topic Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's in Personal Finance

Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 01:55:10 GMT

I had a few credit cards that were near maxed out, and after reading some posts here, I decided to try and increase those limits.

Ashley's CL was $4,000. Increased to $6,000 (SP) Balance $0 - Util 0%

Lowe's CL was $8,500. Increased to $10,000 (SP) Balance $2805 - new util 28%

Discover CL was $2,100. Increased to $4,100 (SP) Balance $1997.29 - new util 48%

Care Credit CL was $5,500. Increased to $8,000 (SP) Balance $3373 - new util 42%

Credit Union CL is $1,000. (Did not request a CLI because would result in a hard inquiry/new application?) Balance $689. Was around 75% but got it down to 68%

Best Buy CL was $1,200. Increased to $5,000 (AU.. was a hard inquiry but on my husbands CR) Balance $1032- new util 20% (0% APR until February)

Chase CL is $3,500. Did not request a CLI because of a hard inquiry. Balance $3340. util is 95% (now the only one at Maxed out)

*Then I wanted a new travel based card so I applied for Capital One Venture One and got approved for CL $1,000. A little less than I was hoping/expecting for, but still happy I got approved. Keeping this paid in full each month. Rewards is 20,000 bonus for spending $1,000 in 3 months which I will have through groceries/gas/and buying our house heating fuel (already have the money saved up to pay in full)...

Total amounts owed $13,248 | Total Credit: $38,600 | Utilization 34.31% (used to be around 49%)

Paying these credit cards down/off:

1. I thought about getting that Chase down to the 89.9% utilization first. Which would be $230 dollars. The minimum payment is $79. I would have this accomplished by the end of this month.

2. I should have an extra $800-$1,000 in October. Should I:

A. pay the Credit Union one down to 48.9% utilization, and the rest of the money towards Best Buy, which would result as that card utilization as below the 8.9%?

B. pay off all of the Credit union Card or all of the Best buy card?

I don't really plan on getting any new credit in the near future, so I guess it's not really important for scores to go up fast in the near future. Just kind of want rid of these balances.

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 03:05:25 GMT

Since Best Buy is 0%, pay the minimum while you pay everything else down. I would start with Chase.

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 03:13:12 GMT

Nicely done, Z! Congratulations on all of your successful CLI.

I agree making Chase a priority -- they are known to "balance chase" accounts with high utilization.

Good luck.

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Cred4All — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 12:33:18 GMT

You successfully CLI'd most of your cards and earned another roughly 12k in available balance, nice!

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 14:05:28 GMT

Good job! I agree about Chase. Keep up the good work!

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 15:42:52 GMT

Slight tweak to the advice you are getting so far. Yes to paying down any cards that are above 87%, then paying down all cards to under 67%, then all cards to under 48%, and so on -- with the exception of a 0% card which should not be a priority for paydown as long as it is below 67%.

But I would not make the bare minimum payment on any card. Always pay at least $2 more than the MP. Paying only the MP is a flag for high risk in the internal metrics of many CC issuers, and can increase the chance of balance chasing.

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 18:15:37 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
Since Best Buy is 0%, pay the minimum while you pay everything else down. I would start with Chase.

I disagree. Most store cards aren't really "0% APR" they are "no interest if paid in X months" and if you don't pay it back within that amount of time they go back to day 1 and charge an absurd interest rate, usually 25-30%.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/financing-rewards/learn-about-best-buy-financing/pcmcat1476112234971.c?id=pcmcat1476112234971

Therefore I would divide the current balance by the number of months remaing on the promotional financing offer and pay a little more than that every month.

Re: Paying down CC and got some CLI's

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 00:42:43 GMT

Yes this is the 0% if paid in full by February. That's why I was kind of thinking about focusing on paying that balance off as soon as I could. If not, it would be about 24%.