topic Re: Pay off/down question in Credit Cards

Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:25:50 GMT

Hello all,

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the best way to maximize the $1,000 I will have at the end of themonth to pay on cc's. I have others that are store cards but the ones listed below are the ones I would like to focus on right now. The rest (not listed) will be paid off in dec with my bonus. Looking for adivce on what to pay on who.

PSA: Only looking for positive and friendly feedback. I know most of these cards are sub prime and are crappy will be getting rid of them as my profle allows.

Thanks!

cap 1 secured Limit 750 balance 739.57

cap 1 platinum Limit 1050 balance 1011.53

Verve Limit 500 balance 467.08

credit one Limit 450 balance 415.23

1st Premier Limit 400 balance 381.63

1st Premier Limit 300 balance 296.50

First Savings Limit 350 balance 322.35

My plan is pay off both 1st Premier's as they have the highest APR after that I dont know what route to take. As I said I will have an extra $900-$1000.

What do you think?

Re: Pay off/down question

1GaDawg85 — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:37:22 GMT

pay off and close 1st Premier and CreditOne

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:41:35 GMT

@1GaDawg85 wrote:
pay off and close 1st Premier and CreditOne

Thank you along with those I also want to close verve and first savings. However I wanted to wait to do that until I have replacements in the prime area.

Re: Pay off/down question

Creditaddict — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:57:31 GMT

@ronstar7 wrote:
Hello all,

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the best way to maximize the $1,000 I will have at the end of themonth to pay on cc's. I have others that are store cards but the ones listed below are the ones I would like to focus on right now. The rest (not listed) will be paid off in dec with my bonus. Looking for adivce on what to pay on who.

PSA: Only looking for positive and friendly feedback. I know most of these cards are sub prime and are crappy will be getting rid of them as my profle allows.

Thanks!

cap 1 secured Limit 750 balance 739.57
cap 1 platinum Limit 1050 balance 1011.53
Verve Limit 500 balance 467.08
credit one Limit 450 balance 415.23
1st Premier Limit 400 balance 381.63
1st Premier Limit 300 balance 296.50
First Savings Limit 350 balance 322.35

My plan is pay off both 1st Premier's as they have the highest APR after that I dont know what route to take. As I said I will have an extra $900-$1000.

What do you think?

I would just go smallest to largest and in your case that probably is also highest interest rate to lowest already so no argueing that point.

Re: Pay off/down question

vpae — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 20:57:53 GMT

@ronstar7 wrote:
Hello all,

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the best way to maximize the $1,000 I will have at the end of themonth to pay on cc's. I have others that are store cards but the ones listed below are the ones I would like to focus on right now. The rest (not listed) will be paid off in dec with my bonus. Looking for adivce on what to pay on who.

PSA: Only looking for positive and friendly feedback. I know most of these cards are sub prime and are crappy will be getting rid of them as my profle allows.

Thanks!

cap 1 secured Limit 750 balance 739.57
cap 1 platinum Limit 1050 balance 1011.53
Verve Limit 500 balance 467.08
credit one Limit 450 balance 415.23
1st Premier Limit 400 balance 381.63
1st Premier Limit 300 balance 296.50
First Savings Limit 350 balance 322.35

My plan is pay off both 1st Premier's as they have the highest APR after that I dont know what route to take. As I said I will have an extra $900-$1000.

What do you think?

Why were you racking your brain over this? What were the other plans that you were considering? If any of them are 0%, then only pay the minimum on those. I would just follow the typical debt pay down process and go after the ones with highest interest rates first to save money and pay the minimum on the rest. Then take whatever money you were paying towards the 1st Premier and apply it towards the next card with the highest APR and repeat.

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 21:08:11 GMT

@vpae wrote:
@ronstar7 wrote:
Hello all,

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the best way to maximize the $1,000 I will have at the end of themonth to pay on cc's. I have others that are store cards but the ones listed below are the ones I would like to focus on right now. The rest (not listed) will be paid off in dec with my bonus. Looking for adivce on what to pay on who.

PSA: Only looking for positive and friendly feedback. I know most of these cards are sub prime and are crappy will be getting rid of them as my profle allows.

Thanks!

cap 1 secured Limit 750 balance 739.57
cap 1 platinum Limit 1050 balance 1011.53
Verve Limit 500 balance 467.08
credit one Limit 450 balance 415.23
1st Premier Limit 400 balance 381.63
1st Premier Limit 300 balance 296.50
First Savings Limit 350 balance 322.35

My plan is pay off both 1st Premier's as they have the highest APR after that I dont know what route to take. As I said I will have an extra $900-$1000.

What do you think?
Why were you racking your brain over this? What were the other plans that you were considering? If any of them are 0%, then only pay the minimum on those. I would just follow the typical debt pay down process and go after the ones with highest interest rates first to save money and pay the minimum on the rest. Then take whatever money you were paying towards the 1st Premier and apply it towards the next card with the highest APR and repeat.

Because I over analyze everything a million times lol. I want to pay something on all of them but wont have enough to and I want to make sure that what I can afford to pay is the best thing I should do. None are 0% apr. Initially I was going to put $200 on 5 cards but that would still leave me with balance on all. Then I remembered that everyone always says pay the hightest apr off first they work your way down. So in my case its 1st Premier with 36%. I figured just pif those 2 then spread whats left on the remaing cards.

Re: Pay off/down question

vpae — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 21:23:50 GMT

@ronstar7 wrote:
@vpae wrote:
Why were you racking your brain over this? What were the other plans that you were considering? If any of them are 0%, then only pay the minimum on those. I would just follow the typical debt pay down process and go after the ones with highest interest rates first to save money and pay the minimum on the rest. Then take whatever money you were paying towards the 1st Premier and apply it towards the next card with the highest APR and repeat.
Because I over analyze everything a million times lol. I want to pay something on all of them but wont have enough to and I want to make sure that what I can afford to pay is the best thing I should do. None are 0% apr. Initially I was going to put $200 on 5 cards but that would still leave me with balance on all. Then I remembered that everyone always says pay the hightest apr off first they work your way down. So in my case its 1st Premier with 36%. I figured just pif those 2 then spread whats left on the remaing cards.

You and me both! But yeah, your plan is ideal. You'll have less cards with balances so less to worry, overall util will go down, and you'll save money from paying the highest APR cards down. Good luck with the rest of the cards and with future apps!

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 21:28:38 GMT

@vpae wrote:
@ronstar7 wrote:
@vpae wrote:
Why were you racking your brain over this? What were the other plans that you were considering? If any of them are 0%, then only pay the minimum on those. I would just follow the typical debt pay down process and go after the ones with highest interest rates first to save money and pay the minimum on the rest. Then take whatever money you were paying towards the 1st Premier and apply it towards the next card with the highest APR and repeat.
Because I over analyze everything a million times lol. I want to pay something on all of them but wont have enough to and I want to make sure that what I can afford to pay is the best thing I should do. None are 0% apr. Initially I was going to put $200 on 5 cards but that would still leave me with balance on all. Then I remembered that everyone always says pay the hightest apr off first they work your way down. So in my case its 1st Premier with 36%. I figured just pif those 2 then spread whats left on the remaing cards.
You and me both! But yeah, your plan is ideal. You'll have less cards with balances so less to worry, overall util will go down, and you'll save money from paying the highest APR cards down. Good luck with the rest of the cards and with future apps!

Thank you! That is the route I will go.

Re: Pay off/down question

sccredit — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 22:08:09 GMT

Based on your stateent you are going to pay the 1dt Premier cards off, that is $678.13, add the First Savings card on to that at $322.35 and that puts you at $1,000.48.

Re: Pay off/down question

09Lexie — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 22:18:56 GMT

Let's stay on topic, please.

Re: Pay off/down question

Kenny — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:32:06 GMT

Let's please respect and remember the Friendly, Supportive, and Respectful guidelines we are to post by. Each member is important, I want everyone to know that -- make no mistake.

If you have something helpful to add that isn't judgemental, please post here.. if not.. then respectfully do not post.

Thanks all for your cooperation!

Re: Pay off/down question

BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:35:07 GMT

RonStar I have been paying down my smallet balance that way its 1 monthly payment less to worry about.

Re: Pay off/down question

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:43:17 GMT

@ronstar7 wrote:
Hello all,

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the best way to maximize the $1,000 I will have at the end of themonth to pay on cc's. I have others that are store cards but the ones listed below are the ones I would like to focus on right now. The rest (not listed) will be paid off in dec with my bonus. Looking for adivce on what to pay on who.

PSA: Only looking for positive and friendly feedback. I know most of these cards are sub prime and are crappy will be getting rid of them as my profle allows.

Thanks!

cap 1 secured Limit 750 balance 739.57
cap 1 platinum Limit 1050 balance 1011.53
Verve Limit 500 balance 467.08
credit one Limit 450 balance 415.23
1st Premier Limit 400 balance 381.63
1st Premier Limit 300 balance 296.50
First Savings Limit 350 balance 322.35

My plan is pay off both 1st Premier's as they have the highest APR after that I dont know what route to take. As I said I will have an extra $900-$1000.

What do you think?

If it was me I would pay off both first premier and the first savings and close them. Then the next time you could pay more pay off verve limit and credit one and close those. The cap 1s I would keep and by that time you should be able to apply for barclays or something of that nature and get approved. That way your not paying high interest cards and fees for the most part. Good luck! We have all been there and thats how we got hooked on this board.

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 14:44:45 GMT

@BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest wrote:
RonStar I have been paying down my smallet balance that way its 1 monthly payment less to worry about.

Yeah I did that in the beginning but it took a while. But I am glad you are on yoyur way!

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 14:49:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@ronstar7 wrote:
Hello all,

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the best way to maximize the $1,000 I will have at the end of themonth to pay on cc's. I have others that are store cards but the ones listed below are the ones I would like to focus on right now. The rest (not listed) will be paid off in dec with my bonus. Looking for adivce on what to pay on who.

PSA: Only looking for positive and friendly feedback. I know most of these cards are sub prime and are crappy will be getting rid of them as my profle allows.

Thanks!

cap 1 secured Limit 750 balance 739.57
cap 1 platinum Limit 1050 balance 1011.53
Verve Limit 500 balance 467.08
credit one Limit 450 balance 415.23
1st Premier Limit 400 balance 381.63
1st Premier Limit 300 balance 296.50
First Savings Limit 350 balance 322.35

My plan is pay off both 1st Premier's as they have the highest APR after that I dont know what route to take. As I said I will have an extra $900-$1000.

What do you think?
If it was me I would pay off both first premier and the first savings and close them. Then the next time you could pay more pay off verve limit and credit one and close those. The cap 1s I would keep and by that time you should be able to apply for barclays or something of that nature and get approved. That way your not paying high interest cards and fees for the most part. Good luck! We have all been there and thats how we got hooked on this board.

Thats a good plan, I did want to wait until I could get some prime cards to replace the ones I would be closing first but I guess it realy doenst matter. I am not worried about AAOA because I know these accounts will stay on for at least 10 years. i guess I just like have some type of credit when I dont want to use cash. 1st premier def closing, they give me nothing anyways. The rest I will look to close in the new year. Barclays denied me last Nov or Dec for an old collection so I dont know if I feel like getting the big fat no again. I reconned twice and still said no. Was thinking after I close certain cards I would go after a secured BOA. I want to get in with them and I know they also graduate. One step at a time.

Re: Pay off/down question

takeshi74 — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:04:48 GMT

@ronstar7 wrote:
What do you think?

I think you need to focus on utilization. Set up a spreadsheet that calculates your current utilization for each card. Include a column for payment amount that you can adjust until you get the lowest possible utilization for each card. You can total the column to ensure that it remains within the $1,000 that you have to pay.

Do whatever it takes to get your cards down as quickly as possible. They're all maxed and the longer you leave them maxed and at high utilization the greater your risk of adverse action.

I'm guessing that you could probably get them all down to about 70% with $1,000 but you just need to crunch the numbers. That's really just a starting point though. You want to get under 50% as quickly as possible then under 30%. Do not exceed 30%.

@Anonymous wrote:
If it was me I would pay off both first premier and the first savings and close them.

Do not close anything until balances are sufficiently paid down. I.e. determine the impact to your utilization before you decide to close the account . Closing will immediately impact utilization.

Re: Pay off/down question

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:06:23 GMT

I'd be paying down the highest interest cards first which may or may not be your FP's.

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:22:19 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@ronstar7 wrote:
What do you think?
I think you need to focus on utilization. Set up a spreadsheet that calculates your current utilization for each card. Include a column for payment amount that you can adjust until you get the lowest possible utilization for each card. You can total the column to ensure that it remains within the $1,000 that you have to pay.

Do whatever it takes to get your cards down as quickly as possible. They're all maxed and the longer you leave them maxed and at high utilization the greater your risk of adverse action.

I'm guessing that you could probably get them all down to about 70% with $1,000 but you just need to crunch the numbers. That's really just a starting point though. You want to get under 50% as quickly as possible then under 30%. Do not exceed 30%.

@Anonymous wrote:
If it was me I would pay off both first premier and the first savings and close them.
Do not close anything until balances are sufficiently paid down. I.e. determine the impact to your utilization before you decide to close the account . Closing will immediately impact utilization.

Thank you for this, I have a spreadhseet that I use, nothing fancy just something I put together in excel. I also thought about what you said in terms of utl. Closing anything right now would make it go higher. I should be able to close in the next t months without any impact.

Re: Pay off/down question

ronstar7 — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:23:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'd be paying down the highest interest cards first which may or may not be your FP's.

Hi there, FP is def my highest apr. I have a sheet with all that info on it. I'l get it down. Patience is everything.

Re: Pay off/down question

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:51:04 GMT

If your overall goal is to pay off the cards ASAP rather than optimizing your score immediately, I'd pay off the lowest balances first... that way your payments in following months will hit your principal balances more on the remaining cards instead of spreading that money out to pay interest on a lot of cards.

I was in a similar situation when I started paying off my cards and couldn't figure out why I never made any real progress in paying them off until I started this strategy. Before I would pay a little over the minimum payment on each card which barely dropped balances month-to-month, but once I started focusing on paying off the lowest balances first and targeting my payments to affect the actual balances I started seeing balances and cards get paid off way faster.