topic Re: Ok I need serious advice in Credit Cards

Ok I need serious advice

icyhot — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 20:35:25 GMT

So I've said a few times on here that my mom has been an AU on a few of my cards and I've had to clean up her mess. Well I still haven't learned my lesson apparently. I gave her my Gold AA card to pay bills with then pay off with her child support and she does every thing but that. Now that I've PC'd to the Double Cash they're going to give me a new card number and the card she has now will be useless. I don't feel comfortable letting her keep my card so I'm not going to give it to her, but she's ran the balance to $3500 of a $5000 CL. I want to just BT the balance to my CU card and take over paying it off. My problem is, I'm also carrying a balance on my Spark card that's currently on a 0% promo that ends in May. That balance is $3000 out of a $4000. I had to pay a hefty tuition bill. I wanted to BT THAT balance to my CU card but the limit is only $5K. I've already tried for a CLI. The APR on the card my mom has is 16.24 while the Spark APR will be 20.24. I'm honestly not sure which direction to take. I considered BTing all of one balance to the CU and part of the other, but then I'd still be paying double digit interest. I do also have a Discover It which is at 0% for 12 mos. while I would like to take advantage of the 5% categories and double cash back of course paying off this debt is far more important. The rest of my cards are at a 0 balance, and I have less than 9% overall UTL. So does anyone have any advice to tackle this. I have a part time job which I am willing to dedicate use to paying this off

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 20:43:21 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
So I've said a few times on here that my mom has been an AU on a few of my cards and I've had to clean up her mess. Well I still haven't learned my lesson apparently. I gave her my Gold AA card to pay bills with then pay off with her child support and she does every thing but that. Now that I've PC'd to the Double Cash they're going to give me a new card number and the card she has now will be useless. I don't feel comfortable letting her keep my card so I'm not going to give it to her, but she's ran the balance to $3500 of a $5000 CL. I want to just BT the balance to my CU card and take over paying it off. My problem is, I'm also carrying a balance on my Spark card that's currently on a 0% promo that ends in May. That balance is $3000 out of a $4000. I had to pay a hefty tuition bill. I wanted to BT THAT balance to my CU card but the limit is only $5K. I've already tried for a CLI. The APR on the card my mom has is 16.24 while the Spark APR will be 20.24. I'm honestly not sure which direction to take. I considered BTing all of one balance to the CU and part of the other, but then I'd still be paying double digit interest. I do also have a Discover It which is at 0% for 12 mos. while I would like to take advantage of the 5% categories and double cash back of course paying off this debt is far more important. The rest of my cards are at a 0 balance, and I have less than 9% overall UTL. So does anyone have any advice to tackle this. I have a part time job which I am willing to dedicate use to paying this off

Sorry to hear of your problems. First, you're doing the right thing in not giving your mom another card. You were kind enough to help her out and from the sounds of it she took advantage of your generosity. If your Discover has a high enough limit to BT then I would make use of that card's promotional period. That's far better than transferring it to a high apr CU card. Your other option, if at possible, would be to look ar another BT card like the Simplicity with it's 21 month % for BTs. Just not sure what limit you might get on a new card. Good luck and I'm sure with your extra PT jobyou'll be able to recover before too long.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

icyhot — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 20:48:02 GMT

My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 20:54:41 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

That's a very good idea

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 21:47:21 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

You might want to try your credit union for a loan consolidation. The one I bank with does a 9.5% APR uncollateralized loan for up to $5k during the summer and again close to Christmas. My credit union CC also does not charge to do cash advances or BT's - which is nice if I ever charge a balance too high to handle. The only downside is that they don't give any rewards for spend, so I really never use that card. There are a lot of cards right now that are offering 12 months or more 0% interest.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 22:24:33 GMT

Sorry to hear the issues with family and money.... the 2 never go well together.

They gave good advice on here, but i might add.... in the future if your going yo help your mom or other family & friends out, have them bring the bills directly to you and pay it yourself. Or if you put someone on as a AU, dont give them a card.... this way your still helping them with their credit and your helping yourself by staying out of unnecessary debt.

Good luck and I feel for you.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

tacpoly — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 01:45:35 GMT

She has done this before; please learn the lesson she's been trying to teach you and stop tying your finances down with her. Do Not even assign her as an AU on your accounts -- even if you don't give her the card -- because it will not help. It will not improve her credit because she keeps destroying it and it won't help yours either.

Do what you have to to pay off those cards. Your ideas sound good. After that, if you want to help your mother financially, give her cash. If you don't have cash, then you're in no position to help.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

CountryLivin — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 00:40:44 GMT

Congratulations on realizing you had better do something. Families will do it faster to you than a stranger...don't feel bad about not giving her another card.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 03:17:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K
You might want to try your credit union for a loan consolidation. The one I bank with does a 9.5% APR uncollateralized loan for up to $5k during the summer and again close to Christmas. My credit union CC also does not charge to do cash advances or BT's - which is nice if I ever charge a balance too high to handle. The only downside is that they don't give any rewards for spend, so I really never use that card. There are a lot of cards right now that are offering 12 months or more 0% interest.

I was going to suggest a consolidation loan. Definitely try your CU, but if they won't work, Lending Tree and Prosper are both pretty reliable compaines.

Another idea is Cap 1. Kind of ironically, their starter card, with a 25% APR, has some good BT offers, and it's really easy to quailfy for.

Discover also has consolidation loans, worth looking into, as well.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

jsucool76 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 03:56:15 GMT

Also, not sure about your inq situation, but you could try going for a chase slate, and if they give you a crappy limit you could potentially transfer a chunk of your marriott limit over to slate, depending on how the balance is on marriott.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

NRB525 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 04:43:16 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
My CU APR is 8%, so it's lower than both cards. I'm thinking I will wait for 90 days and try to CLI my Discover and hope that I get a high increase limit to BT both, since right now it's only $4K

Sorry to hear about the unwanted charges. Family can be troublesome.

I'd go ahead and use the Discover 0% promo period. Put some BT on it, $3,000 or even $3,500 leave some room for charges in the 5% category, and pay frequently to keep it under the $4k. Discover likes usage, the $4k won't spook them, especially if you are cycling payments through to keep it within the limit, nnd making good progress on the base BT you move on there, and down the road you should be seeing some nice CLI out of that.

Good luck!

Re: Ok I need serious advice

icyhot — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:34:09 GMT

In the time that I posted this to now she managed to charge about $700 more to the card. I called Citi, removed her and placed a block on the account. I went ahead and paid it off with the CU card, and I will BT the Spark balance to the Discover once I get a CLI

Re: Ok I need serious advice

lord_kinbote — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:44:40 GMT

Unbelievable. So she knew you had problems with how she was using the card and she still kept charging? What does she keep buying??

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 12:46:12 GMT

@jsucool76 wrote:
Also, not sure about your inq situation, but you could try going for a chase slate, and if they give you a crappy limit you could potentially transfer a chunk of your marriott limit over to slate, depending on how the balance is on marriott.

I was going to suggest this option. Your scores are decent, so I think you have a shot, and you don't have a lot of cards posted, so you probably don't have high inqs (I'm guessing). Even if you only get $1k or $2k on the Slate, that's $1-2k that you (a) don't have to pay a BT fee on and (b) can take advantage of their long 0% period. Good luck, Icy! This is a crappy situation for you, but I wish you the best of luck with it. tcbofade might also be able to chime in on how he solved his issues.

Re: Ok I need serious advice

icyhot — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 12:56:24 GMT

I have a lot of new accounts and inquiries, the Slate is a no go. If I knew I was going to have this issue I would've apped for a BT card earlier. Silly me I thought my mom would make good on her promise to pay it off 🙄

Re: Ok I need serious advice

woodyman100 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:14:42 GMT

It's hard to say no to the woman who gave you life, but you have to do what you have to do....as loving as possible.
Deep down, she knows it's true. Good luck

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:45:45 GMT

I think you should transfer it to your Discover... cash back is nice but at 16.24% APR, you'll get $612.68 worth of interest (assuming you compound monthly)

Which means that even if you assume that every single purchase you make on your discover will be in the 5% category, you'll have to spend $6,126.76 on your Discover over the course of the year to earn enough cash back to cover your interest. I mean, it's possible... I don't really know what you spend your $$ on but over $6,100 in category spending seems high to me personally...

plus this doesn't even include the fact that if you let Discover sit, you'll still be making 1-2% cash back if you put your purchases on another card instead... so realistically speaking, unless you can put up roughly $7,000 in category spending on your Discover over the next year, I think you should move your balance over to it for the 0% APR

Re: Ok I need serious advice

icyhot — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 15:39:34 GMT

If I can get a high enough Discover CL I will BT the CU and Cap One balance, but for now I wanted to clear out the Citi as quickly as possible

Re: Ok I need serious advice

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 03:16:03 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
In the time that I posted this to now she managed to charge about $700 more to the card. I called Citi, removed her and placed a block on the account. I went ahead and paid it off with the CU card, and I will BT the Spark balance to the Discover once I get a CLI

holy carp...what did she even buy this time..?

Re: Ok I need serious advice

icyhot — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 21:35:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
In the time that I posted this to now she managed to charge about $700 more to the card. I called Citi, removed her and placed a block on the account. I went ahead and paid it off with the CU card, and I will BT the Spark balance to the Discover once I get a CLI
holy carp...what did she even buy this time..?

The thing is she pays her car note with it every month but doesn't actually pay it off. That on top of other small charges I wouldn't even care about if she just took care of the car note. But she charges $600 a month just on that bill and will only pay the minimum, if that