topic Re: CC Debt Free!! in Credit Cards

CC Debt Free!!

ronstar7 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:18:05 GMT

Not sure where this goes so mods feel free to move.

I can finally say I am 100% credit card deb free and it feels so great!!! I am really proud of myself as I thought I would never in a million years get here as somthing always seemed to come up to interfere with my money. But after being here and staying in the garden I just did and I didnt let anything or anyone get in my way. My questions are do I really have to keep a 9% balance on 1 card per month to get and keep higher scores? After so many years of debt I really just want to keep all cards at 0 for a while to just relish in it lol. Also when applting for a card when I can finally deal with losing my precious spade should I wait until I reach my goal score of 700 or until the one and only baddie I have falls off in 2018 or 2019? I want certain cards but I am content with staying with what I have an just growing the limits until the timing is right. For data purposes the cards I want are:

Amex Delta and maybe BCE

Chase Freedom and Double Cash

Venture

Disocver

Walmart

Scores are true FICO from here and are up to date. INQ are 3 4 & 3 none since 12/14

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:31:55 GMT

Hi,

I am not the most qualified to answer your questions, but wanted to congratulate on being cc debt free! A lot of people set this goal but not everyone follows their plan and achieves it. nice work.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

ronstar7 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:39:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi,

I am not the most qualified to answer your questions, but wanted to congratulate on being cc debt free! A lot of people set this goal but not everyone follows their plan and achieves it. nice work.

Thank you so much! It was hard work I canteven lie. But in the end I got tired of carrying the same balances for years literally years. I was ashamed and upset and tired of paying interest and not being able to save. I was finally in a position where I could have a 6 month emergency fund and pay off all cards so thats what I did even though it killed me to pay certain paymetnts as they were so high. All in all I didnt burn too much of savings doing this and the portion that was spent should be rebounded in 2 months or so. Trying to get DH to do the same but he doesnt appear to be ready mentally to do it so I will leave him be for the mean time and maybe just have him do one card at a time insead of all at once like I did.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

DrZoidberg — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:41:06 GMT

You don't carry a balance. You let 7% report each statement. 7% is the optimal number research shows. But really anything under 10% is. Nothing long with letting a statemnet generate with a balance as long as it's paid before the next statement generates.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

ronstar7 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:44:35 GMT

@DrZoidberg wrote:
You don't carry a balance. You let 7% report each statement. 7% is the optimal number research shows. But really anything under 10% is. Nothing long with letting a statemnet generate with a balance as long as it's paid before the next statement generates.

Got it, thanks!

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Mattopotamus — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:46:50 GMT

@DrZoidberg wrote:
You don't carry a balance. You let 7% report each statement. 7% is the optimal number research shows. But really anything under 10% is. Nothing long with letting a statemnet generate with a balance as long as it's paid before the next statement generates.

This. I actually find between 1%-3% is best for me and my scores. I just let one of my cards post a statement and then pay it in full once it does. The card I let post is the card I use every day.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

youdontkillmoney — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:47:57 GMT

Fantastic, what a great feeling to have.

I too am CC debt free, in fact 100% debt free until I get a mortgage for a home this or next year.

It is a great feeling not to owe anyone anything.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

ronstar7 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:52:52 GMT

@Mattopotamus wrote:
@DrZoidberg wrote:
You don't carry a balance. You let 7% report each statement. 7% is the optimal number research shows. But really anything under 10% is. Nothing long with letting a statemnet generate with a balance as long as it's paid before the next statement generates.
This. I actually find between 1%-3% is best for me and my scores. I just let one of my cards post a statement and then pay it in full once it does. The card I let post is the card I use every day.

Great point, that was also a question I had as to which card I should let report. I figured my shell card since its my lowest limit and I would be be ok with using and paying it. But then I thought technically it doesnt matter which one I use becuase I will have to rotate usuage to keep from closures anyway.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Loquat — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:53:07 GMT

Congrats on eliminating all of your CC debt! I'm sure it's an awesome feeling!

Re: CC Debt Free!!

ronstar7 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:54:59 GMT

@youdontkillmoney wrote:
Fantastic, what a great feeling to have.
I too am CC debt free, in fact 100% debt free until I get a mortgage for a home this or next year.
It is a great feeling not to owe anyone anything.

Super kudos to you then!!! I wish I could say all debt is paid but I still have student loans and a car payment ugh. Do you play the credit game in terms of letting one card report a small balance or do you just rotate usuage every 6 months to keep cards open?

Re: CC Debt Free!!

ronstar7 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:56:01 GMT

@Loquat wrote:
Congrats on eliminating all of your CC debt! I'm sure it's an awesome feeling!

It absolutely is! Onward and upward from here! Thank you

Re: CC Debt Free!!

_NERD — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 16:45:19 GMT

What a nice success story to read about this morning. Good job! TGIF

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 16:48:12 GMT

Congratulations on successfully PIF your debt and successfully gardening. You rock!

I totally understand wanting your accounts to report a $0 balance for a few months; However it could have a negative impact on your FICO scores. Since you're gardening I assume you won't be making any big purchases or applying for new credit any time soon, I say go for it.

Again, congrats on all your successes!

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:12:24 GMT

@ronstar7 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hi,

I am not the most qualified to answer your questions, but wanted to congratulate on being cc debt free! A lot of people set this goal but not everyone follows their plan and achieves it. nice work.
Thank you so much! It was hard work I canteven lie. But in the end I got tired of carrying the same balances for years literally years. I was ashamed and upset and tired of paying interest and not being able to save. I was finally in a position where I could have a 6 month emergency fund and pay off all cards so thats what I did even though it killed me to pay certain paymetnts as they were so high. All in all I didnt burn too much of savings doing this and the portion that was spent should be rebounded in 2 months or so. Trying to get DH to do the same but he doesnt appear to be ready mentally to do it so I will leave him be for the mean time and maybe just have him do one card at a time insead of all at once like I did.

One at a time may be a good approach for him. If you can, get him to use only one card while he works on his pay down of others. This way none of the other balances increase. I recently did the same for my hubby. It feels good! Now he has one card that reports a monthly balance. We use it to pay all of our personal monthly bills. It usually reports a balance between $400-$500 each month. We never pay any interest. I make sure to PIF the statement balance each month. It has simplified our lives. Woo hoo!

Good luck helping your hubby!

Re: CC Debt Free!!

kjm79 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:29:40 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
Congratulations on successfully PIF your debt and successfully gardening. You rock!

I totally understand wanting your accounts to report a $0 balance for a few months; However it could have a negative impact on your FICO scores. Since you're gardening I assume you won't be making any big purchases or applying for new credit any time soon, I say go for it.

Again, congrats on all your successes!

Totally agree with this. If you're not planning on applying for any credit, don't worry about the the UTIL %. When and if you're ready to app for something then let the 1-9% report to optimize your score.

Another thought, you could take a few months and see what % works best for your profile so that when you need the most optimized score you know exactly where that % needs to be.

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:08:44 GMT

@DrZoidberg wrote:
You don't carry a balance. You let 7% report each statement. 7% is the optimal number research shows. But really anything under 10% is. Nothing long with letting a statemnet generate with a balance as long as it's paid before the next statement generates.

I apologize OP for getting off topic. Last night, I received a courtesy call from BoA with regards to my new BBR. She didn't work in CS, she was from an auxillary department. Anyways, when I used the above bolded term, she acted like it was foreign to her. Lol!

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:10:07 GMT

@youdontkillmoney wrote:
Fantastic, what a great feeling to have.
I too am CC debt free, in fact 100% debt free until I get a mortgage for a home this or next year.
It is a great feeling not to owe anyone anything.

Yes, it is!

Re: CC Debt Free!!

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:20:50 GMT

@kjm79 wrote:
@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
Congratulations on successfully PIF your debt and successfully gardening. You rock!

I totally understand wanting your accounts to report a $0 balance for a few months; However it could have a negative impact on your FICO scores. Since you're gardening I assume you won't be making any big purchases or applying for new credit any time soon, I say go for it.

Again, congrats on all your successes!
Totally agree with this. If you're not planning on applying for any credit, don't worry about the the UTIL %. When and if you're ready to app for something then let the 1-9% report to optimize your score.

Another thought, you could take a few months and see what % works best for your profile so that when you need the most optimized score you know exactly where that % needs to be.

Excellent advice! Thanks for the kudos!