Hello everyone, I have been a long time lurker and have posted before but it shows I haven't but that's no big deal. I have working all day trying to get those darn pics on the bottom of my signature, literally a pain and they are still not evenly displayed. I am writing about where I currently stand in my finances and would really like some sound advice on how to proceed forward, I am not looking to purchase anything anytime soon so my score doesn't matter so much to me as does reducing my debt in a smart, methodical way.
So much has happened in the last few years my life has been turned upside down, for example medically retiring air force at 15yrs, buying a house, receiving VA benefits etc and raising two sons off of a disability check and a survivor check since my son's father passed away as well. I have learned about credit through many trials and tribulations and gotten my score up to a 745 but then I had to buy things for the home and it started adding up. Last night I went on an app spree looking for those cards with the 0% interest for 21 months for a plan I had in mind but now are thinking they were rash decisions as I didn't need the credit just the 0% benefit.
Below is a list of where I currently stand right debt wise not to include the mortgage, utilities such as water, electric, cable,cellphone,insurance
Right now I have a NFCU rewards card with a balance of 4425.08 my limit is 21,600 interest rate 13.65%
Amazon store card 350.00 out of 4000k used interest rate ...omg 24.99%
Discover it 2400 used out of 5,000 available currently in a 0% intrest promo
Chase Military Star card- 0 balance with a 2000k available interest rate 13.24%
53rd Bank- I owe 2916.00 out of an available 5,000 it's interest free for 15 months and used it to buy a white PVC fence for my yard
I have a rooms to go account I owe 2821.00 out of available 6k and is interest free until the year 2018, but pay 75.00 a month towards balance
I have a USAA MasterCard with a 1405.00 balance out of a 2800.00 limit interest rate 12.9%
I have a NFCU auto loan amount i currently owe 13,153.00 with an interest rate of 1.99% 2014 Hyundai Sonata, Limited edition.
I also bought a house last June it's a VA loan but got sold to stearns within the first 40 days of closing, I do not like them at all. Needless to say I pay roughly 754.00 monthly with a interest rate 4.125% on the mortgage.
I also applied for a lowes card about 4 months back got approved for 5000 but never activated the card.
So now for the spree from last night, I don't know why I just did it I have no excuse but got these cards approvals
7/2/14 Chase Amazon Visa- 0 balance 2000k limit 19.24% rate
7/2/14 Chase Freedom- 0 balance 2500k credit line and 0% interest for 15 months then it becomes 18.99%
7/2/14 Citi Simplicity- 0 Balance 4600k line of credit and 21 months 0% interest, this is the one I was hoping for a higher limit on to take advantage of the 21 months of 0%.
I don't really know my scores i cancelled all the credit watching programs when I bought the house but discover gives me one monthly I believe they are from transunion and last month it was a 745 and Citi provided me my score on the approval last night it was a 729 from Experian . I know my utilization is high on the rooms to go and 53rd because I thought interest free I can pay down some of the others. Even when I did not have one debt upon buying the home my score only got up to 754 which is fine as again I am just looking for guidance on how to proceed and which cards i should not bother with or close down, or sd.
I am 100% disabled veteran and I want to use the money I receive wise way, as nothing is a guaranteed amount with VA compensation/benefits you receive but the check for my son because his father has recently passed never decreases. My monthly tax free benefits average about 4,081.00 so clearly I can my bills I just want to take advantage of anything I can with these 0% interest cards or maybe I am thinking about it all wrong to begin with,but I do not want my sons to have to deal with all these accounts etc. if something happens to me.
Any questions, advice, etc. will be greatly appreciated as long as they are nice and not derogatory, I am learning and just want to seethe opinions on those who have gotten into the 800's not that it's my goal, my goal is to eliminate debt for build a solid financial file. Hope I didn't forget anything but if I do I will add it to the thread.
Please so enjoy your fourth of July please remember what you are actually celebrating, as many do not. This day should remembered for the adoption of the Declaration of Independence which the United States of America declared its independence from Britain thus becoming a free and independent nation.
Thanks in advance,
Amy
Welcome. It looks like you are doing well and have some nice credit lines. I think what you need is a plan or a strategy for what cards you apply for and keep and which ones to use. So far, it looks like you've focused on low interest rate cards which is fine if you plan to carry a balance most of the time. A very popular topic of conversation around these boards is rewards cards, and if you can get some good value with certain cards. Other folks focus on sign-on bonuses which can give nice value also. I don't think any of the cards you have offer significant bonuses of any kind. Just keep in mind, The $4425 you're carrying on your NFCU card at 13.65% is costing you over $600 per year, so pay down your balances before you think about rewards.
Thanks for the reply some of my cc have rewards for instant my discover and my nfcu card. I am now just looking for a way to handle these cards with the 0% interest rate, and trust me I know how bad that NFCU is getting me but I will overcome...haha
Your starting limits to me are affected by how much debt you owe already... they're not going to want to give you huge lines if you already owe a good amount compared to your income. (Now, if your income is huge and you're just carrying these balances just this month, that's another story -- but that doesn't seem the case.)
That's is almost exactly what I was thinking, just needed some other views to ensure I was making the right steps.
Thanks
Wow, thanks for the words of encouragment..
I agree but credit is crazy how it works even when I had no debt, a steady job, etc I would only get small lines which back then was prob all I needed. Thanks for the advice.
@amyd,
To respond to someone in particular, please the quote feature.. Here is how... Click reply on whoever you are responding to and then quote. Happy 4th of July.
