Credit card Help

[Anonymous]

I'm not an expert at this but, this is how I would tackle this given, the information provided. Everyone has given you solid advice already. Kudos to you for trying to bring this under control! I would disburse the 2500 as follow:

372/550- (68% uti )  pay off, bring to 0% uti

561/650- (86% uti ) pay 303, bring to 40% uti

1095/1150 (95% uti) pay 575, bring to 47% uti

1132/1250 (90% uti), pay 575, bring to 46% uti

1293/1500 (86% uti), pay 675, bring to 43% uti

*** adjust to account for interest charges***

This way, you have 1 acct at 0% uti and 4 accts below 49%, crossing 3 uti thresholds and giving you a score boost.

[SecretAzure]

I like this question because there are multiple ways to go about it. 

Some are prioritize scoring, some lowest interest paid, and some are doing some hybrid mix of both or neither. As you're someone with enough cards for a solid credit profile, personally, I would recommend going the interest route first. If you're applying for a mortgage loan in the next couple of months, it may benefit you to optimize scoring instead and pay cards under 48.9% util like DevilDude said. Unless you frequently have additional thousands of frivolous spend thrown your way, I would do everything possible to pay the least amount of interest I can to the creditors. That means taking a look at your interest rates and going down, in order of highest to lowest to get those balances eliminated where they're high until you're done.

Future planning:

• As someone mentioned, Credit One is a predatory garbage lender. Once your balance has been paid down for a while, make sure to axe it. If the Capital One is a secured card, I would axe that as well but even further down the line (perhaps right before AF is due if that falls ~6 months after you close Credit One).
• It's a good idea to not have spend across your entire portfolio. You have 6 cards. If you're carrying balances, try to keep it on 1-2 cards. 
• I'm going to assume your average age of credit isn't very high (I could be very wrong here). If it's less than 2 years total, I wouldn't apply to anything else for a while...possibly over a year to build that credit factor into a stronger position.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks everyone for your responses.  It seems like the consensus is to get the vast majority of the cards down to 30%.  I will let you guys know when everything has updated. 

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UNDER 30%

Go to 28%

[TheCreditCount]

I think everyone is giving you pretty solid advice. 30% will be a solid goal but don't let that stop you once you get there! Then maybe you try and continue to get below 10% and so on and so forth. 

As for the Credit One card, they are a horrible lender. After paying off the cards if they are your youngest credit line I would consider cancelling them and if it has any annual fee I would absolutely suggest cancelling them even if its an older line. Throwing away $39-$99 a year will be an anchor pulling you down on your credit goals when you're with a lender who does not offer any future in the relationship. On the off chance you have a $0 annual fee Credit One card (especially if it's relatively old) after paying it off you may consider putting on a small recurring expense or donation, setting it to autopay,  and banishing it to the sockdrawer.

[Remedios]

Please, this thread is not a referendum on Credit One.

While they're less than ideal lender, let's remember there is a reason why some people have to start there. 

Sure, there is AF and fees, but that's the price for charge offs and other negatives on the CR. 

@Anonymous  while paying down your cards will help with your scores to some extent, working on your negatives will probably yield even better results. 

I suggest you visit Rebuilding subforum and see if anything can be done to overall improve your situation. 

[HHH71]

Agree with most on here. Work to get them all below 30% before you pay any one off. That is if your looking to boost your score. The 30% rule applies to all cards AND each card. I experimented last year and put 95% on one card. Overall I was around 15% utilization, but my score dropped 60 points once the statement hit. I paid that card in full and the next month my score went right back up the 60 points to where it was. 

Make sure you make your payments before a statement is created. Then the lower balance will report increasing your score.