Should I even consider another card with my debt?

[Anonymous]

This darned board is making me itchy. I am thinking about applying for a card to use for daily spending since I only have the card I carry debt on (BoA) and 2 store cards. However I don't want to spook BoA by applying for new credit, and I also don't want to hurt my chances to get prime cards with high limits once my debt is paid down. My newest account is now 1 year old (store card), but I have a EX HP from a failed app last month.

I'm seriously considering apping for QS (I have a pre-q) just to use for daily spend until my debt is paid down and I can get some more prime cards. I don't have a bankcard with a grace period because of my current CC debt. I have irregular income, so a 0% intro card would also allow me to be a little more aggressive with paying down my current debt since I'm not completely screwed if I accidentally pay more on the debt than I can afford.

In the end I'd really prefer to have Sallie Mae, Freedom, plus CSP and AmEx down the road, but I doubt those lenders will approve me on good terms with my util.

Bad idea?

[Involver]

What is your util on BoA?

[yfan]

How old is your BofA card? I doubt a single application would spooke them, and the QS is a pretty good card (if you can get the no-AF version). The problem is though that CapOne may give you a skimpy limit because you're carrying a large balance on another card, which won't much help with your utlization, and you'd be stuck with a reduced AAoA and an inquiry on each CR (CapOne pulls all 3).

[Anonymous]

How much do you owe ...

[yfan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How much do you owe ...

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It's in OP's sig line. $13.4K.

[Anonymous]

I currently owe $9.8k on a $12.7k limit card. $13.4 was when it was maxed years ago.

[Anonymous]

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@yfan wrote:

How old is your BofA card?

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~11 years.

[paris75]

if the only reason that you want another card, is so that you can use the new card to free up cash to pay off the old one, then no don't do it. You will decrease the amount of the old one, but the new one will just rack up debt and then you will be I the same spot, but you will have two cards with balances. Been there before, it will just turn into a vicious cycle. You end up with the same amount of debt or maybe even more.

[Anonymous]

That's not my intention. I shouldn't have even mentioned 0% APR because I don't really care about that. I just want a card with a grace period so when I'm in a situation like now where I paid a little too much towards the debt and have to wait a month between paychecks, I don't have to pull from my emergency fund. Even a $500 toy limit would help, as long as it doesn't hurt me in the long term.

Though being restricted to cash-on-hand forces me to tighten up my budget, so maybe it's not such a bad thing.

[TheGardner]

I think you may want to try for a 0% card from Barclaycard (TU) if you have good income you can recon for a good limit to transfer your current debt at 0% saving 150-200$ a month helping to pay down quicker. 

Just my 2cents.