topic Re: Balance Transfer/Debt Consolidation/Credit Score in Credit Cards

Balance Transfer/Debt Consolidation/Credit Score

Desmoire — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 20:07:21 GMT

My NASA BT has gone through to my checking account, and the $5000 will be available tomorrow. Question is, what is the best route to take? What balances should I pay off/reduce? Here is my profile:

Nasa FCU Rewards 0/5000 (Card to Balance Transfer)

Best Buy 2300/2300 (100% UTL) (0% interest until Oct 2016)

Cap1 Plat 1983.44/2250 (88% UTL) (19.99$ interest)

Barclay Rewards 1230.77/2150 (57% UTL) (24.99% interest)

NFM 661.85/1100 (60% UTL) (19.99% interest)

Nasa Classic 704.79/1000 (70% UTL) (18.99% interest)

Chase Freedom 758/1000 (75% UTL) (0% interest for 15 months, $100 bonus pending statement cut)

AAA LOC 915.43/1000 (91% UTL) (9.75% interest)

Cap1 Quicksilver 440.85/750 (58% UTL) (19.99% interest

Walmart 85.19/500 (17% UTL) (??? interest)

Kay 0/3000

Sallie Mae 0/2850

Amazon 0/1500

Younkers 0/500

-----------------------------

TOTAL: 9080.32/24,900 = %36.4 UTL

Based on my budget, I should have these balances completely paid off in 1-2 years.

Re: Balance Transfer/Debt Consolidation/Credit Score

Dw4250 — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 23:20:14 GMT

@Desmoire wrote:
My NASA BT has gone through to my checking account, and the $5000 will be available tomorrow. Question is, what is the best route to take? What balances should I pay off/reduce? Here is my profile:

Nasa FCU Rewards 0/5000 (Card to Balance Transfer)

Best Buy 2300/2300                   (100% UTL)  (0% interest until Oct 2016)
Cap1 Plat 1983.44/2250             (88% UTL)    (19.99$ interest)
Barclay Rewards 1230.77/2150 (57% UTL)     (24.99% interest)
NFM 661.85/1100                       (60% UTL)    (19.99% interest)
Nasa Classic 704.79/1000         (70% UTL)    (18.99% interest)
Chase Freedom 758/1000         (75% UTL)    (0% interest for 15 months, $100 bonus pending statement cut)
AAA LOC 915.43/1000              (91% UTL)    (9.75% interest)
Cap1 Quicksilver 440.85/750    (58% UTL)    (19.99% interest
Walmart 85.19/500                    (17% UTL)    (??? interest)

Kay 0/3000
Sallie Mae 0/2850
Amazon 0/1500
Younkers 0/500
-----------------------------
TOTAL: 9080.32/24,900 = %36.4 UTL

Based on my budget, I should have these balances completely paid off in 1-2 years.

That's an easy one.

Pay off everything except the the 0% interest cards and the AAA LOC.

On your next paycheck, I would get as much of the AAA LOC paid off as you can (since it's pretty much maxed).

Then pay off ~$250-500/month (or whatever you can afford) on the NASA balance until it is paid off. Since you will be maxing that baby out, I would try to get it to <60-70% ASAP. Continue to work down those other balances.

Most importantly...DO NOT ADD TO THE BALANCE UNTIL YOU GET IT UNDER CONTROL (whatever that dollar amt/percentage is for you).

Good luck!

Re: Balance Transfer/Debt Consolidation/Credit Score

Chris679 — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 01:46:54 GMT

You're going to get a lot of conflicting advise on this. Some people will tell you to get utilization down on everything to help your score. I always say don't let your credit score cost you money. Others will say pay off the small balances so you have less accounts to worry about. The correct answer is pay off the highest interest rates first while making the minimum on everything. Keep doing this until they are paid off, this is the way that will save you the most on interest and allow you to pay off the fastest.