topic Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's! in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 20:20:08 GMT

I have been working really hard on repairing some credit issues and I feel I am on the downhill slope and wanted some suggestions on how to tackle this last 3 credit cards.

Amazon - bal 1318.00 limit - 1300.00 Util 101%

Walmart - bal 1030.00 limit - 1150.00 Util 90%

Harborstone Mastercard - bal 1812.00 limit - 2000.00 Util 91%

Should I concentrate more on one balance over another or just pay them all evenly to decrease my utilization at the same rate??

Thanks!!!

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

IncrsCreditScore1 — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 20:35:18 GMT

What are the interest rates on each card?

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:03:28 GMT

Amazon is highest

Then Walmart

then Harborstone is with my credit union so it is the lowest

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

IncrsCreditScore1 — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:28:44 GMT

Personally, I would pay as much as you can each month on your Amazon card and pay the required payments or more if you can afford it on the other two cards. When the Amazon is paid off, take the amount you were paying on your Amazon plus the regular payment on your Walmart card until it is paid off. Next would be your Harborstone card, pay the amount you were just paying on the Walmart card to the Harborstone card. That is how i handled getting bills with an amount due off. From then on, try to keep your uitilization down to less than 6%, if possible, so that you can prove you are worthy of more credit.

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 22:03:31 GMT

I would suggest paying off the highest interest card first, then the next, then the last.

What do your credit scores look like? If you are somewhere around $700 and think you have a chance at a Chase Slate or Discover It or any other balance transfer type card that could be a possibility to help save you on some interest.

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

grillandwinemaster — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 22:32:32 GMT

First and foremost, bring down your Amazon to your credit limit. That's a must.

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Grafton88 — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 03:24:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have been working really hard on repairing some credit issues and I feel I am on the downhill slope and wanted some suggestions on how to tackle this last 3 credit cards.

Amazon - bal 1318.00 limit - 1300.00 Util 101%

Walmart - bal 1030.00 limit - 1150.00 Util 90%

Harborstone Mastercard - bal 1812.00 limit - 2000.00 Util 91%

Should I concentrate more on one balance over another or just pay them all evenly to decrease my utilization at the same rate??

Thanks!!!

Any utilization above 90% is a big trigger but your Amazon card must be paid down under 101% first. How much can you pay down on the Amazon card as quickly as possible? Can you make an immediate payment to get it under 101%? That would be my first step.

The other cards need to be under 90%. You are close to that trigger level. That would be my second priority.

I wouldn't worry as much about the interest rates until you get the limits under 80%. Then set up a second plan to continue paying down the balances based on the rates.

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

SouthJamaica — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 21:55:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have been working really hard on repairing some credit issues and I feel I am on the downhill slope and wanted some suggestions on how to tackle this last 3 credit cards.

Amazon - bal 1318.00 limit - 1300.00 Util 101%

Walmart - bal 1030.00 limit - 1150.00 Util 90%

Harborstone Mastercard - bal 1812.00 limit - 2000.00 Util 91%

Should I concentrate more on one balance over another or just pay them all evenly to decrease my utilization at the same rate??

Thanks!!!

Forget about interest rates, I'm sure they're all terrible.

The important thing is to get out of this mess.

You can't go over your limit any more and you need to get Amazon down to $1144, Walmart down to $1000, Harborstone down to $1760.

Then get them all down to 79%

Then 69%

And so on until they're all down to 29%. Then you can pay 2 of them down to zero, and you'll be golden as far as CC utilization is concerned.

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 23:57:05 GMT

The Amazon Card is the DEVIL!!!!

HOOOORIBLE interest rate.

I called last night to see if they would reduce it and that was a BIG FAT NO!

I am going to pay it off and cut it up!

Worst decision was get it - well wait...maybe maxing it out was the worst mistake!

Oh well live and learn and move on

Thanks for the suggestions. Some great ideas.

Thanks!

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 06:59:21 GMT

Shannon
You may have spent a thousand $ or 2..or 3 !
but what a memorable education..
think about it in those terms...

Re: Need help to make a plan! My last 3 CC's!

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 02:05:38 GMT

There are two different methods of attacking this and the one you choose depends on your goal.

Some people above are speaking in utilizations percentages in the advice they are giving you. I would imagine that with the situation you're currently in, you aren't planning on applying for new credit any time soon. That said, utilization percentages are essentially irrelevant as are your scores (these two factors are directly related of course). If you goal is to financially get things under control, you'll want to pay the least amount of interest possible which means tackling the balance of the highest interest rate card(s) first.

If you have no intentions of applying for credit in the relative near future (until you get yourself out of this mess) then my suggestion is to not worry about utilization percentages and thresholds.