If we each make a separate cc application to a different card will each spouse’s app show on the other’s credit reports, or will each spouse's reports only show that spouse's app? (I think/hope it’s the latter, since there’s different info on our separate reports, but I want to be absolutely sure about it.)
We’ve got a big ol’ cc balance, mostly b/c of me being disabled & ineligible for SSDI. We want to transfer the amt. to two 0% intro APR BT cards with reasonable APRs after the intro period. This way we can get a big chunk of the principal paid off in the intro period & pay off a lot of the rest in however much longer DH works after that (his retirement’s coming). Thereby we can avoid hypertension :-) & be debt free or close to it soonish after DH retires (YAY!!).
We’re thinking the balance will have to be split between 2 cards, since we have the impression the amt’s too big to be accepted at just 1 card. We’d greatly prefer to trans to 1 card, though, not 2. Each card would get a roughly 14.5K bal trans. My credit scores are between 736-751 & DH’s range is 678-695. I dunno why his scores are lower than mine-I’d think they’d be about the same or slightly higher, since his only pre-marriage cc was opened 12 yrs before our joint one. For some reason our high debt-to-credit line ratio impacts his score more than mine. 29K debt (ouch!)/33K credit line. All CRs show 2 accounts in good standing: me-the joint acct + 1 catalog acct., his-the joint + 1 gas card. No baddies.
Our plan is to get an "excellent credit" card w/my higher score & for DH to get a "v. good credit" card. For part of the BT I was planning to get one of the Discover cards w/a 0% intro APR on BTs until Dec. '08 & a 10.99% APR after that, but when I re-read the fine print a few days ago (thank the deities!) I saw: “If more than 90% of your New Balance consists of special rate balance transfers, we may, at our discretion, increase your Minimum Payment Due to a maximum of 4% of the New Balance if it would otherwise be less than that.” This’d be VERY counter-productive, so I'll need to look for another card to apply for, plus find one for DH. Nerts. I have the impression DH's only eligible for the "v. good credit" & not the “excellent credit only” cards since his scores are in the upper 600s. Also, DH has heard Discover's having $$ probs, & heard/observed that fewer & fewer businesses are accepting Discover.
We’re not worried about what the transfers & apps will do to our credit scores, since we won’t be applying for any more credit after this-no mortgage, car loan, etc., plus the numbers’ll go up again as we pay off the balances. After we get the bals paid off the cards will be for emergency use only.
Sure wish we'd known about the BT option earlier. Before someone hipped us to it a li'l while ago neither of us knew much more than diddly about credit. We're both ex-hippies who still did things like paying bills by mail instead of online, etc.
In case anyone wants to suggest we try to negotiate our current card down to a better rate, I tried. And tried. And tried. I talked to different sales reps & their managers on different days, using a polite, to the point script from bankrate.com, & they wouldn't budge one bit. Apparently Chase's policy is to lose an entire 5-figure account rather than take a much smaller hit by lowering their absurdly high APR.
Sorry if there’s TMI here. I’m used to craigslist, where folks sometimes want a truckload of details, then jump on every little thing.
