topic Re: Am I doing this right? in Credit Cards

Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:46:32 GMT

I am not planning on app'ing or looking for cli's for 7 months right now. I have taken advantage of a few 0% interest deals. I have a balance running on 3 cards.....

Citi 5566.00 out of 8000.00

Home Depot 125.00 out of 3000.00

Sams Discover 1225.00 out of 7500.00

The rest of my cards are at a 0 balance and my available credit total is alittle over 72k. That makes my utility 9.5% overall and I am ok with that.

I am not concerned about Home Depot or Sams but I wonder if I did my Citi card the right way. As it stands, the utilization on that one is around 70%. I put all my balance transfers on that card because I thought one card would be better than splitting it between 2 (balance transfer cards). I just got an offer from FNBO for a 12 month 0% interest on balance transfers. Should I split the balance between 2 cards? Or keep it how it is? I will be paying more that minimum each month. What is worse score wise? 4 cards running balances or 1 card at 70%.

Also, how often does Citi do cli's? I would like an increase to help with the utilization but I got one back in May.

Re: Am I doing this right?

atarvuzdar — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:00:06 GMT

How much will still be on your Citi card in 7 months? If your util on that card will be down below 30% in 7 months then I don't see any need to app for a new balance transfer card.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Hightechredneck — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:03:08 GMT

I have a Home Depot card, a Tractor Supply card and an Exxon/Mobile card, all Citi issued. I asked for a CLI on My Home Depot at the 9 month mark and was granted an additional $700 from $1400 to $2100.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:12:27 GMT

The FICO formula takes into account both overall utilization and individual revolving utilization.

In other words, it will ding you for your overall utilization being too high and it will ding you for any cards that are individually too high.

Ideally, you want to keep both utilization levels below 10%, and to maximize below 3%. IMO the high utilization on the Citi line is hurting your score.

Citi reviews preiodically for CLIs, but they aren't particularly generous with them. You can always request a CLI from the website. AFAIK it uses their most recent SP to determine whether you qualify.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:17:27 GMT

@atarvuzdar wrote:
How much will still be on your Citi card in 7 months? If your util on that card will be down below 30% in 7 months then I don't see any need to app for a new balance transfer card.

My citi card will be lower by at least 2k by then but I don't think that will get me below 30%. I don't have to app for a balance transfer card because I already have a 0% balance transfer offer on my FNBO Amex card. That card is at a 0 balance right now. Both cards are around the same credit limit and I could split the amount to about 2800.00 each which would put them at about 32% each. So I'm curious if it would all come out the same score wise. Then I would be running a balance on 4 cards instead of 3

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:20:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The FICO formula takes into account both overall utilization and individual revolving utilization.

In other words, it will ding you for your overall utilization being too high and it will ding you for any cards that are individually too high.

Ideally, you want to keep both utilization levels below 10%, and to maximize below 3%. IMO the high utilization on the Citi line is hurting your score.

Citi reviews preiodically for CLIs, but they aren't particularly generous with them. You can always request a CLI from the website. AFAIK it uses their most recent SP to determine whether you qualify.

I called them about a cli this morning and they could not do it since I just had one back in May. There was no sp or hp.

So if my overall utilization is 10% across the board, that is ok. But the 70% is hurtful on the one card? Do you suggest me transfering half the balance to my other balance transfer card that is now sitting at 0? Does it not make a difference if I have balances on 3 or 4 cards?

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:27:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The FICO formula takes into account both overall utilization and individual revolving utilization.

In other words, it will ding you for your overall utilization being too high and it will ding you for any cards that are individually too high.

Ideally, you want to keep both utilization levels below 10%, and to maximize below 3%. IMO the high utilization on the Citi line is hurting your score.

Citi reviews preiodically for CLIs, but they aren't particularly generous with them. You can always request a CLI from the website. AFAIK it uses their most recent SP to determine whether you qualify.
I called them about a cli this morning and they could not do it since I just had one back in May. There was no sp or hp.

So if my overall utilization is 10% across the board, that is ok. But the 70% is hurtful on the one card? Do you suggest me transfering half the balance to my other balance transfer card that is now sitting at 0? Does it not make a difference if I have balances on 3 or 4 cards?

Ideally, pay the balances down instead of shuffling the debt around, but if that is not an option, I would transfer some of that Citi balance elsewhere. I'm not sure how much it will help unless you can get Citi below 30% without loading another card up above that point, but 70% utilization on that one card is definitely hurting your score.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:34:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The FICO formula takes into account both overall utilization and individual revolving utilization.

In other words, it will ding you for your overall utilization being too high and it will ding you for any cards that are individually too high.

Ideally, you want to keep both utilization levels below 10%, and to maximize below 3%. IMO the high utilization on the Citi line is hurting your score.

Citi reviews preiodically for CLIs, but they aren't particularly generous with them. You can always request a CLI from the website. AFAIK it uses their most recent SP to determine whether you qualify.
I called them about a cli this morning and they could not do it since I just had one back in May. There was no sp or hp.

So if my overall utilization is 10% across the board, that is ok. But the 70% is hurtful on the one card? Do you suggest me transfering half the balance to my other balance transfer card that is now sitting at 0? Does it not make a difference if I have balances on 3 or 4 cards?
Ideally, pay the balances down instead of shuffling the debt around, but if that is not an option, I would transfer some of that Citi balance elsewhere. I'm not sure how much it will help unless you can get Citi below 30% without loading another card up above that point, but 70% utilization on that one card is definitely hurting your score.

Paying it down that much is not an option right now. If I transfer half to my other card, it will put both of those cards at being at 32% and 35%. They will reach under 30% alot faster that way. Since I'm not apping anytime soon I know my score does not matter as much but it matters to me and will bother me if it takes a dive.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:42:21 GMT

Sounds like a plan. I would make the transfer and focus on paying them both down below 30% as quickly as possible if you want to maximize your score. That said, your scores are already in good territory, so I wouldn't obsess about it.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:52:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Sounds like a plan. I would make the transfer and focus on paying them both down below 30% as quickly as possible if you want to maximize your score. That said, your scores are already in good territory, so I wouldn't obsess about it.

Thanks for your help....I feel like I am getting somewhere I think what I will do it move 3166 to my FNBO account which will put it at 37% and keep 2400 on the Citi card which will put it at 30%. I will concentrate more on getting FNBO down to 30%. So my other question is, since I will then have 4 cards reporting a balance instead of 3, will that hurt my credit in any way? I don't know where there comes in on the FICO scale.

Re: Am I doing this right?

atarvuzdar — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:59:23 GMT

This looks like a good option. Remember the balances should be under 30%, not exactly at 30%.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 17:12:06 GMT

@atarvuzdar wrote:
This looks like a good option. Remember the balances should be under 30%, not exactly at 30%.

Haha....yea, I know. I'm just trying to get them each as close to 30% as possible so it won't take as long to get them under it.

The citi card has already reported a 5k balance and my score did not go down that much from what I can tell...I don't know why I've become obsessed about another 500.00. I guess since I'm not being obsessed with apping for stuff, I have to be obsessed about something else. *lol* It's funny how you get all this credit and then don't want to use it. I'm at 10% overall so I am probably ok but I'm still trying to figure all this out.

Re: Am I doing this right?

TheConductor — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:30:36 GMT

Remember that almost every 0% balance transfer card has a 3% or more balance transfer fee. The FNBO Amex is no exception: 3% at first, growing to 5% later.

Say you move $3000 to that FNBO Amex, that could cost you an additional $90 (or possibly $150) just to move the balance.

Is a higher FICO score in the short term really worth that extra $90? You are going to get that balance down eventually anyway. And as long as you are making steady payments to reduce the balance, I doubt you will see any adverse action from Citi.

I would save the $90 and apply it toward getting that balance down instead.

Re: Am I doing this right?

09Lexie — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:55:40 GMT

I agree with TheConductor. If you are not applying for anything why move around bal on 0% cards? If you are not where you want to be in 6 mos, rethink the transfer.

Unless, you are time restricted on the BT.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:52:55 GMT

Great thinking!! I just looked and the fee is 3%. I would much rather put that 90.00 towards the balance. I was thinking earlier that the 5k has already hit my reports so whatever damage has been done. I don't really worry about aa from citi because when I called to inquite about a cli, they offered me another bt.....lol

I appreciate all the advice given here.....I want to know all aspects before making a move.

Re: Am I doing this right?

oscar_actuary — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:44:37 GMT

so glad Conductor came in

I was racing to the end reading thru, and finally saw this bit of wisdom.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 10:50:49 GMT

@oscar_actuary wrote:
so glad Conductor came in
I was racing to the end reading thru, and finally saw this bit of wisdom.

*lol* I love to be able to come here and get suggestions from all different sides! To bad I didn't find this site back when I was 20 and could have saved myself from alot of mistakes and stress!

Re: Am I doing this right?

youngandcreditwrthy — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:32:15 GMT

I think you'll be fine.
Do what's easier to manage. I'm about to exchange 4 cc bals for one balance, and it's going to make my finances easier to handle.
Keep the 0% offers around in case you don't pay off that Citi card and need to "rate surf" lol
Ive managed to keep my scores at 700 even with 1-2 maxxed out cards, but overall util around 10-15%.
I have 15 open cards and maybe 5 that get regular use.

Re: Am I doing this right?

takeshi74 — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 14:37:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Does it not make a difference if I have balances on 3 or 4 cards?

It's not necessarily the existence or lack of balances on any number of cards so much as utilization -- both total and per card as Elcid's first reply indicated.