Need help out of this mess

[Anonymous]

Please resist the urge to be rude - this is hard enough to write as it is.

I've been working hard to improve my credit after making bad decisions in my late teens and early 20's (collection accounts, etc). I didn't use credit cards for a long time. Last year, with credit scores in the 650's, I came to these forums looking to get my score higher. I figured it was time to apply for a couple of credit cards to improve my score. Long story short, some things came up and then I got denied for financial aid for school (I'm an adult nursing student). I put my tuition and some other expenses on my cards. YES this was stupid, but I panicked because I was afraid I was going to get dropped from classes.

Now I have three credit cards that are recently nearly maxed out with very high limits.

Chase Freedom - Balance = 1900, CL = 2000 22% No interest until november

Costco Citi card - Balance = 1800, CL = 2000 22% No interest until december

Amazon Prime Visa - Balance = 3660, CL = 4000 24%

I handle the finances for our family and I haven't discussed this with my husband until I have a plan in place. He is not on any of these accounts. (He will likely kill me).

Other than budgeting better and throwing all of my extra money at these cards, what else can I do?

Should I pay them all down equally to get them away from their limits? Should I pay amazon because it's the one i'm paying interest on? Should I apply for a loan? (my scores dropped significantly last month because of the reported utilization so i'm not sure that's even possible.

Thanks in advance.

[HeavenOhio]

I can't speak to possibility of getting a loan, so I'll leave that to others.

As far as the cards, I'd get them all down to 89.9% of the limit or below. That way you won't have anything that's maxed. After that, pay two to three times the minimum on the two cards with 0% interest, and throw the rest at Amazon.

How much money to you have each month to put toward this?

[Anonymous]

Any card with a balance posted of more than 89% is considered maxed out and greatly affects your FICO scores.

Where are you getting your FICO scores from?  Website?

Can you engage in any additional "gig economy" work like Uber or Instacart for a few hours a week?

[Anonymous]

Do you have any money available now? and how much?

[Anonymous]

I may have some ideas for you on the loan front, why were you denied for them this semester?

[MrDisco99]

Put all your energy toward the Amazon card. Always pay down (higher) interest balances first.

And yes pay at least the minimum on the other two. Don't get lates on your reports.

Interest is your worst enemy right now. Knock those high interest balances down as best you can. If you can score a loan or balance transfer that may be a good idea but someone with more experience would need to help with that.

No judgement. Life happens.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Please resist the urge to be rude - this is hard enough to write as it is.

I've been working hard to improve my credit after making bad decisions in my late teens and early 20's (collection accounts, etc). I didn't use credit cards for a long time. Last year, with credit scores in the 650's, I came to these forums looking to get my score higher. I figured it was time to apply for a couple of credit cards to improve my score. Long story short, some things came up and then I got denied for financial aid for school (I'm an adult nursing student). I put my tuition and some other expenses on my cards. YES this was stupid, but I panicked because I was afraid I was going to get dropped from classes.

Now I have three credit cards that are recently nearly maxed out with very high limits.

Chase Freedom - Balance = 1900, CL = 2000 22% No interest until november

Costco Citi card - Balance = 1800, CL = 2000 22% No interest until december

Amazon Prime Visa - Balance = 3660, CL = 4000 24%

I handle the finances for our family and I haven't discussed this with my husband until I have a plan in place. He is not on any of these accounts. (He will likely kill me).

Other than budgeting better and throwing all of my extra money at these cards, what else can I do?

Should I pay them all down equally to get them away from their limits? Should I pay amazon because it's the one i'm paying interest on? Should I apply for a loan? (my scores dropped significantly last month because of the reported utilization so i'm not sure that's even possible.

Thanks in advance.

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When it comes to paying down, do the Amazon one first since the interest is there. I am not a loan expert but I am going to say it will probably be difficult to get any type of credit, loan or otherwise, with your utilization the way it is. Does your husband have a higher credit card that maybe has a 0% you can BT those limits to? 

[Anonymous]

The good news is once your utilization goes down your scores will rebound. I would discuss this with your husband.  If you are hiding something from him it is only  going to add to your stress.  Paying tuition is a valid reason for debt so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself.    I know you said you got declined for financial aide.  Did you apply for a student loan?  That would probably be your best bet if you could get one.  Good luck. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I didn’t realize there was an actual percentage that correlated to “maxed out”. I’ll work on getting them under 89% ASAP. I’m paid hourly right now so I’m going to try to pick up some OT shifts for the next few months. I have ~$500 a month that I can designate to the cards as of right now.

My mistake was that I did not apply for a student loan, I applied for financial aid/grants. Initially I was told I may qualify for “some aide” but when it was all in, they said we made too much money. I could apply for a student loan now, since I still have 3 semesters left, but I don’t know if I could use that to pay bills as well as tuition since I’ve never had a loan like that before.

[MrDisco99]

Its been a while for me but from what I remember student loans go toward tuition first and if there's any left over they cut a check to you. And there was one occasion I was late and got the loan after tuition was paid and the whole thing was sent to me. I think you can still do that. Student loans are usually pretty easy to get approved for as well. Just remember you have that obligation to deal with when you're done with school.