Should I even consider another card with my debt?

[Anonymous]

13% APR. Not awful.

[Anonymous]

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@scorewatcher7 wrote:

You know, I understand what you're looking to do, but in all honesty, if the title of your post is 'should i even consider....' the chances are that you already know the answer.. I would try and pay down some debt before applying for anything new.  just my two bits. I'm like you though- always looking...

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I agree with this. I don't think I would take any action at all until util is under 50%, which is a few months away. I'll table the issue until that time comes, then see what my score looks like and what my options are.

[Anonymous]

Good plan, pay it down! You're making good progress! I would also call BofA and see if they have any promos to temporarily lower your APR. Not sure if they still do that but it worked for me several years ago when I became buried in debt. Tell them you want to get them paid off and a lower APR would really help you out. Mine was contingent on never missing a payment or they would jack the rate way up.

[Anonymous]

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@tj21 wrote:
Good plan, pay it down! You're making good progress! I would also call BofA and see if they have any promos to temporarily lower your APR. Not sure if they still do that but it worked for me several years ago when I became buried in debt. Tell them you want to get them paid off and a lower APR would really help you out. Mine was contingent on never missing a payment or they would jack the rate way up.

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Honestly, I'm worried about poking the bear. So far BofA has not balance chased me or taken any AA beyond the $800 CLD many years ago even though I have maxed the card multiple times and never paid it down below $9k (70% utilization) in the past few years. I'm afraid that if I call and someone looks at my account, they will wonder why the hell they haven't done anything about this in the almost 10 years I have been carrying a balance on this card. (I'm getting upset right now thinking about how much money I've paid in interest on this card.)

[Anonymous]

I don't see BofA taking any AA against you for 1 other new card.  

That high util is going to hurt you against the prime lenders even though it looks like you have a good score.  That high Util is also hurting your credit score which in turn will probably stop you from getting the best rate.

With that said, you may consider something like a Barclay Ring or Chase Slate.  The APR's are a bit lower and you can transfer some of that over so that BofA drops down on Util and you get a bit of a buffer.

Inquiries aren't a problem for you since it sounds like you don't app much.  So I'd app until I get one or maybe 2.  Barclays Ring, Chase Slate, Cap1 Quicksilver.  Slate has a 0% for 15 months right now.  I'm not knowledgable on all the 0% BT promos out there now so maybe somebody else can suggest cards.

If you decide to app now, that util will cause lower limits to be given.  A higher limit may be worth the wait.

But remember, with great power comes great responsible.   Ok that's a bit dramatic but  you're paying over a $1000 a year in interest; you know what you need to do.  It's easy to slip back into the debt hole with new credit cards.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Yup. I'm waiting until util is under 50% to do anything. At that point I will also have built up ~6 months of history paying 2-3x the minimum which (hopefully) would help on recon.