil leaking into spark plug cylinders going right thru the tube seals -Unavoidable repair)

Normal APR 34.99%

Precision Auto Tune - $2706.32 0% interest if paid off in 12 months (Car repair *EPS Rack and pinion - Power steering system total failure)

Normal APR 34.99%

Wells Fargo - $7500.00 9.9% interest (Required Home repairs after inspection - Inspector said all had to fixed immediately)

My current gameplan is to pay off the 6 months first, the 12 months next, and then throw everything at the $7500 to kill it within 2 years time.

While they want me to stretch out the $7500 the full 10 years so they make $4500 extra in interest I have no intention of doing so. I expect to wipe out all of this debt in two years time. I am just unsure if this is the recommended game plan.

I already have 75% of the first 1093.79 ready to go on the new scheduled due date.

While this has set my plans back a little bit I know that I will be completely debt free again in two years time so it is a minor inconvenience.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

JoeRockhead — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:13:05 GMT

I'd recommend you do the exact opposite of what you have planned.

Pay off the highest balance, highest interest debt first, then go after the next two 0% balances.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

Vinjints — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:10:04 GMT

A proper recommendation would be dependent on how much you can afford to pay each month. Can't really crunch numbers without it.

Off the top, the interest accruing account needs to be paid down without scarifying the savings from the 0% windows. Even if you pay towards the 7500 for 2-4 months and then use the next 4-2 months to make sure the 6 month is taken care of, that would probably be best. Same for the 12 month card.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

Varsity_Lu — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:16:59 GMT

How much can you pay toward debt each month? Certainly that will factor into things.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

User001z — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:33:24 GMT

Right now due to other obligations I plan on throwing about $400 a month at my debt, then using my 3.5K tax return to knock them out within 2 years time. As time goes on I will be able to throw even more at it. What is the recommended game plan. Looking at my amorization table I will be able to do it all within 2 years time. It's just the best order that gets me. I thank you all for your help. In the past you guys have helped me tremendously so all advice is appreciated. I use a (free) vertex 42 debt management system which has an amorization table built in.

https://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/debt-reduction-calculator.html

Re: Which order would you pay these?

FicoMike0 — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:30:25 GMT

Do the 0% accounts have a required payment schedule to get the 0%? If so, you want to meet that schedule if possible.

I've seen some of these no interest deals where if you're one day late or dollar short, you owe 25% from the initial loan date. Make sure you get the 0%, I'll bet the interest after the 6 or 12 months is a lot higher than 9.9%.

Once these 0% loans are taken care of, you're on the right track paying wells as fast as possible.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

User001z — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:48:51 GMT

Yes, the firestone card requires the debt be paid in full within 6 months. It's more like the interest is deferred, but 0% if paid within 6 months.

Same for the precision auto card it is 12 months at 0% if paid off in those 12 months. 1 day past that all of the interest from those 12 months hits. Both of those cards have a locked timeframe to pay off all debt to avoid any interest.

The interest if they are one day past 6 or 12 is 34.99% each. Within the 6 or 12 months it's 0%.

This is kind of why I thought attacking the deferred 0% was the best gameplan. If I threw my money at the 9.9% all of the deferred 0% would hit in 6 to 12 months. I still believe that hitting the 0% first since it's deferred is the right track, but I want to hear what you guys have to say. You guys have helped me alot in the past.

I know that it's a determining factor here. I can afford to pay about 400 per month at the moment, but it will be more later on. I plan on throwing my 3.5K tax return at the debt each year too.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

boxmover — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 01:27:45 GMT

What are the credit limits on each of these cards? That's probably going to factor in somehow. Not necessarily for Fico scoring but so as to not spook creditors. Finances before Fico of course but also don't be maxed out, unintended consequences are no good.

For example of you can't pay down as fast as you want and end up wanting a 0% BT offer in ~10 months to avoid interest on the 12 month deal, or the 9.9% gets min payments only, you're not likely to get it if you're at high util. On one of those 3.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

User001z — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 02:13:12 GMT

Hi boxmover the credit limits are firestone 3K, precision 3K, and wells fargo 8.5K

$1006 unused on firestone, $293 unused on precision auto, and $1000 unused on wells fargo.

Although I have a 721 fico score I did not try to borrow too much past the repair costs. I could have asked for higher limits, but I chose not to due to the hard inquiries hitting my credit report. I also have 6K more of available credit on my normal general use credit cards which are sitting at 0% utilization on all 3. Keep in mind that I have 75% of the $1093.79 sitting aside ready to be paid this month, so by month two that one will be gone completely. Then I can snowball that payment into the $2706.32 due, before focusing on hitting the $7500.00 in home repairs. I haven't seen the UTI yet since it new credit and unreported on my credit yet. All of this occured last week. I was at 0% debt before this past month.

I am told that my 721 credit score will keep dropping until I get back under 30% utilization again. Even if I make $400-600 more in extra payments each month I am still going to watch my fico score decrease since I have been told scores only rise when below 30% UTI and most lenders want to see you use less than 10% of UTI.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

boxmover — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 02:16:46 GMT

Knowing your utilization on these 3 accounts is helpful for those who are wizards here at finances and credit though I'm not one of them I have learned a few things to help you, and I'm sure they'll help you even more!

I wouldn't worry about anything other than that 93.7% util for the first few months, which would also make sense to start knocking down first due to that's the 1 of the 3 that's adding to your debt load every day. It's "maxed" in the eyes of all creditors who do soft pull account reviews, too, and you're risking your other credit lines to be lowered if you let it report as such.

Pay less.interest in the long run, get out of debt faster, and help preserve your credit by focusing on that one first IMO.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

FicoMike0 — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 03:04:57 GMT

This is a strictly finance situation, don't worry about scores in the short term. I come up with payments of 98.70 for wells. You want to make that every month. Next there's the firestone, that's 182.30. Finally, the Precision, that's $225.53. So for 6 months you have,

$98.70

+$182.30

+$225.53

=$506.53

If you can make that, great! If not, you'll have to let the Precision slide some until the firestone is paid. If you pay $400 for the first 6 months, you'll be $106.53 X 6 = $639.18 behind.

That will require total payments of $387.53 for the second 6 months.

At $400 a month you're tight, but doable. I'd double check the terms of those 0% loans. Does it still work if you don't pay 1/12 of the 12 month loan every month? Those b@$tards are tricky! Make sure the final payment is due the same day of the month the other payments are, I've seen them make the final a different date.

Don't let them stick you with that 34.99%

Re: Which order would you pay these?

FicoMike0 — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 03:11:15 GMT

PS Your scores won't drop each month, they'll drop all at once as soon as the high utilization reports. If these all report as installment loans, it won't be so bad. If any of them report as revolvers, you'll notice the drop. If so, it's the price of 0%. Scores will come back as utilization comes down. Scores are just a number, paying interest is real money. Go for the finance.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 17:00:03 GMT

@User001z wrote:
Well it was nice being at 0% debt for two months, but unfortunately life happens so now I must determine the best way to pay off my new debt. The good news is I am very disciplined with how I use my money so taking down this debt should not cause any unneeded stress. The repairs were actually necessary to get back and forth to work and to pass inspection. I mainly just need a good gameplan on what order to pay these off in. I would think the 0%'s should be tackled first, but I just want to make sure.

Firestone - $1093.79 0% interest if paid off in 6 months (Car repair *Multiple Misfires, power loss, bad head gasket *oil leaking into spark plug cylinders going right thru the tube seals -Unavoidable repair)
Normal APR 34.99%

Precision Auto Tune - $2706.32 0% interest if paid off in 12 months (Car repair *EPS Rack and pinion - Power steering system total failure)
Normal APR 34.99%

Wells Fargo - $7500.00 9.9% interest (Required Home repairs after inspection - Inspector said all had to fixed immediately)

My current gameplan is to pay off the 6 months first, the 12 months next, and then throw everything at the $7500 to kill it within 2 years time.
While they want me to stretch out the $7500 the full 10 years so they make $4500 extra in interest I have no intention of doing so. I expect to wipe out all of this debt in two years time. I am just unsure if this is the recommended game plan.

I already have 75% of the first 1093.79 ready to go on the new scheduled due date.

While this has set my plans back a little bit I know that I will be completely debt free again in two years time so it is a minor inconvenience.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

User001z — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:04:44 GMT

Oh that's dirty changing the last payment date so someone is late for all of the interest.

Thank you for all of the advice guys.

My gameplan is to pay the firestone off first within 6 months time, precision off next within 12 months time, and wells fargo off third within 2 years time. I don't think I mentioned that in addition to making extra payments I will also be throwing my full $3500.00 tax return at the well fargo amount each year. This means that 7K of the 7500 borrowed will come from my tax returns allowing me to quickly kill the first to as fast as possible then focusing on the wells fargo account. My fico credit score went from 721 down to 673 even with 6K of available credit limits remaining open. How much can I expect to this to keep dropping month over month until I get it back to 30%. I am not gonna lie it will take me 2 years to pay all of this off so it will probably hurt my credit alot. All of this was unexpected which hit me out of nowhere, but that is life.

I saw that you said 93.7% utilized, but I still have 7K of available credit unused if you count the additional 1K remaining on wells + my other 6K in general credit cards. If I hit wells with $103.20 which are my actual payments and I hit wells with a full $3500 tax return in february that should drop my credit utilization significantly. Do it again next year and it's at 0% again. Still I wonder how much damage those months in between this will do to my credit.

If my math is correct and I make $4,738.00 in payments to wells within one year using my normal payments + my $3500 tax return, then by year two I will only pay out $141.90 in interest at 9.9% rather than the $4500 they wanted over the course of 10 years. My normal payments would be $1238 over the course of 12 months. My tax return will hit it with an additional $3500. My windfalls usually $500 will also hit it every 3 months. I plan to throw everything I can at this debt as quickly as possible. My tax refunds + my windfalls every 3 months make my two year goal achievable.

Without my windfalls and my tax returns just using debt snowball at $520.20 a month since the other two cards are at 0%

It will take me 25 months to pay everything off. Just paying 182 +225 +103.20 a month, then rolling it all into one payment to hit wells as hard as possible. The interest that way is $1061.82 if I don't throw my windfalls and tax refunds at it to kill it faster. The amorization table shows. While I would like to put my windfalls and tax refunds in my savings I don't know which is the better method. Kill the debt fast using all windfalls and tax refunds or just pay it all off using snowball which is finished in 25 months. I save big time in interest using my tax refunds and 3 month windfalls, but thats money I won't have sat aside for a future emergency. I already have 2K in my emergency fund just incase, but I have also heard that you need to have 3-6 months of expenses saved. I would like some advice on what method you would recommend using here thats $5,500.00 a year I could put torwards my emergency fund while having everything paid off in 25 months.

Re: Which order would you pay these?

Realist — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 15:10:42 GMT

@User001z wrote:
Well it was nice being at 0% debt for two months, but unfortunately life happens so now I must determine the best way to pay off my new debt. The good news is I am very disciplined with how I use my money so taking down this debt should not cause any unneeded stress. The repairs were actually necessary to get back and forth to work and to pass inspection. I mainly just need a good gameplan on what order to pay these off in. I would think the 0%'s should be tackled first, but I just want to make sure.

Firestone - $1093.79 0% interest if paid off in 6 months (Car repair *Multiple Misfires, power loss, bad head gasket *oil leaking into spark plug cylinders going right thru the tube seals -Unavoidable repair)
Normal APR 34.99%

Precision Auto Tune - $2706.32 0% interest if paid off in 12 months (Car repair *EPS Rack and pinion - Power steering system total failure)
Normal APR 34.99%

Wells Fargo - $7500.00 9.9% interest (Required Home repairs after inspection - Inspector said all had to fixed immediately)

My current gameplan is to pay off the 6 months first, the 12 months next, and then throw everything at the $7500 to kill it within 2 years time.
While they want me to stretch out the $7500 the full 10 years so they make $4500 extra in interest I have no intention of doing so. I expect to wipe out all of this debt in two years time. I am just unsure if this is the recommended game plan.

I already have 75% of the first 1093.79 ready to go on the new scheduled due date.

While this has set my plans back a little bit I know that I will be completely debt free again in two years time so it is a minor inconvenience.

Since time is a factor in this equation as your FICO score falls, here's what I would do, assuming you still can, and debt consolidation not an option.

1. Pay on and off the 6 months same as cash 0%, else the delayed interest will catch up to you.

2. Pay on and off the 12 months same as cash 0%, else the delayed interest will catch up to you.

3. Immediately roll the $7500 amount into a new 3%-5% balance transfer 18-21 month 0% credit card loan, to focus on both 1 and 2. Let them earn their few hundred dollars in transfer fee.

4. As 1 and 2 gets paid off, roll this and more on to 3, and if necessary, balance transfer it once more to a new card, and pay it off over time.

In the end it will eliminate debt, and incentivise lenders to extend you credit for a price, to balance transfer. Balance transfer one will be contingent on your credit score now. Balance transfer two, if needed, will be easier to obtain since debt will start to be extinquished, and the lender still being incentivised to open a line to you. You are basically paying to play, to keep everything manageable.